Collins Bird Guide - Various

Do you know how many different species of birds there are in Europe? Fifty? One hundred? Actually, there are over seven hundred distinct species that live on, or visit this continent. The birds of Europe come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colours. These range from the tiny goldcrest which has a wingspan smaller than a human's hand, to the mighty Dalmatian Pelican with its wings stretching over three yards. Although many birds are very distinctive (the strange hoopoe could not be mistaken for anything else, for example), within the numerous bird families there are many birds which, at first glance, look identical. Many of the warblers ...  Read the complete review

My husband has always had a strong interest in birds and we are very keen to attract them to the garden. We also like, when possible to visit various nature reserves in the UK and also sometimes abroad. The Collins Bird Guide has always been an essential to take with us on these trips, or indeed to have to hand when something a little bit different visits the garden. I think this is an incredibly useful book and I can't dispute its front cover claim that it is 'the most complete field guide to the birds of Britain and Europe. The book is organised in the way that most bird watchers would expect starting with divers and ending with buntings. This apparently is ...  Read the complete review

When I was younger I "borrowed" my dad's dogeared copy of Bertel Bruun and Arthur Singer's 'Hamlyn Book of Birds of Britain and Europe', and dragged it everywhere I went birding. While a benchmark of fieldguide publishing, it was started to get dated, but it was many decades until a worthy successor was published. Finally, the Collins Bird Guide was published. Its arresting minimalist cover design makes it instantly stand out, as does its boast of being 'the most complete field guide to the birds of Britain and Europe'. But, of course, it's what's inside that counts. And complete it is. Sorted by bird family, in the traditional order of ...  Read the complete review