I find the book quite logical and helpful in identifying mystery birds. One somewhat annoying feature is that water birds are grouped in with non-water birds, but still the book is easy to use. Each bird has a decent color photo of a typical bird of that type. If the male and female are different, there’s a picture of both. Juveniles are also described and sometimes pictured, such as a juvenile cardinal.

Basic information is provided: size in inches and centimeters, appearance of the female, male and juvenile, type of nest, number of broods per year, number of eggs, incubation, information on fledging, migration type, food, and information similar birds. For example, in the turkey vulture section, Stan tells you how to tell it apart from a black vulture. He also provides a helpful little map of Maryland and Delaware showing where you’ll find a particular summer, winter or year-round.

I especially enjoy the “Stan’s Note” section providing some interesting tidbits about the bird. For example, Stan notes that “The vulture’s naked head is an adaptation to reduce risk of feather fouling (picking up diseases) from carcasses.”

Overall, this is an excellent beginner’s book covering 140 common species in Maryland and Delaware. The audio CD of bird calls is sold separately. In my local bookstore, it comes packaged with the book in a small leather binder, which I as a vegan am not happy about. I would love to have bought the both together without purchasing leather.