This work is an advanced bird identification manual focusing on the details of moulting strategy, sex and age characters. It is designed for the study of birds in hand, but a good part of the characters are equally observable from distance, so it is also very useful for birdwatching and field identification. With detailed plates, in whose photographs the diagnostic characters explained in the text are indicated by arrows and numbers, more than 200 species of continental birds from Southwestern Europe. It also includes 24 entries and keys for pairs or groups of species whose identification is often conflicting. Of interest to scientific banders, ornithologists, researchers, bird watchers, environmental consultants and nature lovers, as well as students of Biology, Environmental Sciences and other disciplines of study and management of nature.