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Best Bird Book (1 Viewer)

rin said:
Lars Jonson for me, excellent book, better pictures and descriptions than some of the others that I have. I too have been buying many older books off ebay but nothing to beat this one.

Got the Collins when I joined RSPB and bought other Collins books but still love the Lars best to date. Not too heavy to wander about with.

Happy hunting.

Catherine
Click to expand...

I bought this book at the weekend based on your recomendation - I managed to find it for £12 which I was quite pleased by, and guess what, I like it too :)
 
How about for North America

The book by Collins sounds good if I were in England, but what would you recommend for us Yankees :hi: Particularly for the Northwest U.S.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions,

Jerry
 
As previously mentioned I have Collins and some others but just picked up Hamlyn's Birds of Britain & Europe which I find particulary useful as it contains huge amounts of vagrant birds.
It's a small light book perfect for the pocket and I like the way it's written - Great tit call 'saw sharpening'....
From National trust shops for £3.99
 
Collins Bird Guide (large format) availability - Help!

Hello there,

since I'm very interested in buying the Collins Bird Guide (hardback, large format!), is there anybody who can let me have some info about its availability (internet, local bookshops etc)?
It seems it's no longer available on Amazon ...

Thank you very much for your precious help

Max
 
Good book for a beginner!

I agree, the collins bird guide is excellent, but another good one to buy is

Identifying birds by behavior by Dominic Cousins

(I get my books from www.play.com, often cheaper than Amazon and free delivery too! Speedy and efficient service!)

The book does exactly what it says on the front cover! Since reading it, I have learnt to identify so many birds, I higly recommend it!
 
lvnbrdninsd said:
In America, i love the sibley guide
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I must say I took a quick look at a copy of the Sibley guide the other night and I was very impressed. I am not planning on visiting N America in the near future but I'm tempted to get myself a copy anyway!
 
brianfm said:
I must say I took a quick look at a copy of the Sibley guide the other night and I was very impressed. I am not planning on visiting N America in the near future but I'm tempted to get myself a copy anyway!
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It is good, whats better are the two eastern and western field guide versions which are very handy. I wish that the Collins would go along a similar line and produce a smaller more user friendly Uk/NW europe centred version using say the 570 or so birds recorded in the UK and making the pictures larger and the text more readable all in a field friendly version, hardened flexible cover, easily opened. Its all there already just a question of reformatting.
 
Re:

gmax said:
Hello there,

since I'm very interested in buying the Collins Bird Guide (hardback, large format!), is there anybody who can let me have some info about its availability (internet, local bookshops etc)?
It seems it's no longer available on Amazon ...

Thank you very much for your precious help

Max
Click to expand...

Hi Max,

Collins seems to be available (both large and smaller formats ) at Amazon UK now.

Here's a link to the large format version.

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0002197286/qid=1145361776/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_3_4/203-5076588-7323138

Hope this helps.

R.
 
Re:

Frogbad said:
I think that the link above is to the hardback small format version and not to the hardback large format version.
Click to expand...


I think you're right here. My mistake.

It might be possible to obtain the book from the publisher, Collins, directly. But that would (if it's available) more than likely be at full price.


R.
 
its quite obvious that most people fav book is the collins, but why?
to a total beginner it must be really confusing, thousands of different types of birds and probably less than half (prob more?) you might just encounter when out and about. i think a much simpler book would be nessecary for the beginner, until they get acustom to our natives before diving into the deep end with a collins.
 
luke said:
its quite obvious that most people fav book is the collins, but why?
to a total beginner it must be really confusing, thousands of different types of birds and probably less than half (prob more?) you might just encounter when out and about. i think a much simpler book would be nessecary for the beginner, until they get acustom to our natives before diving into the deep end with a collins.
Click to expand...

I think you are quite correct Luke. I use Collins because I reckon it's the best available for the area but guess it's just a matter of opinion and what meets individuals needs. I occasionally bird in Europe as well as the UK so think Collins is excellent and in any event it widens the perspective. I used various books when starting out, and still do of course. I remember a time that I would not have heard of many of the birds in Collins and I agree that many beginners would find Collins a bit daunting. I am not sure how many species is in the book, but perhaps 'thousands' is pushing it a bit, but I know what you mean. ;) Having recently spent time trying to get to grips with a guide for areas in South America that I have visited for the first time, I can sympathise for those just setting out with watching birds.

Cheers
 
Apart from the Collins bird guide, you should have a look at this one.........

Identifying birds by behavior by Dominic Couzens
(Usually cheaper at www.play.com ) It does exactly what it says on the tin!!! Full of really useful information, a great help! B :)
 
Last edited:
brianfm said:
I think you are quite correct Luke. I use Collins because I reckon it's the best available for the area but guess it's just a matter of opinion and what meets individuals needs. I occasionally bird in Europe as well as the UK so think Collins is excellent and in any event it widens the perspective. I used various books when starting out, and still do of course. I remember a time that I would not have heard of many of the birds in Collins and I agree that many beginners would find Collins a bit daunting. I am not sure how many species is in the book, but perhaps 'thousands' is pushing it a bit, but I know what you mean. ;) Having recently spent time trying to get to grips with a guide for areas in South America that I have visited for the first time, I can sympathise for those just setting out with watching birds.

Cheers
Click to expand...

I agree, as a beginner in British birds it seems that they've missed the boat a bit with the UK market. The Collins has great illustrations but the illustrations are so small and the text also very small. Why not use the same illustrations, cut out the non UK birds, and just reformat the book to be smaller, more portable, better cover and binding that allows you to actually open the book flat easily. That should allow better diagrams and text and make it more user firendly. I believe there are upwards of 770 bird species in Collins, they should cut that down to the 570 or so that are on the BOURC list of british birds.

Seems like it would be a non brainer and make them more money in the UK market and get more beginners to buy it, after all they deserve the best illustartions as well as any expert.
 
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