Collins Bird Guide - errata and queries (1 Viewer)

The full Errata List Document is contained in Post #255

The second edition of the Collins Bird Guide has been available for a while now, and a number of problems have been identified with it (many of these have been reported on here). As there appears to be no official route for reporting errors mentioned in the book, I thought it would be useful to set up this thread as an unofficial means of doing that. To start things off, I've collected together all the errors I'm aware of in a single errata list, which I'll shortly post in this thread.

I've tried to distinguish "criticism" (e.g. I don't like the way they've painted my favourite bird) from "errors" (e.g. typos, chopped-off curlew bills and so on). I've included the latter but not the former, although if a particular criticism has been noted independently by many people, with no dissenters, I've regarded it as an honorary error and included it.

Hopefully I've picked up all of the errors that posters to Birdforum have noted, but if not, please post further corrections in this thread, and I (or anyone) can produce an updated version of this errata list in due course.

And just in case anyone is in any doubt, despite the glitches, I regard the Collins Bird Guide as a superb piece of work - if I didn't, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of collating this list!

Here's the list of errors I'm aware of to date. One other point - if there are any errors in these errors, post those here too

Preface, p. 7
The first edition was in fact published in 14 languages, not 13

Species accounts, pp. 14-407
p. 16 Lesser White-fronted Goose: the map should not show Britain as part of the species’ wintering range
p. 28 Baikal Teal: British status should be V*** and ‘arguably doubtful whether any record involves a genuine straggler’ should be deleted in the light of recent isotope studies
p. 54 Chukar: British status should be ‘-’
p. 70 Macaronesian Shearwater: in the title, ‘Macaronesian’ should be in bold typeface
p. 80 Striated Heron: British status should be ‘-’
p. 86 Bald Ibis: mapped breeding distribution is too extensive; the species is only known to breed in the wild at one site in coastal Morocco and one site in Syria
p. 90 Griffon Vulture: British status should be ‘-’
p. 100 Booted Eagle: British status should be [V***]
p. 105 Hen, Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers: the illustrations of adult males are too dark
p. 110 Honey Buzzard: the map should show the British breeding range extending patchily to Wales, northern England and Scotland
p. 124 Water Rail: the map shows this species occurring widely in Iceland, whereas it is quite a localised species
p. 126 Purple Swamphen: ‘mada- gascariensis’ should read ‘madagascariensis’
p. 128 Common Crane: the map should show a small breeding population in East Anglia
p. 130 Houbara and MacQueen’s Bustards: British statuses should be transposed
p. 156 Marsh Sandpiper: the mapped breeding range should include Estonia
p. 171 Slender-billed Curlew and Little Curlew: on the smaller illustrations of these two species in flight, the bills have been truncated
p. 186 Audouin’s Gull: British status should be V***
p. 217 Trocaz Pigeon: the pale shading at the tip of the tail and left wing of should not be present
p. 220 Oriental Cuckoo: British status should be ‘-‘
p. 234 Red-necked Nightjar: British status should be V***
p. 254 Black Lark: British status should be V***
p. 277 Robin: on the largest illustration of an adult, the line pointing to the breast should be captioned ‘rusty-red bib’
p. 280 Moussier’s Redstart: British status should be V***
p. 282 Isabelline Wheatear: the map should show the breeding range extending into Romania
p. 288 White-crowned Wheatear: British status should be V***
p. 296 Blue Rock Thrush: British status should be V***
p. 306 Eastern and Western Orphean Warblers: British statuses should be transposed
p. 314 Moustached Warbler: British status should be ‘-‘
p. 324 Olive-tree Warbler: British status should be V***
p. 332 Greenish Warbler: ‘mostly Jun-Jul, often sing’ should read ‘mostly Aug-Sep; also Jun-Jul when often sings’
p. 332 Green Warbler: British status should be V***
p. 338 Brown Flycatcher: British status should be V***
p. 356 Masked Shrike: British status should be V***
p. 359 Nile Valley Sunbird: ‘Walley’ should read ‘Valley’
p. 374 Rock Sparrow: British status should be V***
p. 386 Parrot Crossbill: ‘has bred in Britain’ should read ‘breeds in N Scotland in ancient pine forest; has bred in England’

