David Sibley, America's premier birder and best-known bird artist, takes a new direction - in Sibley's Birding Basics he is concerned not so much with species as with the general characteristics that influence the appearance of all birds and thus give us the clues to their identity.

To create this guide, avid Sibley thought through all the skills that enable him to identify a bird in the few instants it is visible to him. Now he shares that information, integrating an explanation for the identification process with many painted and drawn images of details (such as a feather) or concepts.