I loved this book! I have a regular field guide, you know, the boring Peterson's one. This one was refreshing. It was funny and snarky and just made me smile. With this book, you will learn something about birds, but it is probably a better choice for entertainment than bird identification. I loved it so much that I bought multiple copies and sent them to friends and family. ( )

Not that funny. ( )

Hilarious but still a good introduction to birds and birding. ( )

I didn’t get the tone, It was supposed to be humorous, but it failed and seemed a little bit forced. I don’t understand either why Mexico isn’t included in this “North America”.

It’s weird that I enjoyed more about tips on birding than the description of he birds, the whole point of the book. ( )

It was funny. For about the first two pages. Then it just became tedious. Was probably funny when it was done as weekly(?) blog posts, but as a book it just isn't.

The illustrations were good, even though one was of a different bird than he was describing. But then again, I'm probably one of those bird snobs he disparages. ( )

Don't recommend reading when other people are around. I must have seemed like a mad person. This book was absolutely hilarious! ( )

This is basically the same book as The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of the Whole Stupid World -- which came out second but I read first -- so I'm just going to recycle my review for that with a few edits:

A humorous, spiteful look at birds. The main gag is that every real bird in the book has been given a new name that uses scatological or swear words, so the American Crow becomes "Damn Crows" and the Gray Catbird is now the "Gray Cat Turd." Despite these mild examples, the language is very adult.

The author also goes on diatribes about how much he hates each particular bird as well as birds in general. He also lashes out at birders and birdwatching as a hobby.

It's pretty repetitive, but it stays fun if doled out over many days a little at a time.

I slightly prefer Tits, Boobies and Loons and Other Birds Named by People Who Clearly Hate Birds by Stu Royall as it mocks real bird names and makes the people who named them so poorly the butt of the joke. ( )

Since we moved into our new home last summer, I have fallen in love with birdwatching in our backyard. This book should not have made me laugh as hard as it did, but something about the snarky comments woven in with actual facts about birds made me giggle. Heads up, there is a lot of profanity. If that doesn’t bother you, be prepared to laugh through this quick read. ( )

There's only one joke here, used over and over. But the drawings are cute. This would make a good gift for a birder, I think. ( )

My biggest problem with this book doesn't have to do with its content, but with the format in which the physical book is printed. The text is tiny, and it is rendered in a thin, spidery font, which makes it very, very difficult to read. Comparing it to samples, I'm guessing the whole thing is in an 8-point sans serif font, but just eyeballing it, I'd have guessed it was even smaller. Now, I realize that, as a man in my late sixties, I'm officially an old fogey now, but this old fogey still reads non-large-print edition books without any difficulty at all, and without a magnifier. EXCEPT for this one. It's literally the first book for which I've ever had to use a magnifier. C'mon, publisher!

As to the content itself - it was...okay. I wouldn't call it a laugh-out-loud book, but it certainly had a few amusing moments. Some readers have objected to the language being rather salty. I can confirm that, in the alternative names for the 50 or so birds it describes, and in the descriptions themselves, scatalogical references are frequent, and there are more than a few F-bombs as well. That didn't bother me, but if this is the sort of thing that troubles you, be warned!

Of course, covering as it does only 50 different birds, this book leaves a lot of ground uncovered. I'm not a bird aficionado, but not particularly a bird hater either (Squirrels, on the other hand, those loathsome little chisel-toothed vandals....but I digress.) I was surprised to note that not a single owl was included. A pity, I'm rather fond of owls, though I don't exactly know why. Perhaps I envy them being to sleep all day and prowl all night. And the one bird that I really do loathe was also missing: the Turkey. There are several flocks of these wretched creatures that wander around town where I live, one of which made an extended visit to my neighborhood earlier this year. One bird in particular, a female, decided that my front porch would be the ideal spot to bed down each evening with her brood of nine vile little turkeylets. Which means that my porch was covered each morning in turkey crap. I admit, it was rather satisfying to catch them on the porch and chase them off, shouting "Raaahr!" and gesturing with my hands like the monster under the bed, and I only had to do this twice before they got the idea and stayed away. On the downside, my neighbors possibly now think I have serious mental health issues. But I digress again: the point is that this book is something to read for amusement, but is not sufficiently complete if what you want is a "real" almanac of North American birds for purposes of bird identification. ( )

