What are some good field books to get?

[MadCheshire13]

I am looking for books to identify birds, animals, plants and tracks while out on my adventures. I have no clue which ones are worthwhile or not. Ideally it would be one that is specific to the southwest, although I'm not sure if it would be one book or multiples.Thanks in advance!

[flagscott]

If you're a beginner in terms of knowing your plants and animals, I'd go for something general like this: https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon ... ikearizona

If you're more advanced, the only way to go is separate field guides for trees, birds, reptiles, flowers, etc. And, unfortunately, the guides that are specific to Arizona are generally pretty crappy. That's why I'd suggest going with something more general, even if it has species that aren't found in Arizona. For birds, the Sibley guide (there's a Western US version) is the gold standard. For reptiles and amphibians, I like the Peterson guide a lot (again, there's a western version). The Peterson western trees book is good, too. For butterflies, the Kaufman Guide (it covers the whole US) is fantastic.

There are a bunch of good books on tracking. I'd probably go with the Falcon guide to tracks the Desert Southwest.

There are some phone apps that might be worthwhile, too, but if you're a beginner, I think it's way better to flip through a book than to look something up on your phone. I've learned a lot of plants and animals just by idly paging through my field guides or noticing things on the way to something else.

If anyone knows of a good and comprehensive wildflower guide for Arizona, I'd love to know it (fwiw, I don't think that any field guide with photos counts as good). Someday when I win the lottery, I'm going to take a year or two to write a good flower guide for Arizona. Anyone know a good flower artist?

[MadCheshire13]

@flagscott
Thanks a ton! That Audubon looks like the closest I'll get to an all in one, I do better with physical books and am thinking along the lines of knowing my surroundings if SHTF if that makes sense. I used to play in the woods up in Oregon as a kid but never really learned how to use what's out there if I got stranded or just wanted to know what I was looking at. I can identify some herbs and edible flowers but not nearly as many as I'd like. I guess a couple of apps would be good to have handy but to me it seems like it takes some of the experience away by looking at my phone constantly while out on my adventures. Plus if something happens to it...

The only thing I really use my phone for is Route Scout on new trails and for taking pictures. It's nice to have for emergency purposes but I would rather go old school with books. I actually just got back from the library and they had a whole section dedicated to the southwest, mainly history but also some guides. I snagged a couple of Falcon guides, as well a couple of local books for plant life. I too would love to find a good wildflower book like you describe, I am learning to draw so I'm a ways off for that!

[Alston_Neal]

Being what many regard as a font of mostly useless information, the HAZ labels have truly expanded my world. If you haven't checked it out, on the Home page click on the magnifying glass icon next to Labels in the upper left. That opens up and then on the upper right is Photo Identification, click on that and it will open a page with a drop down on the left with Flora,Fauna,Geology,Culture, Named Places and Meteorology. I found this to be one of the best online sources to get me started.

[te_wa]

I found this to be one of the best online sources

now when someone says they "threw a Wendy" she'll know. like a special club and stuff.

[azbackpackr]

Although serious birders may disagree, I also love the Peterson Guide to Western Birds. For the last edition published before his death he painted anew every bird picture for that edition. Also, he was just a really remarkable person.

[flagscott]

Although serious birders may disagree, I also love the Peterson Guide to Western Birds. For the last edition published before his death he painted anew every bird picture for that edition. Also, he was just a really remarkable person.

Peterson's paintings are great, and they are probably the nicest to look at of any bird guide. But the sheer number of angles, plumages, and varieties in the Sibley Guide can't be beat. Sibley also has multiple paintings of every bird species in flight, which is a fantastic resource since so many times all you see is a glimpse of a bird in the air.

I used to recommend the Peterson guide for beginning birders since the number of different paintings in the Sibley guide can be a bit overwhelming. But now I just tell anyone interested to pick up a Sibley guide (or the app, which is fantastic, too) because Sibley is just a better resource, and once you have even a passing familiarity with the different groups of birds, it's the only bird guide you need.

[azbackpackr]

I'm going to take a look at it, thanks! My employer is a pretty good birder, and I think she has that one, (as well as several others. You would not believe how many birds she counts in her tiny backyard in Williams. 28 species a couple weeks ago.)

[big_load]

If anyone knows of a good and comprehensive wildflower guide for Arizona, I'd love to know it (fwiw, I don't think that any field guide with photos counts as good).

"A Field Guide to the Plants of Arizona" by Anne Orth Epple is the best I've found by a pretty wide margin. I have a handful of others, but they're a lot more specialized and not quite as useful.

[joebartels]

"A Field Guide to the Plants of Arizona" by Anne Orth Epple is the best I've found by a pretty wide margin.

generally at the top of my stack of az flora books

[The_Dude]

Native Plants for Southwestern Landscapes by Judy Mielke is a favorite of mine. Gives a good spread of plants native in the lower to middle deserts of the SW with color pictures, and a nice selection of info. Won't have all the small annuals, but does a pretty good job with the bigger stuff.

[ALMAL]

the "Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders" is a great read and compact enough to pack along.

[flagscott]

Update: I found what looks like a good plant/flower app for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ildflowers

It's free, too. I keyed out a couple of flowers I knew, and they came up in the results. Unfortunately, they only show 1 picture per species, and that may not be enough to nail it down for some flowers. But this should at least get you close, and if you have an internet connection, you can load more pictures.

Glad to have found this--now I don't have to quit my job to become an app developer.

[Nighthiker]

One side of my garage is book shelves and I have a large collection of flora, fauna, insects, geology, natural history and history of Arizona. Still debating which to recommend.