Customer Reviews

The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has a well thought out format with beautiful, detailed illustrations of the species in their different plumages. It is the only current one volume presentation of the birds of the western palearctic. It is thoughtfully written and the distribution maps are nicely detailed and easily understood.

I was a little disappointed when I finally got my copy, since I expected more based on the ads and the book's price. I can recommend this book for those collectors who want to have ALL the nice bird books, but a non-European would find it way too heavy to carry in the field, and citizens of almost every European country would find outdated (i.e 10 years old) information on the distribution of several species. Even the country boundaries are representing pre-1990 status in the Eastern part of Europe (Czechoslovakia does not exist as one country any more etc.). While two thumbs down for the distribution maps, the text is OK (although not free of mistakes, either) and the pictures range from mediocre to very good. If you are on a tight budget buy only Svensson et al's Collins Bird Guide (under a different title in the US though) for less than half of this book's price but has excellent pictures and a perfect size for your pocket.

The previous reviewer criticised this for being too heavy to take to the field. That's hardly what it's for! To get 900 birds and this much information into a field guide you had to have had a free magnifying glass to read it. As to complaints that some of its political geography is outdated, Pshaw! A book as good as this takes years to prepare, it's never going to be able to follow the fast changing countries of Eastern Europe. It's irrelvant if Czechoslovakia doesn't exist as a single political entity anymore, everyone knows what area it refers to.
This is a superb achievement but it needs to be judged for what it is not what it doesn't try to be!
If you want a good European bird field guide, the recent Collins book is probably the best field guide for any region ever.