The Sibley Guides series began with the publication of The Sibley Guide to Birds in 2000, and since then has expanded to include four additional books on birds and, in 2009, The Sibley Guide to Trees. This website presents some of my ongoing efforts to identify and understand the birds and trees of North America.
I’ve been watching and drawing nature for most of my life, with a heavy emphasis on birds until about seven years ago. I consider myself a scientific illustrator and the goal of most of my art is to reveal the larger patterns and systems of nature by learning what makes each species different from (and similar to) other species. I hope you’ll join in this pursuit of knowledge and share the pleasure of discovery. There are still so many mysteries to solve and things to discover all around us, and the opportunities for learning never end.
I have written and illustrated a number of books, listed below. Clicking on any title will lead to a page with more information about that book.
Author and illustrator:
The Sibley Guide to Trees, 2009
The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, 2003
The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, 2003
Sibley’s Birding Basics, 2002
The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior, 2001
The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2000
The Birds of Cape May, 1993; revised edition in 1997
Illustrator:
Bright Wings, 2009
Atlas Of The Breeding Birds Of Nevada, 2007 (cover)
Birds of Denali, 2002
The Wind Masters, 1995
Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors, 1988
The Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State, 1988
Hawkwatch: A guide for beginners, 1986
Tales of a Low-Rent Birder, 1986
Writing:
Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land
and many magazine articles
do you have a book for colombia south america?
No, just North America. Try Buteo Books at http://www.buteobooks.com/
Under the species account for Townsend’s Warbler, the description says “Structure like Black-throated Green…”. What does structure refer? The actual shape of the bird? Or the pattern of the plumage?
I use “structure” to refer to all aspects of shape and proportions. So this statement means the both the overall shape and proportions as well as details like bill shape and tail shape are similar to Black-throated Green.
Will you be publishing any more field guides?
Yes, definitely. I’m currently working on several new projects about birds.
I know that there was some talk, at one time, of publishing your Field Guides in Spanish. Has this actually happened and if so where can I get copies?
Birding Basics has been translated into Spanish (link above), and the Eastern Field Guide translated into French. Currently there are no other plans for translations.
Any chance of a Windows Phone 7 app, or is the platform too new?
Yes, there is a chance, but with so many different phone platforms around, as well as iPad and other tablet OS, we have to choose carefully where to invest time and effort. A Blackberry version of the eGuide is currently in beta-testing, and I’m not sure which will be next, or when, but I will announce it here on the website whenever it is decided.
Have you considered putting bird songs/sounds into your Bird Identification Guides? I have Peterson’s North American Birds CD, but it would be nice to have a guide + songs all in one volume. I do have Music of the Birds by Lang Elliot, which lists only 75 bird sounds.
I am enjoying your Bird Calendar for 2011, one of many gifts I get with a bird theme!
Thanks for your guides and your help.
Phyllis Little
Thanks Phyllis, You can get all the content from the book along with audio of songs and calls in the Sibley eGuide for iPhone/iPod, Android, and (soon) Blackberry. There are no plans to publish a CD to accompany the book.
When will a revised edition of Guide to Birds be released? I assume you’re working on it?
I am working on it (truthfully I have been since the day the guide went to the printer). No firm date is set for publishing the revised edition but it will hopefully be in two years or so.
Do you plan to offer you Tree ID book as an iPhone app? I hope so!
No plans (yet) to make an app of the Tree Guide, but things are changing quickly in the electronic publishing world and I’m sure it will happen at some point.
David:
Do you plan on coming out with an update to the “big Sibley” to reflect the 2011 AOU changes? There is an audience out there waiting for that new edition.
Thanks!
Steve
Stevan Hawkins
San Antonio TX
I’m currently working on a full revision of the Guide, which will include all of the many AOU changes since the first edition. Hopefully it will be out in 2013.
David,
Will you be publishing a new edition of The Sibley Guide to Birds to include changes to taxonomic order, the new splits and the new names of many birds including the warblers?
Thank you.
David, Have you ever considered a Field guide where the Birds of North America are arranged in Alphabetical order by Common name rather than grouped together by families? The bird you would be looking for would be a lot faster to find this way rather than having to look it up in the index like I do all the time. Thanks for any reply to this! Randall
Hi Randall, Yes, this idea ad others (organizing birds by color, by habitat, by size, etc) have been tried and never really worked. The main drawback, in my opinion, is that it breaks up the natural groupings of families, which you will use more and more as you gain experience in bird ID. That is, if you know that the bird you want to look up is some kind of heron, it makes sense to have all the herons together in the guide, and not under G for Great Egret, S for Snowy Egret, C for Cattle Egret, and so on. In the electronic version of the guide you can choose the arrangement you want, and we currently offer sorting in taxonomic order or alphabetically.
