for National Geographic News
First published in 1983, the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America represented a major departure from Roger Tory Peterson's eastern and western guides, which dominated the marketplace. Not only did the National Geographic guide essentially ignore the field-mark system that Peterson perfected; it also covered all North American species in a single volume—the first field guide to do so.
For a new generation interested in delving a little deeper into field identification, National Geographic's eagle-emblazoned guide became the one to use. There's no denying that The Sibley Guide to Birds, published in 2000, has once again turned the field-guide market on its head. Yet the National Geographic guide chugs along: There are more than 1.5 million copies in print, making it National Geographic's best-selling trade book.
Earlier this month, National Geographic published the guide's fourth edition. A bald eagle still graces the cover, though now its wings spread across a black, rather than white, background. Jonathan Alderfer, the guide's art consultant, explains what else is new.
What was your role as art consultant?
Working with Jon Dunn, the chief consultant, my main role was to oversee the illustrations new to the fourth edition. Three artists painted five new plates: Peter Burke did the bitterns and night-herons on page 57; Thomas Schultz did the warblers on page 383; and I did the cormorants on page 55, the auklets on page 231, and the kingbirds on page 299. I also did new paintings of the rose-throated becard on page 303.
Are there any other significant changes in the new edition?
At the back of the guide, a new quick-find index helps users find a species without thumbing through lots of pages. More than 200 range maps have been updated—Paul Lehman, chief map consultant, contacted experts across the country to ensure that the guide reflects everything we currently know about bird distribution in North America. Likewise, we've made the guide consistent with the latest taxonomy of the American Ornithologists' Union. For example, we now treat the black-crested titmouse as a full species; formerly, it was considered a subspecies of the tufted titmouse.
What sets the guide apart?
It offers fairly detailed coverage of all North American birds in a single, portable volume. Included are extreme rarities you won't find in other guides, such as the Old World Flycatchers on page 343, most of which have shown up only a very few times in Alaska. Birders are interested in such species, no matter how remote the possibility of seeing them.
Why are there no arrows pointing to field marks?
I wasn't involved with the first edition, but I suspect arrows weren't used so that the guide would offer a clear alternative to Roger Tory Peterson's popular bird guides, which rely heavily on the field mark system. Subsequent revisions of the National Geographic guide have been consistent with that approach.
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