Sibley Guide Comparisons

Most of you know that David Allen Sibley released a 2nd edition to his well-loved Sibley Guide to Birds. Most of you also probably know that people went nuts over it due to the extensive typos and color errors. So the publisher released a second printing with all the errors corrected and many people are now contacting the vendors they bought their first printings from and getting replacement second printing books.

My second printing copy arrived in the mail today. I purchased my first from Amazon, and they refunded me so I could buy a second book and also keep the first.

Second printing at left, first printing at right

One of the big things people complained about was the type. They complained that it was small and light gray, making it hard to read. I didn't have so much of a problem with this, but I agree that the corrected version is much easier to read. 

First printing at left, second printing at right. See how much easier the second
one is to read?

Another big problem was the colors. The reds were too dark, people said. That is true. However, it's not's Sibley's fault, it's the publishers fault. Take a look at the comparison:

First printing at left, second printing at right

Also, you may notice that in the first printing book in this picture (on the left) the red Scarlet Tanager with the black wings at the bottom of the page is labeled "Nonbreeding male". This is of course not accurate. In the second printing, the one on the right, it is corrected. This is one of the typos that people jumped on. Other notable ones include the sex indicators being reversed on the crossbills in flight and my favorite, the Re-tailed Hawk. 

So if you have a chance to get your first printing book replaced with a second printing, do it! It's worth it.