David: I see your replies to Cathy (1/2012) and Steven (12/2011) and wanted to add my voice to those who are looking forward to the new Sibly. And of course, I am hopeful that the smaller guides will be updated as well – with updated maps. I am aware of how hard it is to meet everyone’s expectations (including our own) but allow me to say how much I appreciate the western guide and to affirm that I use it daily and carry it with me “for emergency sightings.”
Thanks.
John
Payette, Idaho.
…And I would like to add my voice to John’s (7/2012). I am very excited to hear that there is an updated Guide on the horizon. I love your Guide. I would be lost without it. Thank you so much! Karen
Hi,
Over 20 years ago, I got one of your numbered prints of a pair of Pyrrhuloxia pearched on prickly pear cactus. Did you offer other birds in print at that time, and if so, which species? Are any of them still available?
Also, I too, am anxiously awaiting your next edition of “The Sibley Guide to Birds”. Don’t forget to include the dark morph of the Hook-billed Kite. We just saw one last week at Santa Ana NWR in the LRGV.
Thank you. Pat
Hi Pat, Those prints were made by Bird Watcher’s Digest after that painting was on the cover of the magazine back in the late 1980s. About ten years ago I did another cover for them – a Golden-winged Warbler. Both of those are still available from BWD. My web page has links to those and a couple of other prints as well: http://www.sibleyguides.com/art-gallery/prints-for-sale/
I am curious whether you might decide to publish birding guides with a focused regional context, such as birds of Canada or Birds of Sierra Nevada, Shorebirds of Western United States, etc.
Many thanks
Pamela
Hi Pamela, Over the years that idea has come up several times in discussions with my publisher, but we’ve always chosen to focus on the larger regions. It’s possible in the future, but there are no current plans.
Do you have an all of North America written in French? All I can find is Eastern North America.
Hi Maddy, Thanks for asking, but the only book that has been translated into French is the Eastern Guide.
Have you ever thought about making a flashcard app for the iphone out of your bird guide? I know the guide itself is available as an app, but I’m surprised no one has produced a flashcard app of North American birds. It would be an awesome way to learn birds by testing yourself.
Hi David,
I posted a comment previously that now seems to have disappeared from the site. We have a Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America that has printing errors, including missing pages and many printed out of order. We’d like to request an accurate copy, either through Knopf or as otherwise directed. We’ve not been able to find any mention of the issue or response to our previous inquiries. It is the most current copy, purchased in 2012 through a reputable nature center.
Thanks very much for your feedback and otherwise excellent products!
Best,
Beth
Hi Bethany, I’ve heard of a couple of other cases of missing pages or out-of-order pages in guides, it happens rarely and you should definitely get a replacement. I’ll send you a private email to work out the details.
Best, David
David,
I look forward to the updated versions of your bird guides, as I own them all. I have come across a situation with Pileated Woodpeckers in my yard the last two years. Last year I had two birds with brown primaries instead of black; this year I’ve seen one so far. In checking with Birds of North America Online, I find that this coloring is a characteristic of young birds. I have noticed that no guide in my possession, and I have several, indicates this coloring. Will this be shown in your updated guides, or is this something that your research showed to be so uncommon as to be not worth depicting?
Thanks much.
Terry Bronson
Morgantown, WV
Hi, David:
Your field guides are one of the best, I can’t wait for your new “Guide to Birds” to come out, please push the publisher to get it out soon!
Regards,
Howard Wu
Hello David,
I am another fan of your guides and use the Eastern book for here in Miami(though I have purchased all versions). Will there be East-West versions of the new book and how much later will they be published after the full version? Will the layout for the illustrations for the new guide be the same as the 1st Edition? Please include White-eyed Parakeet in your guide, they are now pretty common here.
Thanks
Hi When is your new guide coming out?
The updated guide is scheduled for spring 2014.
David: I read my previous post and noted that I misspelled your last name…please forgive me. Now on to the current post. After much effort, I was able to observe a Marsh Wren – not a rare bird by any means but still a thrill for me. It was the posture as depicted in your guide (Western North America) that caught my eye. Then after waiting a bit longer, I was able to get more concrete information by observation – again using your guide. All of that to say, you really have packed alot of information in the small guide. Thanks again.
John
Ever thought of doing a butterfly book?
Hi Jim, I’ve thought of it, in fact I did some work on one before I did the Tree Guide, but it would have required too much travel since we have relatively few butterfly species in Massachusetts. I won’t rule it out completely but I have no plans to start work on one – more bird projects in the next few years. Best, David