The Texas Ornithological Society Handbook of Texas Birds
Mark W. Lockwood and Brush Freeman, 2004 Texas A&M University Press
$24.95 (The best range guide to Texas birds, with maps by county for each species)
Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
David Allen Sibley
updated 2003, Knopf, $19.95
Sibley Guide to Birds
David Allen Sibley
2001 Nation Audubon Society, Knopf, $35.00 [Very useful field guides with multiple excellent illustrations of each species]
Birds of the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Brad McKinney
2002, Valley Nature Center, $9.95 [Very useful expanded checklist and guide to birding the area, including season and location for each bird species]
Specialty Birds of the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Keith Hackland
2003, Valley Nature Center & Keith Hackland, $2.00 [Very useful foldout brochure with excellent photos of 48 specialty birds; first of a series, with others to follow on Common Butterflies in 2003, Common Flowers in 2003, and in 2004 and future on Rare Birds, Amphibians & Reptiles, Dragonflies, Damselflies, Common Trees, etc]
A Birder’s Guide to the Rio Grande Valley
Mark W. Lockwood, William B. McKinney, James N. Paton, Barry R. Zimmer
1999, American Birding Association, $23.95 [Bird finding guide book with excellent maps and directions for the Lower Rio Grande Valley]
Thayer’s Guide to Birds of North America
Version 3, Cornell Lob of Ornithology, $69.95 [This excellent CD-ROM is very useful for trip preparation as it has 2675 color photos covering 930 species, and incorporates The Birder’s Handbook behavioral guide. Particularly useful is playing a species song while looking at its photos and range and reading about it. The best of the CDs available.]
Birds of North America
Kenn Kaufman
2000,Houghton Mifflin, $20.00 [Good pocket field guide which uses digitally enhanced photos to highlight key id points]
Field Guide to the Birds of North America
2002, National Geographic, $21.95 [Popular classic field guide]
The Behavior of Texas Birds
Kent Rylander
2002, University of Texas Press, $26.95 [Interesting reading on bird behavior and nesting]
The Birds of Texas
John L. Tveten
$24.95 [Well written guide to 300 species of birds of Texas]
A Checklist of Texas Birds
2003, Texas Parks and Wildlife Press, $2.00 [Latest edition of Texas checklist]
Bird Songs of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Southwestern Texas
Gerffrey A. Keller
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, $14.95 [CD of 110 species of bird calls, useful for traveling and playing in the car]
A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America
Seve N.G. Howell and Sophie Webb, 1995 Oxford
$39.95 (Covers Mexican birds well with good illustrations - useful for identifying Mexican rarities found in the Lower Rio Grande area)
The Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas
Ernest Preston Edwards
1998, University of Texas Press, $17.95 [Concise field guide to the birds of Mexico]