Product Description

Here is the western edition of A Field Guide to Bird Songs, the best-selling bird song collection ever recorded. This edition includes the songs and calls of 522 species -- all the most common and vocal birds found in western North America. Organized as a companion to Roger Tory Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds, this is the "birder's bible" of bird song.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #228224 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-18
• Released on: 1992-01-01
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Audiobook, CD
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Binding: Audio CD

About the Author
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology is a contributor for the following Houghton Mifflin Company Title: Peterson Field Guides: A Field Guide to Western Bird Songs

Roger Tory Peterson, one of the world"s greatest naturalists, received every major award for ornithology, natural science, and conservation, as well as numerous honorary degrees, medals, and citations, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Peterson Identification System has been called the greatest invention since binoculars, and the Peterson Field Guides® are credited with helping to set the stage for the environmental movement.

Customer Reviews

Not portable-CD-player friendly
I own the 1992 edition, which has been very useful. The latest edition is the '92 edition repackaged; the contents are the same. I confirmed this with the publisher. The price has dropped merely because the packaging is cheaper to produce; that's according to their editorial staff.

If you wish to use the Peterson CDs "in the field" with a portable CD player, or if you use it frequently at home, there is something you should know:

Peterson organizes the songs into two CDs, each with about 50 tracks. Each track contains from 2 to 8 birds. If you want to hear a specific bird without hearing others, you can go directly to that bird if your CD player has the INDEX function. An index is like a subtrack.

Herein lies the problem; most portable CD players no longer have the INDEX feature. It was phased out years ago. Thus, you have to listen to all the birds of a track to hear the one you want, and as you get better at birding this becomes tedious.

It should be mentioned that most CD players do have a "search" function which allows you to "fast forward" through a track. But this is awkward to use.

Some makers of bird song collections on CD (e.g. Stokes, new out in May 99) have learned of this problem and have corrected it by recording one bird per track. Stokes also seems to have clearer and longer recordings. However, this format means that the full collection requires 4 CDs. Thus, using Stokes in the field has its own problems.

If you can find a portable CD player with the INDEX function, the Peterson CD works well, especially the Eastern Birds, which is one-volume. I can just plop my portable CD player into the pocket of my field vest, and any time I want to confirm a warbler species I can cue up that bird in an instant. I can quickly INDEX through the birds calls and compare. Peterson gives the bird label and the bird song separate indexes, so you don't have to listen to the announcer naming all the birds. But unless CD player makers change their minds, this convenience may die when my '89 Sony portable does.

A major disapointment!
While most people expect wonderful things from Peterson guides, this CD set is sure to let you down.

It's is very limited in the number of birds it covers. And the recordings for each bird are minimal at best.