Vagrants, pp. 408-17
p. 408 Cape Teal: British status should be ‘-‘
p. 413 Swinhoe’s Snipe: British status should be ‘-‘
p. 416 Eastern Crowned Warbler: Listed countries should include Britain

Introductions and escapes, pp. 422-26
p. 408 Black Swan: British status should be ‘-‘
p. 413 Emperor Goose: British status should be ‘-‘

Index, pp. 429-48
p. 429 ‘Allealle’ should read ‘Alle alle’
p. 430 ‘Auk, Little Allealle’ should read ‘Auk, Little Alle alle’
p. 430 ‘Aukelet’ should read ‘Auklet’
p. 430 Bluetail, Red-flanked: ‘Tarsigercyanurus’ should read ‘Tarsiger cyanurus’
p. 431 Buteo and Buzzards, Buteo: page range should be 106-09
p. 431 Buzzard, ‘Steppe’: ‘Buteo Buteo vulpinus’ should read ‘Buteo buteo vulpinus’
p. 431 ‘Rough-Legged’ should read ‘Rough-legged’
p. 431 ‘Calonectris diomedea. diomedea’ should read ‘Calonectris diomedea diomedea’
p. 435 ‘Flycatcher, (Asian) Brown’ is misplaced, before other flycatchers
p. 436 Guillemots: ‘Uris’ should read ‘Uria’
p. 436 Gulls: ‘Large White-Headed’ should read ‘Large white-headed’
p. 436 ‘Hawkfinch’ should read ‘Hawfinch’
p. 436 ‘Harrier, (Western) Marsh’ is misplaced, among the herons
p. 437 ‘Kittywake’ should read ‘Kittiwake’
p. 438 ‘Martin, (Eurasian) Craig’ should read ‘Martin, (Eurasian) Crag’
p. 439 ‘Nuthatch, KrüperXs’ should read ‘Nuthatch, Krüper’s’
p. 439 Under Oenanthe, ‘284’ should read ‘cypriaca 284’
p. 444 ‘Stercorarlidae’ should read ‘Stercorariidae’ and the correct page range is 174-7
p. 444 Under Stonechat, ‘Eastern’, ‘er al’ should read ‘et al’
p.445 ‘Tarsigercyanurus’ should read ‘Tarsiger cyanurus’
p. 446 Under Tringa, ‘tetanuss’ should read ‘ totanus’
p.446 ‘Uris lomvia’ should read ‘Uria lomvia’

Good idea Steve

'extraordinarily' is misspelt on the Richard's Pipit page (263) (missing last 'i')
The text on Eagle Owl states "...only a handful of genuine records in Britain, all in 19th century..." yet the map shows a big purple blob in N England (where it should be!! )
Swap positons of the Whitethroat (so it's on the same page as confusion species as it used to be) and Desert Warblers
Don't forget topography diagrams inside covers!

Are some of the mapping 'errors' to protect the specific locations of certain breeding birds, or is that a bit of a moot point when locations are generally known and widely available??

I think issues of positioning of birds within the guide are not errors as such, as some are subjective ... ? (Unless they really are unhelpful?)

dantheman said:

Are some of the mapping 'errors' to protect the specific locations of certain breeding birds, or is that a bit of a moot point when locations are generally known and widely available??

I think issues of positioning of birds within the guide are not errors as such, as some are subjective ... ? (Unless they really are unhelpful?)

Click to expand...

I'd agree about the layout issues - not really errors, just differences of taste.

You're correct to a degree about the maps - there is a comment in the Preface about this. I'm guessing you agree that Norfolk cranes and Scottish Honey Buzzards are sufficiently well-known to point out? But yes, let's be sensible - we don't want this thread to deteriorate into yet another tedious Birdforum argument about whether there are or aren't Golden Eagles in a certain county in northern England that isn't Cumbria.

Parrot Crossbill "HAS bred in Britain" ? Nothing on map also....

StevePreddy said:

I'd agree about the layout issues - not really errors, just differences of taste.

Click to expand...

