"Don and Lillian Stokes
There are advantages and disadvantages to eastern and western field guides. They can present more information about each bird species, but for those of us living in mid-America, we must decide between eastern and western books, or both. Stokes guides are so user friendly we still recommend them, especially for people who do most of their bird watching at their own feeders. The Stokes were the first to use color coded tabs on the margins to help locate bird groups (woodpeckers, hummingbirds, etc.) and are still the only ones to use icons to indicate which birds will come to your birdfeeders and use bird houses. They use pictures, include a section on conservation for each species, and have a good introduction. They are the only field guides that begin with a “Quick Guide to the Most Common Birds” so feeder watchers can find their backyard birds in seven pages. The Stokes use the 100th meridian (the I-35 corridor is a good marked from Texas to Minnesota) to divide east and west.
Paperback, 472 pages, 5” x 8” "
