Subject: Western bird CDs
Date: Jan 10 18:22:42 1999
From: Jim McCoy - jfmccoy at earthlink.net


Here is my summary of the reviews I received:

The western edition of the Stokes CD collection (sans Lang Elliott) is
supposed to
come out later this year (thanks, Gail), and I will use my own experience of
the
Stokes eastern edition to make comparisons:

Comprehensiveness:
Peterson Ear Birding -- 522 species. There may be a recording of the
kitchen sink on here somewhere.
Peterson Bird Songs -- 90 species. This is intended primarily as a teaching
tool, not a reference.
Stokes (eastern) -- 372 species. All the usual suspects, but the casual
species are not covered.

Thoroughness:
Peterson Ear Birding -- Unclear from reviews, but only 90 species on three
CDs is promising.
Peterson Bird Songs -- Short recordings: 522 species on two CDs imposes
serious limits.
Stokes (eastern) -- Reasonable: three or more recordings for most species;
three CDs.

Quality:
Peterson Ear Birding -- Not clear from reviews.
Peterson Bird Songs -- Sound quality not always good.
Stokes (eastern) -- Sound quality is good.

Ease of use:
Peterson Ear Birding -- Organization by subjective category (similar sounds)
can make finding
species tricky.
Peterson Bird Songs -- Companion to Peterson western field guide makes
locating the species you
want easy enough, but several species per track means that you have to
listen to several species to hear the one you want.
Stokes (eastern) -- Companion to Stokes eastern guide; presumably
equivalent will be true of western.
Either one or two species per track.

Educational value:
Peterson Ear Birding -- Education seems to be the primary purpose of this
one; it wins easily here
by discussion of what to listen for and how to differentiate.
Peterson Bird Songs -- Slight (see thoroughness).
Stokes (eastern) -- Slight (see thoroughness).

Western Dialects:
Peterson Ear Birding -- Reportedly doesn't do a great job.
Peterson Bird Songs -- Unclear from reviews.
Stokes (western) -- TBD, but they already have all those recordings of
eastern dialects...

Price (suggested retail):
Peterson Ear Birding -- $40
Peterson Bird Songs -- $40
Stokes (eastern) -- $30

Availability:
Peterson Ear Birding -- Widely and currently available.
Peterson Bird Songs -- Widely and currently available.
Stokes (eastern) -- Currently unavailable, reportedly due out later this
year.

Please keep in mind that the conclusions below are comprised of my own
subjective
reckoning, as well as the imperfect translation of others' subjective
reckonings.

Conclusions:

-- If you have enough money and time, there are reasons to buy all three. I
heard from
fans of all them.

-- Those who want to learn HOW to bird by ear should get the Ear Birding CD
collection.

-- Very experienced ear birders who know most or all of the locals and
regular migrants might
want the Peterson Western bird songs CD collection, to cover the casual
species that they
don't get to hear often or at all.

-- Those in the middle who want a high-quality reference should consider the
Stokes, providing
you're willing to wait for it. This is what I'm going to do.

Thanks again to all who responded.

JMc

Jim McCoy
jfmccoy at earthlink.net
Redmond, WA