In one of the ABA’s most ambitious undertakings ever, the association has partnered with New York–based publisher Scott & Nix, Inc., to produce a series of field identification guides to the birds of the U.S. states.
The initiative is briskly under way, with three titles already released in 2014: The ABA Field Guide to Birds of New Jersey by Rick Wright, The ABA Field Guide to Birds of Colorado by Ted Floyd, and The ABA Field Guide to Birds of Florida by Bill Pranty. These three guides, plus all those to follow, feature the spectacular bird photography of Brian E. Small and other nationally prominent nature photographers. Please scroll to the bottom to see sample pages from all three of these guides.
The State Guides are not bird-finding books per se. Rather, they are full-on, authoritative field guides, written by experts with unsurpassed knowledge of their states’ bird (and birder!) communities. The books are intended for beginning to intermediate birders, but even experts will appreciate and learn from the authors’ ID tips, in-depth understanding of bird population status, and breadth of knowledge about avian ecology and conservation.
The recently published guides to New Jersey, Colorado, and Florida are just the tip of the iceberg. Scheduled for publication in May 2015 are State Guides to Pennsylvania (George L. Armistead) and California (Alvaro Jaramillo). Those will be followed in October 2015 by State Guides to Texas (Mark Lockwood), New York (Corey Finger), and Massachusetts (Wayne R. Petersen), then in May 2016 by State Guides to Minnesota (Laura Erickson) and Arizona (Rick Wright). Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, and other states are in the planning stage at this time.
2015 titles will include Pennsylvania, California, Texas, New York, and Massachusetts.
Scott & Nix publishes high-quality books, calendars, and posters on natural history, with a special emphasis on ornithology, astronomy, and fly fishing. In partnership with the ABA, the publisher will edit, produce, and market the entire ABA State Guide series. Scott & Nix also oversaw the production of Ted Floyd’s Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America (Collins, 2008) and numerous titles by David Sibley, including his groundbreaking Sibley Guide to Trees (Knopf, 2009) and acclaimed Sibley Guide to Birds (2nd edition, Knopf, 2014).
All of the State Guides are available through the usual channels: Amazon, the publisher, and Buteo Books–ABA Sales. Please consider buying through Buteo–ABA, as your purchase will directly benefit the ABA. Please also be aware that Scott & Nix and the ABA are partnering with regional booksellers and bird festivals to sell the State Guides—and to promote educational and frequently entertaining public lectures and book discussions by the authors.
From The ABA Guide to Birds of New Jersey by Rick Wright (April 2014).
From The ABA Guide to Birds of Colorado by Ted Floyd (June 2014).
From The ABA Guide to Birds of Florida by Bill Pranty (December 2014).