An indispensable color-illustrated field guide to the tracks and signs of Europe's animals and birds This beautifully illustrated field guide enables you to easily identify the tracks and signs left by a wide variety of mammal and bird species found in Britain and Europe, covering behaviors ranging from hunting, foraging, and feeding to courtship, breeding, and nesting. Introductory chapters offer detailed drawings of footprints and tracks of large and small mammals, which are followed by sections on mammal scat, bird droppings, and the feeding signs of animals on food sources such as nuts, cones, and rose hips. The book then describes specific mammal species, providing information on size, distribution, behavior, habitat, and similar species, as well as more specific detail on tracks and scat. Distribution maps are also included. This indispensable field guide covers 175 species of mammals and birds, and features a wealth of stunning color photos and artwork throughout. Helps you easily identify the tracks and signs of a variety of mammals and birds Covers 175 species Illustrated throughout with photos, drawings, and artwork Includes informative descriptions of mammal species along with distribution maps

With expanded text and even larger colour illustrations, this guide covers every species and every plumage you will see, with detailed information on identification, habitat and voice.

The first comprehensive field guide to every bird species in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East Birds of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East is the first comprehensive pocket-sized photographic field guide to every bird species in Europe—this includes winter visitors and common migrants but also all rarities to the region, even if they have been recorded only once. The guide also covers hypothetical species—those that have a good chance of being recorded due to such factors as range expansion and changing weather patterns. The book's 2,200 stunning color photographs mean that every species is pictured, making field identification quick and easy. Succinct text covers key identification features, voice, habitat, and distribution, and distribution maps are provided for regular breeding species. Particular attention and details are given to help differentiate similar-looking species. Lavishly illustrated, up-to-date, and wide-ranging, Birds of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East is an essential field guide for every naturalist and birder. First comprehensive field guide to all species recorded in Europe: resident, winter visitor, common migrant, and rarity 860 species covered using 2,200 photographs Includes every species from North Africa and the Middle East to have occurred in Europe

A fully revised edition of the standard field guide to Europe's birds Since it was first published, Birds of Europe has become the definitive field guide to the diverse birdlife found in Europe. Now this superb guide has been brought fully up to date with revised text and maps along with added illustrations. Uniquely designed for easy use in the field, this expanded edition covers all 772 species found in the region as well as 32 introduced species or variants and 118 very rare visitors. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, voice, habitat, range, and size. More than 3,500 full-color illustrations depict every species and all major plumage variations, and color distribution maps provide breeding, wintering, and migration ranges for every species. Complete with an introduction to each group of birds that addresses major problems of observation and identification, this new edition is the ultimate field guide to Europe's fascinating birdlife. Expanded and fully updated Covers all 772 species found in Europe, 32 introduced species or variants, and 118 very rare visitors Features more than 3,500 color illustrations that depict every species Includes detailed species accounts Provides color distribution maps for every species Color plates face text and maps for at-a-glance identification

The distinctive and amazing songs and calls of birds: a meditation and a lexicon. “A miraculous little book: a compressed encyclopedia of our fascination with avifauna.” —The Nation “A charming, funny, and eccentric book.” —Times Literary Supplement “An elegant tribute to the beauty of its subject.” —Los Angeles Times Birds sing and call, sometimes in complex and beautiful arrangements of notes, sometimes in one-line repetitions that resemble a ringtone more than a symphony. Listening, we are stirred, transported, and even envious of birds' ability to produce what Shelley called “profuse strains of unpremeditated art.” And for hundreds of years, we have tried to write down what we hear when birds sing. Poets have put birdsong in verse (Thomas Nashe: “Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo”) and ornithologists have transcribed bird sounds more methodically. Drawing on this history of bird writing, in Aaaaw to Zzzzzd John Bevis offers a lexicon of the words of birds. For tourists in Birdland, there could be no more charming phrasebook. Consulting it, we find seven distinct variations of “hoo” attributed to seven different species of owls, from a simple hoo to the more ambitious hoo hoo hoo-hoo, ho hoo hoo-hoo; the understated cheet of the tree swallow; the resonant kreeaaaaaaaaaaar of the Swainson's hawk; the modest peep peep peep of the meadow pipit. We learn that some people hear the Baltimore oriole saying “here, here, come right here, dear” and the yellowhammer saying “a little bit of bread and no cheese.” Bevis, a poet, frames his lexicons—one for North America and one for Britain and northern Europe—with an evocative appreciation of birds, birdsong, and human attempts to capture the words of birds in music and poetry. He also offers an engaging account of other methods of documenting birdsong—field recording, graphic notation, and mechanical devices including duck calls and the serinette, an instrument used to teach song tunes to songbirds. The singing of birds is nature at its most sublime, and words are our medium for expressing this sublimity. Aaaaw to Zzzzzd belongs in the bird lover's backpack and on the word lover's bedside table, an unexpected and sui generis pleasure.

Covering more than 900 species, and illustrated with 4,700 photographs, Europe's Birds is the most comprehensive, authoritative and ambitious single-volume photographic guide to Europe's birds ever produced. Easy-to-use, practical and accessible, this guide provides the information necessary for birdwatchers of all abilities to name any bird they see. Detailed descriptions cover the birds in all their plumages--male, female, breeding, non-breeding, adult and immatures, as well as distinctive subspecies. The clear text covers all aspects of identification, including moult and vocalizations, and provides details on range, status and habitat. An unrivalled selection of photographs, chosen to be as informative as possible, makes this a beautiful book to enjoy, as well as an up-to-date and essential source of identification knowledge. Europe's Birds is produced by the same team that created Britain's Birds, which has been described as "without doubt the best photo guide on the market" (Andy Stoddart, Rare Bird Alert). The authors include top-class wildlife photographers, writers and editors, and an imaginative, highly skilled designer. All are experienced birdwatchers themselves, who know what is needed in an identification guide for birdwatchers living or travelling in Europe.

First published 50 years ago and never out of print, this is the classic birdwatcher's field guideFor 50 years Collins Birds of Britain and Europe has been the standard field guide, providing an concise guide to the essential features of bird recognition. This classic guide, now in its fifth edition, will be relaunched in new livery to attract a new generation of birders. The 'Peterson' guide is well-recognised for giving prominence to key identification features, so is ideal for beginners, as well as providing extensive coverage for more expert birdwatchers. In Peterson's words, 'the purpose of this field guide is to make it easier for 999 out of 1,000 readers to identify birds'. there are over 1500 colour illustrations by Roger Tory Peterson. The maps compiled by P. A. D. Hollom show the breeding range and winter range for each species.

This invaluable book is the ultimate pocket guide to the birds of Britain and north-west Europe. Covering birds of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Britain, and Ireland, it describes 386 species, including all breeding species and all regular and scarce migrants. The definitive and accurate text highlights the key features that are required to make quick and safe identification. Almost every species is illustrated with a plate and all plumages regularly seen in the region are depicted. Similar species are compared to scale on double-page spreads as an aid to identification. Numerous maps are also included. Copublished with Pica Press