Birds of Europe
Princeton Guide Birds of Europe by Lars Svensson 3rd Edition 2023
Covers all 772 species of European birds plus 32 introduced species and rare visitors. It is a bit heavy to carry in the field. There is an average of four species per page, and each of these has several superb quality illustrations showing male, female and juvenile birds and often several views of birds in flight. However, some of the images are pretty small. The text contains more information than most guidebooks, and the range maps are conveniently located on the same page.
Overall, this is an excellent book—very comprehensive. It is the best book for all of Europe. It is highly recommended, although it would still be good to take a guidebook for individual countries that you are touring if you are not visiting too many of them. It is always good to have a second opinion to confirm your findings and an individual country book will be a bit smaller to take in the field.
Fifty illustration plates are new or updated in the 3rd edition.
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Bird Guide
By Lars Svensson 3rd Edition 2023.
It is described as the complete guide to birds of Britain and Europe. Illustrations show male, female, juvenile, and flying versions of each bird. We have not read this book. It is by the same author and illustrator as the Princeton book—just a different publisher. Is it better than the Princeton book above? Write a review.
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United Kingdom
Handbook of British Birds
RSPB Guide by Peter Holden & Tim Cleeves 5th Edition 2023
It is an excellent book with tons of information for each species. A whole page is devoted to each species, giving information on migration, population, what they eat, conservation, etc. There are good range maps on each page.
The only problem with this book (if you are not a resident of Britain) is that British bird names often do not match the international English name for the bird. For example, the Willow Ptarmigan is called the Red Grouse in Britain. If there is only a single species in Britain, the first name of the bird is dropped. For example, The Eurasian Wigeon is called “Wigeon”. The Greater Scaup is called “Scaup,” and the Common Eider is called “Eider,” as if no other kinds exist. The Eurasian Spoonbill is called “Spoonbill”. The Common Kingfisher is called “Kingfisher”. The Atlantic Puffin is “Puffin,” although there are two other species of puffins worldwide. If there were only one kind of duck in Britain, it would be called “Duck”. Loons are called divers, and non-British birders will have to rely on the scientific name of each species to be sure of the international name. To adjust for this, I looked up the scientific name for each bird and wrote the international English name above the British name. On some pages, the global name is below the British name, but not in all cases. This may also cause some confusion when talking with British birders. The Princeton book above uses international names.
A good feature of this book is that the range maps also include Ireland. So, although this is described as a British book, it is also suitable for Ireland. Despite the name problem, this is probably the best book for British Birds. Recommended.
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Guide to British Birds
BTO Collins Guide to British Birds by Paul Streery & Paul Stancliffe 2015
An excellent guide with more than 1,200 photographs. Range maps also show abundance and the location by using darker colours where the species is more abundant. We have not reviewed this book. Write a review.
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Britain’s Birds
RSPB British Birds by Rob Hume, Robert Still, Andy Swash, Hugh Harrop & David Tipling. Second edition 2020.
This is an great book with 3,200 photographs of birds in all plumages. It’s too big and heavy to be a field guide, but it is an excellent reference book. There is less species information than the”Guide to British Birds”, and some population numbers have been reported to be inaccurate. However, the book is worth buying for the excellent photographs.
Note: We have not reviewed the 2nd edition, so perhaps the abovementioned problems have been corrected. Write a review.
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Spain
Birds of Spain
Lynx Guide by Eduardo de Juana & Juan Varela 2nd Editon
Lyinx books are taking orders on this soon-to-be-published 2nd edition; Our review is from the 1st edition.
Guidebook to Spain as well as Ceuta and Melilla in Africa, the Balearic Island and the Canary Islands (all Spanish possessions)
More than 1,000 colour illustrations of 567 species (599 species in the coming 2nd edition), of which 173 are vagrants. Not all species have range maps. Some pages have illustrations without text, such as comparing various raptors in flight. It has names of birds in English and Spanish, as well as scientific names.
This book is also available in Spanish.
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