But in a fieldguide shouldn't all confusable same-family birds be on the same page, or at best overleaf? They were in the first guide so it just weird to've put the DeW's in their place and Whitethroat with Blackcap, Garden and Barred Warblers....It was obviously done at the printing stage so it's not a hard prob to rectify and is more of a glaring mistake than spelling/occurence/mapping errors

Hello all,

I have remained silent on all threads to do with the second edition Bird Guide, lest any obvious 'presence' of one of the authors inhibit any justified criticism (or encourage the more personal kind of digs that some individuals like to deliver very publically!). I have, however, taken note of the many typographical/factual errors and general criticisms that have been posted here and I take this opportunity to thank all who have taken the time and trouble to point out errors and offer constructive criticism - it doesn't always make pleasant reading, but it helps to know what people do and don't like.

I want to express particular appreciation for the effort Steve Preddy has put in to compiling this errata list above, many of which I had not spotted in my own perusals of the printed book. I will send a list of errors for correction to the publishers today, and provided they get to the right person, I believe there is a good chance that at least the more easily rectified ones will be corrected in time for the next printing, which will be very soon.

I would of course appreciate notification of any further typographical errors (ones not already included in Steve's list) as soon as possible.

Steve did ask for any errors in his list of errors to be corrected, so here are my comments on just two:

Griffon Vulture: V*** is arguably correct – there is an Irish record dating back to 1843, so it has occurred as an extremely rare vagrant (but not so often as "only one or a very few records per decade", as defined by the three stars *** )

Eastern and Western Orphean Warblers: So far as I am aware, the BBRC/BOURC has not formally determined the form(s) of (any of the?) Orphean Warblers recorded in Britain, though there appears to be an assumption that at least some records involve Western birds. As Orphean Warbler is not yet ‘split’ by the BOURC perhaps there should be a ‘?’ after the ‘V***’' for both species, until the records have been critically reviewed?

Thanks again Steve. I will arrange for a copy of the corrected print to be sent to you as a mark of appreciation!

Regards,

Killian Mullarney

Orphean Warbler

KM1 said:

Eastern and Western Orphean Warblers: So far as I am aware, the BBRC/BOURC has not formally determined the form(s) of (any of the?) Orphean Warblers recorded in Britain, though there appears to be an assumption that at least some records involve Western birds. As Orphean Warbler is not yet ‘split’ by the BOURC perhaps there should be a ‘?’ after the ‘V***’' for both species, until the records have been critically reviewed?

Click to expand...

Actually, the BOURC 34th Report (2006) formally added ssp hortensis (Western) to Cat A of the British List, on the basis of DNA analysis of a feather retained from the bird trapped at Portland, Dorset, in Sep 1955.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118531070/PDFSTART

Richard

Thanks for this post Killian - and your intention to get the errata list off to the publishers so quickly. I'm sure everyone will be very appreciative. I don't have a copy in front of me at present so I don't know the page number but in the index there is a "Gossander'. Pretty obvious what it should be!

David

PS: If the next reprint is very soon will those who bought the edition with all these errors be sitting on an extremely valuable item in years to come?!!

Was it not too late for the EC Warbler in Britain to be mentioned it was only short time before the book came out.

P. 303 Graceful Prinia The caption "Dark with pail tips" should read "Dark with pale tips"

KM1 said:

Hello all,

I have remained silent on all threads to do with the second edition Bird Guide,.............
Killian Mullarney

Click to expand...

Killian, I think your (non)-reaction to all the comments has been a very wise one. Thanks for that, too.

And I very much appreciate your activity at this point, getting those errors or whatever they are in some cases, as quickly to the publishers as possible. To me, the most critical point are the dark harriers. But living in Switzerland means I am not particularly interested in the status details that are in the book. The German first edition has the same for Germany. But I have hardly ever bothered when birding in southern Germany, as the country is just too large (like the UK) for the status indicators to be of local interest. Accuracy in the range maps is of much greater importance.

DavidinParis said:

PS: If the next reprint is very soon will those who bought the edition with all these errors be sitting on an extremely valuable item in years to come?!!

Click to expand...

Not now you've said that David - we'll all be holding onto our copies in the hold of making a quick quid/buck/euro in a few years time... :-O

Good idea, Steve.

