Covering more than 900 species, and illustrated with over 4,700 photographs, this is the most comprehensive, authoritative and ambitious single-volume photographic guide to Europe's birds ever produced. Detailed descriptions provide the information necessary to identify the birds of Europe in all their plumages – male, female, breeding, non-breeding, adult and immatures, as well as distinctive subspecies – yet Europe's Birds is easy-to-use, practical and accessible. Birdwatchers of any ability will benefit from the clear text, details on range, status and habitat, and an unrivalled selection of photographs. Chosen to be as naturalistic and informative as possible, the images are also stunning to look at, making this a beautiful book to enjoy, as well as an up-to-date and essential source of identification knowledge.
Europe's Birds is produced by the same team that created Britain's Birds, which has been described as "without doubt the best photo guide on the market" (Andy Stoddart, Rare Bird Alert). The authors include top-class wildlife photographers, writers and editors, and an imaginative, highly skilled designer. All are experienced birdwatchers themselves, who know what is needed and what is useful in an identification guide for birdwatchers living or travelling in Europe.
- Covers all 914 species ever recorded in Europe, including established introductions
- Describes all distinctive plumages and subspecies
- Provides details of vocalizations, flight action and favoured habitats
- Features more than 4,700 photographs, including comparison pages of birds in flight. More than 2,900 of these are new compared with Britain's Birds
- Includes 540 maps, prepared in association with BirdLife International
- Enables direct comparison of similar species
Rob Hume is a freelance writer, editor and artist, with more than thirty books on birds to his name. Robert Still, cofounder and publishing director of WILDGuides, is an ecologist and graphic artist and has designed more than sixty of its titles. Andy Swash, co-founder and managing director of WILDGuides, is an ecologist and well-known wildlife photographer and author. Hugh Harrop is an award-winning photographer and the owner of the ecotourism business Shetland Wildlife. The four are also coauthors of Britain's Birds: An Identification Guide and British Birds: A Pocket Guide (both Princeton WILDGuides).
"[...] With 640 pages, this book is a weighty tome and not very portable; I note that the sub-title is “An identification guide” rather than a “field guide”. However, it’s hard to see how so much information could be compressed into something that would travel more easily, unless you buy the Kindle version. Europe’s Birds is accessible to birdwatchers of all abilities and experience with many, many pages to simply enjoy or from which to learn or verify an ID – there is something for everyone. And at just £20 or less, the book will be bought by a huge numbers of birders. Following the COVID pandemic there is huge pent-up demand to restart travel, not least for locked-down birders who long to return to the birding hot spots of Europe, armed with the best available field guide for their journey. That would be Europe’s Birds: An Identification Guide. I only hope that Princeton printed enough copies of it to satisfy the demand of the coming weeks and months. But I confidently predict a sell out, so get your order in quick."
– Frank Lambert (16-12-2021), read the full review at The Birder's Library