ID Handbook of European Birds (2-Volume Set)

In short, this book is excellent.

However, I have serious issues with the 'non-native species' section, mainly due to the inclusion of the Northern bald ibis in that section. The Northern bald ibis is a bird which went extinct in the region, but was re-introduced in some countries, including Spain, where it has established a self-sustaining population. It should have been included in the main text with significantly more photographs, specifically of its behaviour in flight compared to the glossy ibis.

Similarly, the section on introduced parrots is very bizarrely small. It covers only 2 species, but many others have escaped and established populations across Europe, such as yellow-collared and Fischer's lovebird, Senegal parrot, burrowing parrot and many others. Omissions bizarre for a book which costs so much. For the birds it does include, it is truly excellent and goes into great detail. Because of this, I did not have the heart to give it 3/5 despite the omissions Similarly, there are some wildfowl this book omits. Particularly, the omission of the emperor goose, which has bred in Cumbria, is also strange.

Obviously the complement to Advanced Bird ID Guide by the same author and I feel you need to refer to that text as well as read the notes round the photos. The index is irritating, being just alphabetic by first word <> Advanced Bird ID Guide! So related species are not adjacent and a regular species may fall under Common/Eurasian/European/etc. Also the index in each volume only covers that volume. How many people will buy just one?

For me, this was the most outstanding bird book of 2024! It covers 733 species recorded at least 5 times in Europe and is a hefty two tomes. Volume 1 Non-passerines (632 pages) weighs 1.8 kg while Volume 2 Passerines (424 pages) is just 1.3 kg. Using photo montages with no background is now becoming the trend for those field guides that want to point out identification details. Each species is shown perched and often in flight with the main identification features marked with pointers. A very succinct text summarises the main features, including moult, age, and gender. However, if you are looking for information about ecology or distribution you will be disappointed. The lack of any maps is my only criticism.

The photos have been digitally manipulated so that each is a cut-out with little (if any) vegetation shown. This takes a while to get used to as it feels rather clinical, but that helps you to focus on the features to look for. Some photographs are of birds in the hand but are edited so you almost don’t notice this. The detail in this book is impressive. For example, I study Red Kites and I have never seen details before on how to tell a second-year bird from a juvenile, but this book explains the differences. Similarly, if you want to spot the differences between a first-year or adult female Hen Harrier, this will explain the things to look for. The book also allows you to make similar comparisons for Northern Harrier (the North American sister-species).

The names used are generally those used by the IOC with a few tweaks. Each volume has an index, but these are based on the bird's first name. That's not too bad if you want to see Black Kite because you can understand that it will be under B. But what about Penduline Tit? It will not be under T, so it must be in the P section.... no, it is under E for Eurasian Penduline Tit. If you want to find the bird that we have always known as Reed Bunting, it is under C for Common Reed Bunting. Personally, I like an index where the Buntings are under B as it allows you to find them faster. This is a small gripe for an outstanding production.

So, who should buy this book? It is aimed at the more experienced birder, but even those who have been watching birds for decades will find ID features they were not aware of. If you are new to birding, you would probably find Princeton’s two softback photographic guides, Britain’s Birds and Europe’s Birds, more to your liking. In fact, the latter covers more than 900 species with 4700 photographs at a fraction of the cost.