I was at the Costco's in Avon yesterday and saw a new (to me at least) field guide, Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America. The author is Ted Floyd (Ed of Birding Magazine). (ISBN price $24.95, Costco price $14.99, they also had Sibley for $11 something). This is not the guide I will use in the field, but it has some excellent features. Most species have at least two photos and each account includes the ABA code number (indicating how common the species is) and bullets on molting strategy, summation of sex/age differences, and individual variation. There is also a little paragraph with interesting facts about the species. Each grouping of birds is prefaced with a full page group account. The 28 page introduction is very informative. I was especially impressed with its seven bird topography maps (feather tracts) that show a labeled line diagram along side an unlabeled photo. This forces you to look back and forth between the two and actually apply the labels to the bird, leading to a better understanding than just staring at labeled pictures. The ABA checklist appears at the back of the book, again including the ABA code number for each bird. The book also includes a cd with 587 birdsongs from 140 of the more common species in mp3 format. Yeah, just what we all need, another bird book... But this really is a good one! Sheryl Young **************Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com! (http://www.tourtracker.com?NCID=aolmus00050000000112) ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]