United States
£ GBP
Please note: with the acquisition of the New Holland natural history list by Bloomsbury, this title was relaunched with a new ISBN and a newly designed cover. The contents of the book remain unchanged.
The perfect field guide for any birder. Its unique layout, comparing the plumages of similar pairs and groups of species, makes it ideal for getting to grips with the more trick-to-identify birds found in Britain and the rest of Europe. And its handy pocket size is practical for taking out into the field.
It is based on a long-running series of identification features in Bird Watching magazine. Author Dominic Couzens and artist David Nurney have spent years compiling the field notes and artworks for Birds: ID Insights, and here their efforts are drawn together and made complete in a single volume which is easy to carry in the field and practical for birders to use.
In addition they have expanded the species list from the magazine series and added many more birds, including the likes of olivaceous, Sardinian and subalpine warblers, crested, thekla and short-toed larks, middle spotted woodpecker, booted and short-toed eagles, red-rumped swallow and crag martin. In total Birds: ID Insights covers more than 300 species, with easy-to-identify-birds such as Magpie and Kingfisher given minimal coverage or excluded so that the more difficult ID issues can be covered as fully as possible.
"This book does what it says on the cover and is designed to complement conventional field-guides, by only including those species for which identification can, at times, be difficult. [...] anyone wanting to take their bird identification to the next level will find this book will help them to do just that."
– Paul Stancliffe, BTO book reviews
"Useful addition to the libraries of both 'improvers' and more experienced bridwatchers."
– BBC Wildlife
"Any longtime reader [...] will instantly recognize the style and grace of Dave Nurney's artwork, and the charming tone of Dominic Couzen's in-depth descriptions, combined here into a thoroughly professional guide [...] what's not to love?"
– Bird Watching
"This identification guide is aimed at ‘improvers’, those wishing to take their identification skills to the next level [...] It springs from the long-running series of identification articles published in Bird Watching magazine and so its approach differs from that of a conventional field guide in that it covers only a selection of species or species pairs/groups. The scope is broader than just Britain, covering a wider range of northwest European species (though Arctic and Mediterranean species are not included). [...] In reality, some birds require a more detailed analysis than others and the trick is knowing how to strike the right balance between the two approaches. Here, the reader could, on occasion, do with a little more guidance. Despite such niggles, however, this is still a useful book. It is bright, appealing and well laid out, while its treatment of the traditional problems is sound. It should serve its target market well."
- Andy Stoddart, www.britishbirds.co.uk, 30-12-2013
