field guide

American  

noun

1. a portable illustrated book to help identify birds, plants, rocks, etc., as on a nature walk.

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Example Sentences

He seems to have taken it not as a critique but as a field guide to the clientele he sought; he reread the book regularly throughout his life.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

This can be helped by foraging with field guide to confirm species and avoid confusion, the Woodland Trust says.

From BBC • Oct. 27, 2024

My late Uncle Pepe was an avid mushroom hunter, rising early on late-summer Saturdays, field guide in hand, to head to a local New York City park for his weekly forage.

From Washington Times • Dec. 5, 2023

There are many mushroom field guides, such as Steve Trudell’s “Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest” and the well-loved field guide, “All that the Rain Promises and More” by David Arora, to help identify Washington mushrooms.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 28, 2023

There was one rule about the field guide: We had to see the specimen with our own eyes to include it.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen