National Geographic Backyard Birding

It doesn't matter what field guide you like, you can't have enough of them. I keep 2 in Lucille (my truck) and several in my home office and I have every author / publisher that covers Alaska. Some are easier to use than others and some have better information. So whatever field guide you want me to recommend for you, I'll tell you about all of them and then let you figure it out.

There's been several times that I've taken a photograph of a bird or some landscape and I get home and load it onto the computer and notice something that I didn't when I was in the field. Now I'm pretty good about identifying most of the birds you commonly see in Alaska, but I am no expert. I am a very active amateur birder by all means.


I got an email the other day, like many of you probably did. It was about National Geographic Backyard Birder. I set it aside until the weekend when I had more time to check it out. I love most of their stuff and watch the Nat Geo Channel often, so I wasn't surprised at the quality of the graphics, the information in it and the ease of use. They cover 150 of the most common birds found in North America. My friend Ghost the Snowy Owl was a little disappointed that his species wasn't included, but most other common birds are. They also have an audio so you can hear their songs and or sounds.

I like this site and will return often to learn more about the species included in it when I find time sitting in front of the computer. If you would like to check it out, click here. I wasn't asked to review this site. This is my opinion on the site. Take it as you will.