Birds of the World (Dorling Kindersley Handbooks) [Paperback]

Alan Greensmith (Author)

Book Description

Series: DK Handbooks | Publication Date: October 1, 2000

800-plus illustrations of passerines and non-passerines with descriptions, species, nest, plumage, habitat, and migration facts.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

It is hard to imagine a raison d'etre for this book, for its pretentions to be a field guide, as bruited on the dust cover, are absurd and are surprising coming from the authors, two highly respected ornithologists. What we have instead are species accounts of 800 birds, nine percent of the world total. These very brief accounts include a few sentences of general commentary; very small sections on range and nesting; a range map, color photo, and drawing showing scale; and one or two other small illustrations. This good selection of the world's birds, shown in quality photographs, is fine as far as it goes, but it is too limited to serve as an indentification guide. The traveler needs regional guides, and there are already many good ones for almost all parts of the world. Fun for browsing but otherwise only marginally useful. For two successful regional guides, see Lars Johnson's Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East and Roger Tory Peterson and other's A Field Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe , reviewed below.--Ed.
- Henry T. Armistead, Thomas Jefferson Univ. Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Dr. Colin Harrison has spent over 45 years studying birds. In 1960 he joined the Natural History Museum in London, where he gained his doctorate while studying birds from around the world. The author of several books and over 250 scientific papers, he is an internationally acknowledged authority on the evolution and classification of birds. Alan Greensmith is a birdwatcher and traveler who has personally seen over 7,000 species. In addition to writing about the birds of his home country, Surrey, England, he has also given lectures on birds and has led field trips to Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT; 1st edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564582957
• ISBN-13: 978-1564582959
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes the world of bird-watching fun for everyone, August 7, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Birds of the World (Dorling Kindersley Handbooks) (Paperback)

This book by the successful Eyewitness Books makes identifying birds on the backyard fence, those birds sitting on the wire over your recently-washed car, birds in the woods and jungles easy to identify. The highly graphical lay-out and the simply written text welcomes the reader to the world of the feathered flyers that live in every climate on earth. Even though this volume is not as comprehensive and inclusive as the books by the Audubon Society or the Peterson guides, it contains outstanding pictures of more than 800 species. The entire range of bird families is presented in an easy-to-read format with fabulous closeup pictures of each bird. Just enough information is presented. An especially cunning feature shows an outline of each bird next to an outline of the book to convey a sense of size. Sections in the front of the book introduce the reader to the anatomy of birds, techniques for watching birds in the garden or woods, identifying flight patterns, and much more. If you are a causal bird-watcher of any age or merely like to look at birds from your cozy arm chair in from of the fire, you must have this book in your personal library.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine feathered friends, January 8, 2001

By 

"michaeleve" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birds of the World (Dorling Kindersley Handbooks) (Paperback)

Birds are beautiful and the world of birds is fascinating. It's only fitting then that this is an Eyewitness Book, because that series of books is well known for beautiful illustrations and fascinating, innovative and educational presentations on the various topics that they publish. This book uses annotated photographs rather than drawings and it's size (like an oversized novel) allows between two to three birds per page, making the photos large enough for easy identification. The descriptions that accompany each bird speak to behavior, habitat, what it's nest looks like and sometimes a general remark on some unusual or an interesting trait. The geographic distribution of the bird is also shown by way of a small map. A reviewer below is right. The use of an illustration showing the size of the bird in relation to the book is brilliant! I can't think of a better way of getting a feel for the size of something you've never seen, than comparing it with something that you are holding in your hand.

The only quibble with the book is the method of organising the birds. The book is divided into Passerines and Non Passerines which doesn't mean much and doesn't help either, since both of those groups include a wide variety of bird types. Picture this: a bird catches your eye, "Hey that's an owl, I wonder what kind?" You can spend a bit of time going through the 3 step identification key before you find the owls. To be fair though, that really only means that this is not a field guide. It can't be, it's 'Birds of The World' afterall. Enjoy it for what it is - A beautifully illustrated, educational, introduction to the wonderful world of birds.

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVE THESE BOOKS!, May 17, 2011

By 

J. Fogle (MT) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Smithsonian Handbooks: Birds of the World (Smithsonian Handbooks) (Paperback)

i havent read a whole book since graduate school but have never stopped learning about things. we have the entire collection and i now devour them cover to cover. i purchased almost all of them on Amazon for $5-$13 each (verses the $20 cover price). my kids and i LOVE to read these books and learn about the rocks, fossils and nature we find camping and fishing. honestly, i havent read this one yet but cant wait.