Harper Collins Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Eur
Reviews
Views
Date of last review
7
4601
Mon 22, October, 2007
Recommended By
Average Purchase Price
100% of reviewers
£12.31
Quality
Value
Performance
9.71
9.71
9.57
Description:
Now available in paperback, Collins Bird Guide has proved to be a landmark in field guide publishing. Illustrated by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom, with text by Lars Svensson and Peter J. Grant, this is the strongest team ever to produce a field guide. The combination of superb and thoughtfully arranged illustrations, definitive text and up-to-date distribution maps, all in a single volume, is what we have all been waiting for. The 'Collins Bird Guide' has already become established as the most essential reference to European bird identification.
"This book will become the standard guide for many years to come." 'BBC Wildlife'
"As essential as binoculars for those who take birdwatching seriously." 'New Scientist'
"…go on, buy it and enjoy it – it really is a very good book!" 'RSPB Birds Magazine'
"The richest and the most comprehensive of the current guides" 'The Times'
Author:
Lars Svensson and Peter J. Grant, Illustrated by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrm, Translated by David Christie
RRP:
£16.99 Paperback - £24.99 Hardback
Published Date:
02.04.01
ISBN:
0-00-711332-3
Format
Paperback Hardback
Author
colinaj Officer of the Wild Empire
Registered: July 2006 Location: Suffolk Posts: 548
Review Date: Mon 31, July, 2006
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: £12.00| Rating: 10
Strengths:
Great for the rucksack or pocket for all birders
Weaknesses:
Too many illustrations on each page
Real birders never take a field guide out with them whilst birding but I take this everywhere. It is a very good book for warde watching but beware juv plumage etc. I have seen several experts use this book in the field & have seen huddles in hides discussing the finer points of ID from the bird to the book.
Still some space for cribbing in your own notes which I do very often indeed. Not really a beginners book but well worth the money & well worth waiting for
John D Commander of the Wild Empire
Registered: March 2006 Location: West Lothian Posts: 2432
Review Date: Tue 10, October, 2006
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: £11.21| Rating: 9
Strengths:
Very detailed description of over 800 birds backed up by several illustrations for each species.
Weaknesses:
Will add a bit of weight to those who already have heavy gear.
Certainly the most comprehensive bird guide available for the price.
The book provides excellent descriptions throughout with nicely arranged illustrations of over 800 birds.
A must for anyone interested in the identification of birds!
Wild-Woman Dame Commander of the Wild Empire
Registered: February 2006 Location: North Kent Posts: 9728
Review Date: Thu 28, December, 2006
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: £12.50| Rating: 10
Strengths:
Great for getting to grips with juvenile plummage.
Weaknesses:
None to note.
Lucky me getting this book at half price. It's a step up, in my opinion, for a field guide. It definitely helps identification of juvenile plummage-something that is so hard to get to grips with when you're relatively new to birding.
The birds of prey section is particularly good as is the warblers.
I'm going to enjoy using this in the field-don't care who's looking, experienced or not, bet they wish they had a copy!
------------------------------ The female of the species is more deadly than the male.
Tornado Member of the Wild Empire
Registered: May 2006 Location: Lancashire (Rossendale Valley) Posts: 287
Review Date: Wed 17, January, 2007
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: £9.00| Rating: 9
Strengths:
illustrations superb, easy to find what you're looking for
Weaknesses:
pocket sized-ish ( you need rather large pockets!! )
This was the only field guide we had for about three years and its never let us down even whilest on holiday.
This has been replaced twice due to the use it gets! Well worn books look tatty but still do the trick!
The many illustrations are very useful as are some but not all of the "written bird calls"
This book is a must for the keen bird watcher when looking for a all-round bird guide.
Registered: January 2007 Location: Dorchester, Dorset Posts: 569
Review Date: Tue 23, January, 2007
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: £12.48| Rating: 10
Strengths:
Very comprehensive including juv plumage, colour morphs as well as flight and standing poses.
Weaknesses:
Probably too much information for a casual initial identification by a novice.
I can't rate this product too highly. It really is very detailed and an ideal reference work. The translation from the original Swedish is clear and vivid. The illustrations are very well produced and show colour variations, details of sexual dimorphism as well as the stages in development of the birds once they have left the nest.
The only criticism I have is that the typeface used is a small and narrow serif font. No doubt used to reduce the size to (almost) bring this into the realm of the pocket guide, it does make it difficult to read if one is entering the reading-glasses stage of life.
For those who are new to birding, the sheer range of the book could be daunting. But if used to confirm a suspected sighting or to narrow down the possibilities it is a very powerful tool.
------------------------------ Best wishes, Neil
Who's Afear'd
almostnormal Officer of the Wild Empire
Registered: March 2007 Location: Broad Hinton (thats near swindon) Posts: 871
Review Date: Wed 17, October, 2007
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: £19.99| Rating: 10
Strengths:
most comprehensive identification guide currently avaiable
Weaknesses:
lack of additional information
This is without doubt the best identification field guide currently on the market for birders. It covers everything you need to know when identifying a bird, and has clear illustrations of most birds in winter, summer, juvenile, female and male plummage where its appropriate. It weighs slightly more than a pocket guide, and sadly it doesn't quite fit into my waterproof's pocket, but its worth taking with you whenever you go birding, because you will be able to ID most birds, including some of the North American passerines should they be blown of course and land in your garden, using it.
The one downside to this book is the lack of general bird inforation in it, however from an identification perspective its far superior to the rest of the market.
------------------------------ I enjoy my life...its the only one I've got
Reptilian Wild Member
Registered: January 2007 Location: New Quay, Ceredigion, W.Wales. Posts: 183
Review Date: Mon 22, October, 2007
Would you recommend it? Yes |
Total Spent: £9.00| Rating: 9
Strengths:
Fantastic illustrations, detailed descriptions.
Weaknesses:
Weight.
I bought this book a while ago to replace an aging Hamlyn guide. No regrets what so ever, it's better on a whole new scale. My only gripes being with its weight, it's a bit too cumbersome to carry around often and some of the calls seem a little off though I can imagine how difficult it is to write down how a bird sounds.
Being a very amateur birder the book was a little daunting at first, it's very concise and packed with information. I recommend reading the whole thing cover to cover; I sit for hours reading about species. It's helped me enormously with identification on many occasions and conscquently improved my birding knowledge no end.
I wouldn't be without this book!
------------------------------ A truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn.
