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Win A Chance to Go Birding with Sibley

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On a tour supporting the second edition of 'The Sibley Guide to Birds,' David Allen Sibley will lead a bird walk in Santa Cruz on April 23 before giving a talk at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Twenty people will get to go with him; to enter, buy the book by end of day April 1.

by Hilltromper staff

March 29, 2014—It's hard to overstate the influence The Sibley Guide to Birds has had since its publication in 2000. It's like the Cook's Illustrated of the birding world, a reference book with near-moral authority. Now David Allen Sibley has updated his masterpiece, adding 111 bird species, enlarging maps, brightening images and adding new treats here and there, like a section titled "Owling," which helps owl fans find their quarry without disturbing the birds.

Responses skew positive. The Westerley Sun of Mystic, Conn. reports that this a "a painstaking makeover, taking advantage of advances in digital technology to render the images in crisper detail." Sibley is an illustrator, so the drawings are one of the main attractions of the book.

Corey Finger of 10,000 Birds wrote in a blog about Sibley 2, "Overall, the second edition is superior to the first edition. The layout is better, the images are bigger, more birds are included, space is used more wisely, there is lots more information, and the book is only four ounces heavier and about the same size."

One bone of contention among the birderati is the relative darkness of some of the images. Though some like it—"The new robin is much bolder than his pale cousin from 14 years ago and really jumps off the page," writes the Sun—others complain that it's too much, making some brown birds look nearly black. Writes Finger, "The only real negative is the overly dark printing, which is outweighed, in my humble opinion, by the many improvements."

Sibley comes to Bookshop Santa Cruz on Wednesday, April 23, to talk about the new edition. That afternoon he'll lead a bird walk here in town for 20 lucky birders. To enter the drawing that will determine who gets to go, buy the book at Bookshop Santa Cruz, in person or online, by the end of the day on April 1 and you'll be entered to the drawing.

David Sibley at Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz. 7:30pm. Free.

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