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Until recently, gulls were a group that inspired dread among birders, due to the bewildering variety of plumages, age-groups, and races, many of which are very difficult indeed to separate, even to species. Things changed in 2003 with the publication of Klaus Malling Olsen's Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America (Christopher Helm), a plate-based title that made accurate identification of gulls a realistic possibility for the first time. Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide is a companion and successor to that seminal work. This book represents the definitive photographic guide to gulls, by the world's greatest authority on gull identification.
This outstanding new guide covers all of the world's gull species, tackling some of the most notoriously difficult identification and taxonomic challenges in birding. Concise text – complemented by an accurate colour range map – places particular emphasis on field identification, with detailed discussion of variation, and coverage of habitat, status and distribution. Each photograph has been carefully selected to highlight identification criteria and, crucially, to allow age and subspecific separation in the field. This book is an invaluable tool for identifying gulls, featuring the most sought-after rarities as well as beautiful, easy-to-identify species.
Klaus Malling Olsen is without doubt the world's foremost and best-known gull expert. His previous books include Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America (2003), which remains the standard work on gull identification, more than ten years after its publication.
- Awarded joint third place in the BB/BTO Best Bird Book of the Year 2018 competition
"[...] This much is certain: you need a gull reference book. Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide fits the bill well. However, if you already have one of the other relatively recent guides – Peterson Reference Guides to Gulls of the Americas or, especially, Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America – then I don’t see a compelling reason for any other than raging larophiles to get this latest one. [...]"
– Grant McCreary (08-08-2018), read the full review at The Birder's Library
"[...] I enjoyed this book (the more I use it the more I like it) and, despite a few personal misgivings about one or two elements, I am confident it will find a prominent place on my bookshelf; I am quite sure I shall go back to it time and again."
– Brian Small, British Birds, Volume 111, August 2018
