Beginner Bird Watcher

Since you are in TX and could go anywhere, a North American guide is essential. Sibley is by far my favorite. It's a bit larger than the others but it has the maps and everything all in one place. Sibley is an artist and painted every "plate" by hand. The paintings are more reliable that photo-based guides though each has its pros and cons.

For me this is the easiest answer in the world - Sibley. I do have Kaufman, National Geo and a few others but Sibley is the best. Those phone apps are a great supplement but not the primary source. I have those too.

The Peterson Field Guide is an excellent starter book to carry around. It has hand drawn color pictures that point out the key identifying features of what you should look for.

Basically you need two kinds of books.
A small field guide and a larger full description book.
Think of it as having both a Dictionary and Encyclopedia.

Most serious birders use

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America - about $24

Try an app for your iPhone, iPad or iPod. Peterson's is a good one.

-Tom

Golden Field Guide (Golden Press) is my favorite for carrying outdoors: it's soft cover and can fit into a pocket. Sibley's is not so good for carrying around, but it does have pictures of immature birds (which can be confusing.)

We opted for a bird ID book based on the bird's colors to start with. Made it easy!

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico