A Good Bird Book

milster

milster

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Hey guys, I'm looking for a good bird book to get me started, I do have a cheap book, "Collins Nature Guides: Birds of Britain and Europe" which is ok and probably something I could fit in my camera bag, but I'm looking for something a bit more comprehensive. The one I have only gives one image of each bird and doesn't differentiate between sexes, plumage etc.

Any advice would be welcomed, thank you :D


Edit: Maybe this? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Bir...8149/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1335808638&sr=8-3
 
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Its a great book and we have 2 copies of it. One here and one in our home in Spain.

Covers almost everything you need.

The second edition has extra species and more plates. We bought both ours from Amazon.

I would sugest paperback as its lighter and good for traveling.

We also have some specialist Helm guides that we keep for reference at home. Mainly for more plates and colour morphs. There are some good deals to be had on these on amazon.
 
Another one you look at is the RSPB book "Birds of Britain and Europe" by Rob Hume. ISBN number 0-7513-1234-7

As a member I have this book and it is compact (5.5 X 8.5in) and 448 pages long. It fits into my coat pocket easily.


John:)
 
Cheers guys, looking at the sizes on Amazon I think the Collins one is coming up slightly smaller, I think I'm probably swaying towards that :thumbs:
 
For an absolute beginner the RSPB guide may be preferable as it has fewer species than the Collins. This may sound a bit strange (surely more is better) but the extra species are mainly the mega-rarities and can cause some confusion.
 
Thanks Frank, I've already ordered the Collins one but I'll bear the RSPB one in mind if I find the Collins one a bit over bearing at first :thumbs:
 
I think I'll echo Frank's point. When starting out it can be a bit daunting searching through all the different species in a full Britain and Europe guide, if you see something you don't recognise its easier to flick through a guide limited to the UK as this will discard all the birds on the continent therefore making identification quicker. Personally I would point you towards having a British only guide as your main guide to begin with and then when your more familiar with British birds move on to the European guide.
 
milster said:
Thanks Frank, I've already ordered the Collins one but I'll bear the RSPB one in mind if I find the Collins one a bit over bearing at first :thumbs:
Click to expand...
The thing to remember is to check the distribution maps when you're trying to ID and unknown.
 
This is the only guide you are ever likely to need ( for the next 10yrs or so anyway) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Bird-Guide-Lars-Svensson/dp/0007267266 you will not regret getting it:thumbs:.

As your birding skills improve some of the smaller guides will become redundant,the Collins is ' the bible' in birding circles. The images are superb and above all very accurate,the text is simple and easily read. I have 3 copies,one in the van,one I use if I go out birding and the other is minty mint and kept indoors all the time.
 
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Thanks Mex, that's the book I bought and as an added bonus it's gone up by nearly £3.50 since I bought it on Amazon last week :D
 
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