Re:
RSPB Birds of Britain and Europe by Rob Hume is an excellent book.
It adopts a photographic approach. Each page of the main section of the book covers one bird, with a main large photo. There are then various smaller photos for main plumage variations (winter/summer/; male/female; juvenile).
Below the main photo in each page the book has a short paragraph which talks about the bird, followed by Voice, Nesting and Feeding Information.
Sections are colour coded and birds are split by group e.g. Birds of Prey, Wildfowl, Divers and Grebes, Waders, Skuas Gulls and Terns, Chats and Thrushes, Warblers and Allies etc. etc.
Each of the main pages in the species guide has the Order, the Family and the Species of bird (Latin) at the top of each page. At the bottom of each page there is Length, Wingspan, Weight, Social (e.g. small flocks or perhaps large flocks), Lifespan and Status (e.g. secure, vulnerable, endangered etc.) information.
Information about where the bird occurs in Europe is illustrated on a small colour coded map. Info. about which years of the month the bird(s) can be seen from the UK is also given.
It's an excellent book and very easy to access and read. The information is very good and clearly layed out.
The index appears complete and well put together.
There's a section at the back for rare sepcies, where 1 page will generally cover 4 birds. The front/ beginning of the book includes a very good introduction and covers the anatomy of a bird, talks and illustrates broadly about plumage. It has a section on the lifecycle of a bird and some info. on bill shape, tail shape, wing shape and colours (on one page). It briefly covers other things such as in what habitats certain birds can be found.
I have found the book to be an excellent overall guide. It is small enough to take in the field (it's about 7 inches by 5 inches) but large enough that photos are a good size.
It's paperback with a plastic coated cover.
Amazon have it at a discount.
