Books on gulls (1 Viewer)

[JTweedie]

As I'll be doing seabird surveys I'd like to improve my identification of the different gull plumages.

I'm more interested in gulls we generally see in Scottish waters, and I was wondering what you thought of Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East by Peter Adriaens, Mars Muusse, Philippe J Dubois, Frédéric Jiguet or do you have any other recommendations? It's really an ID guide I'm looking for.

I had a brief look through the Lynx book Seabirds by Peter Harrison, Martin Perrow, Hans Larsson and that looks good too especially as it covers more than just gulls, but as it looks at all the seabirds of the world it might be beyond the scope I'm looking at. It's also quite expensive too.

 

[Butty]

Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: An Identification Guide

The book is due for publication on 13/14 December. I posted a pre-publication review on my blog. £30 or less from other than Princeton. if you want to pay for 'space' trips. https://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/2021/12/gulls-review.html

www.birdforum.net

 

[JTweedie]

Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: An Identification Guide

The book is due for publication on 13/14 December. I posted a pre-publication review on my blog. £30 or less from other than Princeton. if you want to pay for 'space' trips. https://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/2021/12/gulls-review.html

www.birdforum.net

Many thanks. It was the first book that jumped out at me when I was searching so it looks like I was on the right track. I'll place an order for this.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Many thanks. It was the first book that jumped out at me when I was searching so it looks like I was on the right track. I'll place an order for this.

I’ve got that one John. It’s a cracker.

Rich

 

[JTweedie]

Cheers Rich. Looks good from the review.

 

[Stephen Dunstan]

Cheers Rich. Looks good from the review.

Such reviews where a copy is provided are seldom critical, but it is the best gull guide around.

 

[Eranou]

This is a good publication also

 

[njlarsen]

This is a good publication also

View attachment 1447892

And there is an expanded and newer version:

Amazon - Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide: Olsen, Klaus Malling: 9780691180595: Books

Amazon - Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide: Olsen, Klaus Malling: 9780691180595: Books

www.amazon.com

 

[Mark Lew1s]

I think you'd be better off with a good field guide. There's an awful lot of detail in these gull books, and the vast majority of it will be no use to you on your seabird surveys as it will cover species you're not likely to see, or details you won't be able to detect while surveying for the birds. I wonder if it might all prove to be a distraction? There's more than enough in the Collins guide or in a book like 'Europe's Birds' (which has a good gull section) to get you through. Another good one is Flight Identification of European Seabirds - very useful for seabird surveys!

The field guides will give you a) the basics but b) the most useful features. Learn these (and crucially, learn how to see these) and don't forget that 'gull sp' is OK!

 

[JTweedie]

Yes I was trying not to have a book that featured lots of species that I'm not likely to see. We can obviously record just gull sp or whatever, but I'd like to get better at ID more generally just for my own benefit. I've got the Collins field guide but I thought a more specific book would help. I might look up the Flight Identification book you suggest as an alternative.