Despite the long list of errata, which must irritate KM far more than anyone else, I don't think any really undermine the essential usefulness of this new edition. Bottom line is that this book will still allow you to successfully ID more birds than any other on the market. I can add only one more error - p354 - Red-backed Shrike map shows it breeding in East Anglia & SE England.

Since KM has ventured onto this thread, I'd like to publically thank him for his role in bringing this excellent new edition to fruition. However much we might gripe, a quick look at all rival guides (and similar books covering other regions) instantly reminds us just how far the Collins Guide remains ahead of the field. Not that we'll all stop pushing our own agendas (in my case a 'Europe only version' with fewer species, but larger text & illustrations) with regard to our 'wish list'!

Only two errors of illustrations are mentioned above. I think that is a testament to how good the book is.

Can't argue with the standard of the book - it should be a template for all fieldguides!! It's just human nature to make things the best they can be...!

John Cantelo said:

Since KM has ventured onto this thread, I'd like to publically thank him for his role in bringing this excellent new edition to fruition. However much we might gripe, a quick look at all rival guides (and similar books covering other regions) instantly reminds us just how far the Collins Guide remains ahead of the field.

Click to expand...

Here, Here John! I think Killian and Lars are owed a huge debt by European birders. We have 'the' best guide on the planet at our disposal, and with such attentive and responsive authors it will only continue to get better. The things being picked up are at the minor end of the scale after all, and a work of this nature will always contain a few errors.

All,

Thank you very much for your further corrections (I am particularly happy to be corrected with regard to the place of Western Orphean Warbler on the British List - thanks Richard) and for your kind comments, which I am sure will be appreciated by Dan and Lars too, should they too 'drop in' for a look. I have sent the Swedish publishers as complete a list as I have of typographical and minor factual errors and I'm sure they'll do their best to get as many as possible corrected in time for the next print run. As for the more major errors, incorrect maps, not-so-good illustrations and debatable improvements in the arrangement of some species on plates, these may take a little longer to put right!

Please feel free to continue to discuss, criticise, even tear apart the treatments you don't like - ultimately, all constructive criticism is welcome, and useful.

Killian Mullarney

First, hi to Killian, good to know you find this helpful. If you want a proofreader for the 3rd edition in 2021, you know where to find me

Thanks for the further suggestions from everyone else - as Killian says, keep them coming. I'll consolidate them all into a single list and post this here once new suggestions dry up.

Someone out there mentioned "sommer" in place of "summer" - any idea where?

Are there any other points about the illustrations that are worth including in the list, other than the darkness of the harriers?

I've delved a bit deeper into the British statuses, and here are a few more suggested amendments to these. Let me know if you disagree.

p. 62 Yellow-billed Loon: British status should be V*
p. 74 Wilson’s Storm Petrel: British status should be V*
p. 82 Cattle and Great Egrets: British status should be V*
p. 84 White Stork: British status should be V*
p. 86 Glossy Ibis: British status should be V**
p. 144 American Golden Plover: British status should be V*
p. 170 Stilt Sandpiper: British status should be V**
p. 196 Franklin’s Gull: British status should be V**
p. 202 Caspian Tern: British status should be V**
p. 220 Great Spotted Cuckoo: British status should be V**
p. 224 Snowy Owl: British status should be V**
p. 236 Pallid Swift: British status should be V**
p. 236 Alpine Swift: British status should be V*
p. 250 Short-toed Lark: British status should be V*
p. 250 Red-rumped Swallow: British status should be V*
p. 280 Red-flanked Bluetail: British status should be V**
P. 300 Black-throated Thrush: British status should be V**
p. 324 Subalpine Warbler: British status should be V*
p. 320 Blyth’s Reed and Paddyfield Warblers: British status should be V**
p. 334 Hume’s Leaf Warbler: British status should be V**
p. 352 Lesser Grey Shrike: British status should be V**
p. 354 Isabelline Shrike: British status should be V**
p. 370 Rose-coloured Starling: British status should be V*
p. 386 Two-barred Crossbill: British status should be V**
p. 398 Pine Bunting: British status should be V**
p. 400 Black-headed Bunting: British status should be V**
p. 402 Rock Bunting: British status should be V***

Steve