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ID Handbook of European Birds - thoughts, comments thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Winterdune
- Start date
Winterdune
Well-known member
Thanks very much AndrewC!
Andy Lakin
Well-known member
I was using this before going to see the the Black Faced Bunting at Donna Nook. I first had a quick look on the Collins app which was useless as it only showed an adult male! The new guide was fantastic with separate photos for both 1wm and 1wf plus open tail and separate head only photos.
It was very easy to photo the relevant plates with my phone. Also it is amazing how many people go to see a rare bird without knowing the relevant id features it could be very beneficial to fill people in about what they need to look for especially for species that aren't giving the best views
The annotations are an excellent way of knowing which features to look for for anybody that might need to send in a description to any relevant recording committees.
It was very easy to photo the relevant plates with my phone. Also it is amazing how many people go to see a rare bird without knowing the relevant id features it could be very beneficial to fill people in about what they need to look for especially for species that aren't giving the best views
The annotations are an excellent way of knowing which features to look for for anybody that might need to send in a description to any relevant recording committees.
Julian H
Well-known member
So, for anyone that is interested, here is a long form, unedited version of my review that is now in the Dec issue of Birdwatch:
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The arrival of not one but two tomes dedicated to the identification of European passerines and non-passerines was highly awaited. These weighty handbooks are the brainchild of Dutch ID master Nils van Duivendijk and AGAMI principal Marc Guyt. Volume 1 deals with non-passerines and volume 2 with passerines. Together, the 1,056 pages cover 720 species (including regular vagrants) recorded in Europe, rather than the larger geographical area of the Western Palearctic (WP). The guides are hinged on the use of photos, utilising the advancement of digital imagery.
As someone with a penchant for the minutiae of bird identification who plies his day trade as a graphic designer, I can appreciate what has been done here. It is the guide I would have wanted to create. Together, they are simply spectacular and have raised the bar of identification guides through the roof.
To be clear, these are not ‘field guides’ because they are not easily portable in the field. Unlike most modern guides, they do not cover vocalisations, jizz or behaviour, all of which are often key components to identification. So, you’ll have to figure out for yourself that a hovering raptor is a Common Buzzard and not a European Honey Buzzard, or that a tail-dipping Phylloscopus is a Common Chiffchaff rather than a Willow Warbler.
Many will know that van Duivendijk previously published a text-only ‘cheat-sheet’ of ID features in his Advanced Bird ID Handbook. Much of that information provides the bedrock for the text of this guide. It is clear that the authors have carefully curated the images for readers to be able to compare and contrast similar species. Most images are annotated to draw the reader’s attention to key features and characteristics. The quality of the images is consistently high – a tribute to all the amazing photographers involved, with many more species’ plumages included than in other guides.
One of my go-to guides in my early years was Lars Svensson’s Identification Guide to European Passerines – the ‘ringer’s Bible’ – an amazing piece of research and information and one of the most important weapons in my bird ID arsenal. That van Duivendijk has chosen to include wing and tail formulas is a further nod to the benefits of digital-imagery analysis, helping break the idiom that ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ – details previously only discernible in the hand are now available on the back of your camera. This book gives you a lot of “Svensson for free”.
It is also nice to see some field marks I personally began using a decade ago that have has been more widely embraced by newer generations of birders get some attention, e.g., the under primary “notch” in first year Long-tailed Skuas. When faced with ‘problem stints’ in the field or online, one fairly consistent feature of juvenile Red-necked Stints (other than short legs) I have tried to champion is their long central tail feathers, that when seen in profile, stick out beyond the already long wings. Hayman, Marchant and Prater did mention this and illustrate it in their groundbreaking Shorebirds: an ID Guide (Croom Helm, 1986) but it seems to have been overlooked as a useful feature in the field overshadowed by subjective discussions of plumage tones.
Regarding the nomenclature of moult, it is curious to see how they handled this in the face of differing terminologies across the pond. Growing up in the UK, I am familiar with terms “first-calendar year” “juvenile” “first summer”, “first winter” and now living in the US, where there is a differing nomenclature, it’s hard to break old habits, even if those habits should be broken. The premise of the moult put forth in Howell, Corben, Pyle and Rogers (2003) or Howell (2010) may be somewhat alien to European birders not well-versed with Americanized moult terminology. van Duivendijk and team have chosen to adopt the “calendar year” system (rather than cycles) to define the plumage aspect of many species during January 1-Dec 31. They also incorporate the specific plumage states, e.g., “juvenile” and “first winter” for many species in their first six months of life (instead of labelling them “1 cy”) but then switch to “cy” terminology after December 31. Since a bird’s plumage can change significantly throughout the year, thankfully, they have chosen to include the month to add context.
It is clear that van Duivendijk has spent an admirable amount of time researching these IDs. So, faced with a brick of material to review, I decided to focus in on some random species with which I feel I have familiarity and ID conundrums that I’ve spent time trying to solve:
A couple of suggestions that might be worth including in future editions:
I really didn’t set-out to find “gotcha” typos or similar failings of proofreading since that would be childish considering the amount of information presented. In fact in my browsing, I found nothing obvious or consistent which hints at the attention to proofreading that Brian Clews has undertaken. There were online comments on the printing being “too blue” on certain pages, e.g. page 417 (tattlers) and present on a couple of other figures scattered throughout the book, but it is by no means a printing problem since the color cast is random and isolated. I found the color management and photograph processing to be of high standard.
Overall, I cannot give these handbooks anything but glowing reviews. The result is a satisfyingly thorough treatment and inclusion of up-to-date material. It’s simply impressive. There will be a wealth of information that will be new to every bird ID guru and an invaluable investment in your birding future.
