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Bird guide not to be use in the field (1 Viewer)

canutus

canutus

Well-known member
Hi,

I'd like to buy a guide of European birds, and one of North America birds. As I live in Argentina I wont be using it in the field, so size/weight is not a matter of consideration. For what I have read in other post it seams that "The complete guide to birds of Europe" (hardcover) by Svensson is the right choice for Europe, but for the North American guide the opinions are not unanimous. Many North American birds (Flycatchers, Shorebirds, terns) "visit" us during your winter, so alternate plumage drawings would be nice. What do you think you be the best choise: NatGeo 4th edition? Sibley's field guide to birds?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Canutus, both guides are very good, and cover all of North America. The Sibley shows more alternate plumages than the NG4. In case you ever would want to use the guide in the field, the NG will be easier to handle/carry.

So perhaps you should splurge on both!
 
I would second Stephen's choice, for a field guide. But if the book is not going into the field then why not a copy of the Concise BWP, almost the same price now as the Collins large format with more written information.
 
Forgot about this one, and it's on my bookshelf at the moment. Drop the Concise go for this.


Tim Allwood said:
I get the Handbook to Bird Identification by Madge and Beaman

currently half price at 29.99

a fantastic book

Tim
Click to expand...
 
Tim Allwood said:
I get the Handbook to Bird Identification by Madge and Beaman

currently half price at 29.99

a fantastic book

Tim
Click to expand...
forget about this one, its very poor .; thats's why its go down in price
 
For illustrations I would still go for the Collins, for content the Handbook is a good buy at that price but some of the illustrations are decidedly ropey.
 
Thanks for the input. I guess the "large format version of the Collins Bird Guide by Mullarney et al." is the same as "The complete guide to birds of Europe" (hardcover) by Svensson , the black one with the Barn owl on the cover. Am I right? Dont want to buy the wrong book! Does this book has a larger geografical coverage than the Concise BWP?

Thanks again,

Cristian
 
Cristian,
The Concise BWP covers the complete western palearctic, therefore from North Africa to the Arctic and from Ireland to Israel. The almost the entire list of birds are illustrated and there are text and maps for each.
The Collins is strictly European, not every species has a distribution map, some species appear at the back as accidentals, no picture just the name or introduced birds where you have a small picture and a pargraph of text.
 
black lark said:
the drawings are real bad en the tekst was already behind when it came out
Click to expand...

the good thing about BF is that everyone is entitled to share their opinions. However, in this case I feel you are completely wrong. The Handbook is excellent although rather too large to use as a Field Guide. I've had it since it was first published and refer to it regularly. Some of the artwork may be not to everyone's taste but much of it is of a very high quality. I would recommend any birder, at least on this side of the pond, to include this in their personal library.

martin
 
Has anyone seen the "National Geographic Complete Book of Birds"? Is this the one you are mentioning Tero? Does it has ALL the info found in the fieldguide PLUS extra info or is something missing from the fieldguide?

Thanks,

Cristian
 
martin kitching said:
the good thing about BF is that everyone is entitled to share their opinions. However, in this case I feel you are completely wrong. The Handbook is excellent although rather too large to use as a Field Guide. I've had it since it was first published and refer to it regularly. Some of the artwork may be not to everyone's taste but much of it is of a very high quality. I would recommend any birder, at least on this side of the pond, to include this in their personal library.

martin
Click to expand...
i just mean that there are mutch better guides around than this one, the drawings are just a little better than the peterson guide (i don't know why they still bringing it out)
 
canutus said:
Has anyone seen the "National Geographic Complete Book of Birds"? Is this the one you are mentioning Tero? Does it has ALL the info found in the fieldguide PLUS extra info or is something missing from the fieldguide?

Thanks,
Cristian
Click to expand...
It has all the field guide info EXCEPT I don't remember if it has maps. But the Amazon reviewer says:The new hefty tome, at 664 pages, has updated range maps for each species.

Don't buy their other, older book, which is not a catalog of all the birds.
 
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