There are many field guide books on the market these days. Some of these are broad enough to cover the lower 48 states and some are tightly regional. Some are bulky and some are digital and take up space only on your smart phone. My first guide was a Peterson Field Guide that I purchased in 1967. Today it seems rather primitive by modern standards. Now Cornell Labs has written an article that attempts to review many of the exiting guides including the digital variety.
They say that “A good field guide is one of the most important tools to help identify birds. Traditionally, field guides took the form of books, often quite big books, that for field use could be heavy or vulnerable to wetting on rainy days. Nowadays there are also some great smartphone apps as well, making bird ID fit into the palm of your hand. Many people rely on both books and apps to identify birds; below are some of our favorite guides for North America.”
The article discusses books, folding guides, regional guides, digital guides and apps. It’s a good read regardless of how mush you love your present guide. You can rtead the article here: What’s the best book or field guide for bird identification? | All About Birds All About Birds.
Also, local resources in the Verde Valley can be found here: Helpful Services – Birding in the Verde Valley (verdevalleybirding.com)