The Helm Guide to Bird Identification


Book Description

An essential field guide companion covering species pairs or groups that are difficult to identify. This book covers difficult identification issues by looking at tricky species pairs or groups of birds, and comparing and contrasting their respective features. Designed as a field companion, it supplements the standard field guides and provides much additional information. As well as detailed texts, the books include extensive illustrations of all relevant ages and plummages of the species concerned.




Finches and Sparrows


Book Description

This is a guide to 'true' finches and sparrows illustrating all the species, many races and most sex and age variations, with almost 950 portraits. The maps accompanying the illustrations show breeding and wintering ranges for all species. Although the guide is not primarily intended for cagebird enthusiasts, it will also be useful for those wishing to know more about the species encountered in captivity.







Birds of Ecuador


Book Description

This up-to-date and comprehensive guide to the birds of mainland Ecuador is a valuable resource for anyone exploring the mountains, forests and wetlands of this incredibly bird-rich country. With thousands of beautiful and detailed paintings, accompanied by concise descriptions and accurate maps, this is an indispensible guide to bird identification in Ecuador. · Covers every species and most subspecies recorded in Ecuador, including migrants and vagrants, with accurate and up-to-date distribution maps. · 291 colour plates illustrating more than 1,630 species, with text on facing pages for quick and easy reference. · Concise text covering identification, voice, habits, habitats, range, distribution and status.




Cuckoos of the World


Book Description

WINNER OF THE BIRDWATCH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2012 This authoritative handbook, part of the Helm Identification Guides series, looks in detail at the world's cuckoos, couas and anis - it is the ultimate reference to the cuckoos of the world. Famed as brood-parasites of other birds, the cuckoos include a diverse range of species, from the roadrunners of North America to the spectacular malkohas of southern Asia. This book discusses the biology and identification of these birds on a species-by-species basis, bringing together the very latest research with accurate range maps, more than 600 stunning colour photographs that illuminate age and racial plumage differences, and 36 superb plates by a team of internationally renowned artists.




Birds of Central Asia


Book Description

Birds of Central Asia is the first field guide to include the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, along with neighbouring Afghanistan. This vast area includes a diverse variety of habitats, and the avifauna is similarly broad, from sandgrouse, ground jays and larks on the vast steppe and semi-desert to a broad range of raptors, and from woodland species such as warblers and nuthatches to a suite of montane species, such as snowcocks, accentors and snowfinches. This book includes 141 high-quality plates covering every species (and all distinctive races) that occur in the region, along with concise text focusing on identification and accurate colour maps. Important introductory sections introduce the land and its birds. Birds of Central Asia is a must-read for any birder or traveller visiting this remote region.




Flight Identification of European Seabirds


Book Description

Seawatching can present identification difficulties to even the most experienced birdwatcher, and demands a specialised set of skills and strategies to deal with the challenges of bad weather and poor visibility. The rewards can be great; many species of seabird live exclusively at sea outside their breeding seasons, while many others undertake regular coastal migrations. At established 'watchpoints' around European coastlines, patient observation may reveal spectacular numbers of passing seabirds, while today the growing popularity of whale-watching and 'pelagic' boat excursions makes it possible to get closer to many offshore species. This unique field guide is indispensable to all birdwatchers who seawatch, whether from land or at sea, and will greatly enhance their experience.




Birds of Senegal and The Gambia


Book Description

Birds of Senegal and The Gambia – the definitive field guide to the birds of this magical corner of West Africa – just got even better. This enhanced fixed-format version of the book – featuring songs and calls – is set to change birding, forever. Optimised for iPad, it features the book in crisp, clear high-resolution. Superb, fully zoomable colour plates of the highest detail lie opposite comprehensive identification text and accurate range maps. In addition, this e-book features songs, calls and other sounds from 630 species, placed conveniently next to the accompanying species text. The 1,050 sounds included on this e-book represent more than 95% coverage of species in the region. This epic collection of images and sounds represents a step change in the way birders operate. No more carrying heavy books into the field. No more trying to remember sounds days or weeks after the event, while all other methods for taking sounds into the field are consigned to the dustbin. This field guide can even be downloaded to your iPhone or iPod Touch. This e-book provides a complete field-based ID solution – no birder will want to be without it.




Flight Identification of Raptors of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East


Book Description

This book is the ultimate flight-identification guide for the raptors of the Western Palaearctic, covering Europe, North Africa, the Middle East (including Arabia) to Central Asia. Raptors are notoriously hard to identify, even if seen well, and represent perhaps the toughest of all ID challenges for birders. This guide provides identification information for all 60 species that regularly occur in the region, to subspecific level. The text covers every plumage and age in detail, with each species account accompanied by a range of photographs covering all the principal plumages. Based on this stunning photographic coverage, most of which has never been published before, this book represents a landmark in bird identification books and a major work for all raptor enthusiasts.




Birds of Trinidad and Tobago


Book Description

Trinidad & Tobago are popular tourist destinations and the islands are also a top location for visiting birders. This comprehensive and portable field guide covers every species found on the islands. The concise text includes descriptions of every species, highlighting plumage variation and distinctions from similar species. The plates use the relevant images from Birds of Northern South America to create new plates specific for Trinidad & Tobago. This new edition has been completely revised. The plates have been extensively re-worked, with many images replaced and repainted. As a result, there are now eight extra plates, and some groups, such as flycatchers, have been repainted almost in entirety. The text has also been updated. This new edition supersedes all previous field guides to these popular islands.