To order the CD ($9.95 + 2.50 shipping) Click Here.
To Download the MP3 version ($7.95)
Click Here
I use David Ross's 2 wonderful Costa Rican CDs as a great reference to sound in the Neotropics.
Peterson Field Guides' Birding by Ear series are a great place for a novice "ear birder" to start! These guides are available on CD and cassette tape. The authors explain the basics of bird siounds and progress through mnemonic devices we can all use to remember the sounds we hear, and then on to specific birds' calls and songs. They are certainly not all-inclusive of the birds in any one area, instead they concentrate on common birds you will most likely hear. The techniques and pointers you'll learn will stand you in good stead as you learn more and more about how to listen to who's out there!
Birding By Ear, Western Edition
Birding By Ear, Eastern/Central Edition
More Birding by Ear, Eastern/Central
These are are my favorite and most-used ID guides for these difficult families:
      
      
A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors
New World Blackbirds : The Icterids
And this is my favorite bird field guide ever! It features excellent illustrations, and incredibly detailed natural histories, voice decriptions and range data.
If you really want to learn about bird communication and all of it's intimate, scientific details, this is the book for you. Published in 1995, it's the most up-to-date treatice on the subject available. A "must have" for anyone who is serious about bird communication.
Bill Burt's Shadowbirds: A Quest for Rails is a wonderfully passionate look through this famous nature photographer's eyes at his search for some of the earth's ultimate "stealth birds" - the Rails. His admiration and respect for these birds is infective and poetic. If you love a good detective story, if you love birds, and if you love poetry, you'll love Shadowbirds!
Bernie Kraus is one of the best nature recordists in the world today. He shares some of his favorite techniques in his new book "Wild Soundscapes". This is a must for people interested in getting the best possible recordings of our natural world.
To order any of these titles, just click on the name or the picture and you will be taken directly to Amazon.com's page on that title. Naturesongs will receive a portion of the sales price if you buy from this link. Use the Amazon.com search tool below to find any title on their web site and order. (We will still get a referral fee).