a hilarious and sarcastic book featuring major North American birds. The author has made up nicknames for the birds, such as Caspian Turd (Caspian Tern), Yellow-Bellied Shitsucker (Yellow-bellied sapsucker). Reminds me of teenage boys! Even though irreverent, I found it quit funny! The author has also hand drawn each bird and it is rather exact even though it appears to be done with crayons. 135 pages ( )

This book has only two goals: 1. to insult a lot of birds, as crassly and gratuitously as possible; 2. to present drawings of those birds that look sort of hasty (to convey a lack of respect for the birds) and yet are remarkably well observed (because the author actually does like birds). It does both of those things well. ( )

Absolutely hilarious and surprisingly useful. The only field guide I've read cover to cover and the only one I plan to. My only real knock is that I wish it had even more useful info on those dumb birds. ( )

很可愛哈哈哈哈花樣罵鳥指南！唯一不足的是太薄了我沒看夠，感覺羅列的鳥鳥比RDR2圖鑒裡還少（x）但是作者的恨鳥又愛鳥vibe跟我在RDR2裡蹲了現實生活一晚上都沒射中一隻雪松太平鳥/知更鳥/藍松鴉是一模一樣的 ( )

I don't know why, but I love dumb, humorous books about birds. This, Effin' Birds, and another little book about owls I have are quick reads that make me smile. I like to look at the illustrations too. This is a good coffee table book for someone who wants people to think they're into birding, until closer inspection. If you enjoy someone poking fun at birds, foul (fowl HHAHA) language, and sketches, I think you'll enjoy this book. ( )

DNF at 30%

The font choice makes it a literal pain to read.
The humor is sophomoric, and wears itself out fast.
Snark can be funny. Profanity, sparingly used, can be funny. Too much of either is just boring, and it's kind of sad to see someone trying so hard to be shocking or provocative and falling so flat.

The illustrations are the best part. Those are great. The author might want to stick to his day job as an illustrator and leave the comedy to someone else.

I had a lot of fun and was laughing out loud quite a bit. This is just what I needed. ( )

I am not a birder by any stretch of the imagination. I cannot identify many birds off the top of my head. I do not have bird feeders in my yard to attract our feathered friends. But I do enjoy listening to them chirping and peeping in the trees, even if I can't ever follow their trills to their location. I enjoy watching their little head tilts and apparent curiosity when they catch sight of me as they hop along the deck railing or from branch to branch of the backyard trees. Their preening makes me laugh as I admire the intricacy of their feathers. So I consider them welcome visitors to my yard but my investment and expertise in them is nil. As I was browsing at the bookstore one day, I saw this intriguing little book by the cash wrap and picked it up. Of course it had to come home with me. Now I'm hoping to spot some of the annoying little twit(terer)s Matt Kracht has drawn and described here in his entertaining, profanity-filled field guide.

Modeled after actual field guides, this snarky little spoof of a book has sections on the birds, bird watching tips, seasons, extinct species, bird feeders, and more. The section on the birds themselves are the most entertaining, of course, and that is subdivided into author created bird classifications. Kracht has grouped the birds in the categories of Typical Birds; Backyard As#%les; Hummingbirds, Weirdos, and Flycatchers; Egotists and Show-offs; F@&kers; Floaters, Sandbirds, and Dork-legs; and Murder birds. He illustrates each entry with quick, appealing sketches roughly colored in. The birds are given sarcastically derisive names (the real name is listed below the invented one) and the entry on each bird is short, pithy, and often hilariously annoyed. For example, the seagull's entry reads in part " The commonly used term 'seagull' is actually a catch-all for the many different types of gull and it doesn't describe a specific bird. Practically speaking, this doesn't matter because they're all the same trash bird at heart." His entry on the Canada Goose starts off sarcastically, "Thanks a lot, Canada." Kracht's primary complaints about birds are their annoying and constant loudness and their tendency to poop everywhere. Despite his irreverent, negative and fairly accurate descriptions, it is clear that Kracht actually enjoys birds quite a lot (and not just roasted or baked). The biggest problem with this book is the positively microscopic print but that's a design flaw, not a content flaw. The humor does wear a little thin over the course of a reading unless you read it in small snatches but as long as profanity doesn't offend you, you'll probably giggle along often enough to make this worth reading. I know I did. ( )

