Shorebirds are popular, and three new shorebird identification guides have appeared in the last year or so: this work, Message and Taylor’s Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia (reviewed below), and Paulson’s Shorebirds of North America (reviewed in Western Birds 36:275–276, 2005). You may well ask, “Do we need all of these guides? Which one(s) should I buy?” The answer depends on what you want. Let’s take a look at The Shorebird Guide.