Collins Birds of the World All 10,711 Species Illustrated

Field / Identification Guide

By: Norman Arlott(Illustrator), Ber van Perlo(Illustrator), Gustavo Carizzo(Illustrator), Aldo A Chiappe(Illustrator), Luis Huber(Illustrator), Jorge R Rodriguez Mata(Illustrator)

656 pages, 280 colour plates with 25,000 colour illustrations

Publisher: William Collins (HarperCollins imprint)

NHBS

Read our Q&A with Norman Arlott. The ultimate collection of Norman Arlott's bird artwork – an identification guide with a vast scope

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ISBN: 9780008173999 Hardback Sep 2021 In stock
£74.99
#241769

Price: £74.99

About this book Customer reviews Biography

Images Additional images

About this book

Read our interview with Norman Arlott.

*We have a very limited number of bookplates signed by Norman for this edition, available while stocks last

For the first time, the complete collection of the Collins Field Guides’ incredibly detailed, accurate and beautiful bird paintings has been brought together in one comprehensive volume.

This all-encompassing new guide is an extraordinary addition to the world-renowned series – the ultimate reference book for birdwatchers and bird lovers. It covers every species of the world’s birds – all 10,711 species are featured covering the complete International Ornithological Union Checklist of Birds of the World.

With a total of 301 full-colour plates this is a visual feast, as well as an authoritative resource. It illustrates all male breeding plumages, and females if significantly different, for every species, alongside concise text covering defining identification characteristics, distribution and voice. Illustrated by the world’s leading bird artists: Norman Arlott, Ber van Perlo, Gustavo Carrizo, Aldo A. Chiappe, Luis Huber and Jorge R. Rodriguez Mata.

Customer Reviews (2)

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Disappointing
By John 6 Sep 2021 Written for Hardback

After reading about this book I was looking forward to receiving it. I was left feeling very disappointed by the book.The artwork is not as good, in my view as for instance Lynx Edicion Birds of the World. They have tried to cram too much into too small a space. I have also already found some errors in for instance the described distribution ranges.

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Inconsistent
By Andres 15 Sep 2021 Written for Hardback

Collins Complete Birds of the World is an ambitious undertaking: illustrating all the world’s bird species in one book. Only Lynx Edicions has done this before in All the Birds of the World . It is their single volume, illustrated checklist that is sourced from the multi-volume, Handbook to the Birds of the World. In a who-did-it-better competition, I’d have to say Lynx wins hands down.

The Complete Birds of the World has some glimmers of greatness and artistic mastery; however, it falls flat on consistency. Some plates are undeniably stunning; masterworks in avian illustration. Other plates are poorly illustrated, looking like overblown, pixelated, watercolour pictographs. Amongst his other works on other regions, Arlott’s new artwork of the Australasian avifauna displays the best. Van Perlo’s artwork on Central American and Afrotropical realms shows up very poorly. Illustrations of the South American avifauna is of an acceptable quality. The disparity is disappointing to see and is often visible on the same plate. The differing standards of artwork and detail are irreconcilable. Collins (in N. America: Princeton University Press) should have delayed publication to ensure more consistency, making for a remarkable, thoughtfully completed work on the global avifauna.

Lynx’s All the Birds of the World may be more expensive, but you’ll get more quality and overall value. It is a book with consistent, high-quality artwork, a better layout with easy-to-read taxonomy, and distribution maps including the status of all species. The Complete Birds of the World fares a little better with their concise text for each species. It simply needed a lot more Arlott!

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Biography

Wildlife artist Norman Arlott has illustrated nearly 200 books and his artwork regularly appears in magazines. He has designed special bird stamp issues for countries including Jamaica, Bahamas, Seychelles, British Virgin Islands, The Gambia, Malawi and Christmas Island. He has also led ornithology tours to East Africa.

Field / Identification Guide

By: Norman Arlott(Illustrator), Ber van Perlo(Illustrator), Gustavo Carizzo(Illustrator), Aldo A Chiappe(Illustrator), Luis Huber(Illustrator), Jorge R Rodriguez Mata(Illustrator)

656 pages, 280 colour plates with 25,000 colour illustrations

Publisher: William Collins (HarperCollins imprint)

NHBS

Read our Q&A with Norman Arlott. The ultimate collection of Norman Arlott's bird artwork – an identification guide with a vast scope

Media reviews

"[...] The very large majority of the illustrations come from artwork that was originally produced for one of the Collins field guides, painted largely by the principal illustrators, but also by others. The fact that they are drawn from high-quality published works attests to their quality. [...]"
– Christopher Perrins, Ibis, August 2021

"'A superb piece of work, packaged and produced with typically lofty Collins standards. It really does look the part, having been so thoughtfully put together, and it oozes authority and class. It is a hugely impressive book [...] The plates are a joy to behold. Little space is spared, with each packed to the rafters with depictions of every species covered – in many cases twice, where sexes differ sufficiently to merit recognition. They feel busy yet not chaotic; each has been carefully constructed so as not to inhibit identification of the species shown, nor detract from their overall impact "
– Josh Jones, Bird Guides

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