The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Eastern Region by John Farrand, John L. Bull, National Audubon Society (1977)

excellent field guide, slightly dated, but very well documented and the pics are also excellent. This manual will be an asset to any bird watchers library.

The book is an excellent one for identifying backyard birds. It has wonderful pictures and great information on each bird.A friend of mine told me about this book because the books that I have weren't very helpful. In my opinion this is the best book you can have for identifying birds. As a matter of fact I also bought another one for a friend of mine.

I first bought my Audubon book many years ago when I started backyard bird-watching out of my window in my country home. Unfortunately 7 years ago, we had a house fire and we lost everything we owned. I have replaced what I could, but much to my dismay, I could not find my Audubon bird book in any of the local book stores. I found a similar bird identification book, but it was just not the same. It seemed generic compared to my old, trusty Audubon book. I felt like I lost a good, knowledgeable friend that had all the answers I had questions to. I wanted the EXACT book that I had, because if I seen a bird, I knew right where to look in the book to find what species it was. The book I wanted had identified the common backyard birds simply by a colored bird silohette which you could easily see just by a quick thumbing of the pages. Other birds, such as water birds, and woodpeckers were in a separate section.

One day, when I wanted information on a certain bird, and my bird book didn't have it, I was once again frustrated and pining for my old book. Then it hit me! Why not check Ebay? I did a search on "Audubon book" and I seen a picture in the list that looked like the book I had, and in the description it said it was The Audubon's Field Guide for the Eastern Region. I emailed the seller to ask if the book included birds from Illinois. She replied that from what she could tell, it did. She was from Illinois, but I wasn't going to get my hopes up. Hesitantly, I put my bid in feeling that it was worth the risk. I couldn't believe that I won the book for so little money. I would have paid twice as much if I was sure it was THE book.

After a few days, I actually forgot about the whole deal. Like I said, I didn't want to get my hopes up. One day, when I checked my mailbox, I seen a big padded envelope in there. I wondered what it could be at first, then it hit me...ohhhh, the book! I opened the package right then and there. At first sight, it looked very familiar: same size, same color and texture on the book cover. Just like I have done so many times, I thumbed the pages, and there they were--the different color bird silohettes. I smiled to myself as I watched the colors change as if I were watching a good movie.

I was so happy to get my "old friend" back. It really, truly made my day. I smile to myself everytime I open it and get the answers I'm looking for. It really is true that "One man's junk, is another man's treasure." Thanks to Ebay, for helping me find my treasure again.

This book is so good that my sister and I want to own it - as we had it as children and remember alot about it. It is easy to look up birds by there basic shape/kind and then has beautiful photographs of the birds and a description of them.