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Update, Dec 13, 2009: Apparently, the Sibley Online Guide has been taken down. I have no idea why.

Update, Feb 28, 2010: The site’s disappearing act may have something to do with the new Sibley iPhone app.

The Sibley Guide to Birds is now available online. And this isn’t just some abbreviated version, it’s just about the entire “big” Sibley! The species accounts include everything from the printed version, including all of the illustrations (with the invaluable annotations), range map, and text. As a bonus, it also includes an audio sample.

You can search for birds both by family and by typing in any part of the name in a search box. The interface isn’t as nifty as Cornell’s All About Birds, but it is simple and intuitive.

There’s also a reference section that includes some material from The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior

I wouldn’t give up my printed Sibley guide for anything. But I can see this online version being very useful at times when your hardcopy isn’t available. And if you don’t already have this guide? Then check out this online version and see what you’ve been missing.

A big thanks to John from A DC Birding Blog for bringing this to my attention.

Just in case you also read something other than bird books (even I do, on occasion 🙂 ), check out the latest book review blog carnival.

Here are some recent book reviews from other sites. Well, relatively recent – I got a bit behind.

This book, by Andrew Nikiforuk, is available for free as a pdf download. You need to hurry, though, it’s only available through March 20 (that’s tomorrow, as I write this).

This is a very important, and controversial, issue that directly impacts birds and other wildlife, and indirectly affects every living thing on this planet. Here is some more information on the book:

Canada has one third of the world’s oil source; it comes from the bitumen in the oil sands of Alberta. Advancements in technology and frenzied development have created the world’s largest energy project in Fort McMurray where, rather than shooting up like a fountain in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, the sticky bitumen is extracted from the earth. Providing almost 20 percent of America’s fuel, much of this dirty oil is being processed in refineries in the Midwest. This out-of-control megaproject is polluting the air, poisoning the water, and destroying boreal forest at a rate almost too rapid to be imagined. In this hard-hitting book, journalist Andrew Nikiforuk exposes the disastrous environmental, social, and political costs of the tar sands and argues forcefully for change.

The Boreal Songbird Initiative has further information about the book and the giveaway.