This is a very original, but very irreverent field guide to birds of North America. It would be a great gift for birders who won't mind the foul language and/or who don't get offended easily. As long as they have good eyesight...

As a lifelong nature-lover, I own (more than) my share of field guides. The book is modeled after one and the contents reflect that, including "parts of a bird" and silhouettes to help with identification, a birds section with text on the left page and illustrations on the right page, and tips on feeding and housing birds. Each topic is pretty derisive, and although it's funny for a few minutes, the smart-ass tone gets old very quickly.

The paperback itself is a nice, small size, and the artwork is very clever. My major gripe is the text: it's teeny-tiny and uses a very thin typeface; it's extremely difficult for anyone over the age of 30 to read. That would have been easy to avoid, and since the target audience (bird watchers) are mostly adults and seniors, it's a shame.

Overall, it's clever, but the attitude isn't my thing. Plus, I'm over 30 and can't read the wee print.

Definite fowl language alert, but Kracht's caustic appreciation of our avian friends (foes?) manages to be mildly informative and very funny, sometimes vice versa. His drawings are great, managing to enable identification of these birds as well as giving clues to their secret motivations. Can't decide if I like the entries for the Solitary Sandpooper or the Great Blue Moron better. The guide to the six basic bird shapes is very clarifying; it's nice to be able to tell a "lump" from a "weird legs" at a glance. ( )

Delightfully snarky swipe at the highbrow world of bird watchers and ornithologists. Finally a book the the common man. Humorous descriptions of most common birds across the USA complete with hand drawn sketches. This book is not for children as language is rather profane. Recommended for any adult with appreciation of snark who has tried and failed to become a birder -- this book just might win them over. ( )

A cute book to give a birding friend who has everything. ( )

A marvelous spoof of Bird Guides, including How to Use This Book, The Birds, Tips for Watching Birds, Four Seasons of Bird Watching, Extinct Species, Bird Feeders, Keeping Your Own Bird Journal, Acknowledgments and References. Excellent illustrations, as you can see by the beautiful upside-down White-breasted Butt Nugget on the front cover.

You can get the general flavor of the book by seeing how he classifies them:

Typical Birds
Backyard Assholes
Hummingbirds, Weirdos, and Flycatchers
Egotists and Show-Offs
F***ers (stars are mine, the author is not as reticent)
Floaters, Sandbirds, and Dork-legs
Murder Birds

Two examples:

White-breasted Butt Nugget
Common Name: White-breasted Nuthatch

An easy way to identify this dumb nuthatch is to look for the bird in your backyard that spends most of its time upside down. Its diet should be insects and acorns, but this bird is a sucker for free food, so they spend a lot of their time industriously carrying sunflower seeds away from your bird feeder to hide them in random crevices for shame-eating later, when nobody is watching.

Bird Note:Their nasal calls are a familiar irritation on winter mornings over much of North America.
---------------------------------------------
Motherf***ing Bald Eagle
Common Name: Bald Eagle

Is this bird flawed? Hell, yes – it’s a bird. But it stands for the promise of something good. Please, don’t even get me started, because this is the best mother***ing bird there is. Period.

( )

Too crass and snarky for my taste. I cannot pass this on to my friends because of the foul language; nor will I keep it as I normally do the books I review and like. This gets three stars only because some of the entries and most of the art made me smile a bit. But the language made me cringe more than the art made me smile. In all, I'm glad I didn't buy this; I would have been disappointed. ( )