Julian Hough
-----------
The arrival of not one but two tomes dedicated to the identification of European passerines and non-passerines was highly awaited. These weighty handbooks are the brainchild of Dutch ID master Nils van Duivendijk and AGAMI principal Marc Guyt. Volume 1 deals with non-passerines and volume 2 with passerines. Together, the 1,056 pages cover 720 species (including regular vagrants) recorded in Europe, rather than the larger geographical area of the Western Palearctic (WP). The guides are hinged on the use of photos, utilising the advancement of digital imagery.
As someone with a penchant for the minutiae of bird identification who plies his day trade as a graphic designer, I can appreciate what has been done here. It is the guide I would have wanted to create. Together, they are simply spectacular and have raised the bar of identification guides through the roof.
To be clear, these are not ‘field guides’ because they are not easily portable in the field. Unlike most modern guides, they do not cover vocalisations, jizz or behaviour, all of which are often key components to identification. So, you’ll have to figure out for yourself that a hovering raptor is a Common Buzzard and not a European Honey Buzzard, or that a tail-dipping Phylloscopus is a Common Chiffchaff rather than a Willow Warbler.
Many will know that van Duivendijk previously published a text-only ‘cheat-sheet’ of ID features in his Advanced Bird ID Handbook. Much of that information provides the bedrock for the text of this guide. It is clear that the authors have carefully curated the images for readers to be able to compare and contrast similar species. Most images are annotated to draw the reader’s attention to key features and characteristics. The quality of the images is consistently high – a tribute to all the amazing photographers involved, with many more species’ plumages included than in other guides.
One of my go-to guides in my early years was Lars Svensson’s Identification Guide to European Passerines – the ‘ringer’s Bible’ – an amazing piece of research and information and one of the most important weapons in my bird ID arsenal. That van Duivendijk has chosen to include wing and tail formulas is a further nod to the benefits of digital-imagery analysis, helping break the idiom that ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ – details previously only discernible in the hand are now available on the back of your camera. This book gives you a lot of “Svensson for free”.
It is also nice to see some field marks I personally began using a decade ago that have has been more widely embraced by newer generations of birders get some attention, e.g., the under primary “notch” in first year Long-tailed Skuas. When faced with ‘problem stints’ in the field or online, one fairly consistent feature of juvenile Red-necked Stints (other than short legs) I have tried to champion is their long central tail feathers, that when seen in profile, stick out beyond the already long wings. Hayman, Marchant and Prater did mention this and illustrate it in their groundbreaking Shorebirds: an ID Guide (Croom Helm, 1986) but it seems to have been overlooked as a useful feature in the field overshadowed by subjective discussions of plumage tones.
Regarding the nomenclature of moult, it is curious to see how they handled this in the face of differing terminologies across the pond. Growing up in the UK, I am familiar with terms “first-calendar year” “juvenile” “first summer”, “first winter” and now living in the US, where there is a differing nomenclature, it’s hard to break old habits, even if those habits should be broken. The premise of the moult put forth in Howell, Corben, Pyle and Rogers (2003) or Howell (2010) may be somewhat alien to European birders not well-versed with Americanized moult terminology. van Duivendijk and team have chosen to adopt the “calendar year” system (rather than cycles) to define the plumage aspect of many species during January 1-Dec 31. They also incorporate the specific plumage states, e.g., “juvenile” and “first winter” for many species in their first six months of life (instead of labelling them “1 cy”) but then switch to “cy” terminology after December 31. Since a bird’s plumage can change significantly throughout the year, thankfully, they have chosen to include the month to add context.
It is clear that van Duivendijk has spent an admirable amount of time researching these IDs. So, faced with a brick of material to review, I decided to focus in on some random species with which I feel I have familiarity and ID conundrums that I’ve spent time trying to solve:
- I looked at Northern Harrier, a species I have looked at in-depth. Most of that modern-day information is captured here and specifically the ageing and identification of second-cal year/second-winter males was bang-on.
- Snowy Owls are incredibly difficult to age/sex and criteria in the field are very individual feather focused and again, the wording and cautionary text is on point.
- The call-out of Semipalmated Sandpipers rear flank streaking compared to the unmarked areas in Little Stint often helpful in ‘problem’ birds.
- Even the American wood-warblers, which I know well since moving here to the US, are given admirable, up-to-the minute treatment.
A couple of suggestions that might be worth including in future editions:
- A lower scapular comparison for stints. The rear lower scapulars on Semi-p and Western in particular are somewhat subtly different, Semip showing concave edges to the subterminal anchors while westerns appear to have longer scapulars with more convex anchors.
- The cap shape where it meets the bill base on adult-summer Caspian Terns is distinct compared to other large ‘orange-billed’ terns.
- Often first-year Great Grey Owls can be aged by the pointed tail feathers and buff-tipped primaries compared to adults.
- On Bay-breasted Warbler, the innermost greater coverts are often broadly tipped white (duller, less demarcated in Blackpoll) which helps give Bay-breast the appearance of two longer wing bars.
- First-year Tennessee Warblers have noticeable white-fringed primary tips lacking in similarly confusing Old World Phylloscopus Warblers.
I really didn’t set-out to find “gotcha” typos or similar failings of proofreading since that would be childish considering the amount of information presented. In fact in my browsing, I found nothing obvious or consistent which hints at the attention to proofreading that Brian Clews has undertaken. There were online comments on the printing being “too blue” on certain pages, e.g. page 417 (tattlers) and present on a couple of other figures scattered throughout the book, but it is by no means a printing problem since the color cast is random and isolated. I found the color management and photograph processing to be of high standard.
Overall, I cannot give these handbooks anything but glowing reviews. The result is a satisfyingly thorough treatment and inclusion of up-to-date material. It’s simply impressive. There will be a wealth of information that will be new to every bird ID guru and an invaluable investment in your birding future.
Julian Hough
