P. J. Grant

This is a review of the hardcover version of the third edition of this.

I'm a little puzzled by the glowing reviews I've seen online.

On the inside, yes, it's great. It's certainly the most inclusive I've seen, including birds I've never seen in any of my other guides. The maps and illustration are pretty good, too, bearing a great similarity to those in the Philip's Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe which is my current field guide.

It's the outside that's the problem: it's too big to fit in show more the pocket of any jacket I have here or in the outside pockets of either of my rucksacks—it's the sheer thickness that's the problem, as much as anything. It's also a little over twice the weight of my Philip's—if I could fit it in a pocket I'd probably be walking with one shoulder lower than the other.

It will make an useful desk reference, but I'm not taking this outdoors with me. Not what I look for in a field guide. show less

A landmark guide but kinda old. The black and white plates are a bit troublesome. A great effort for extremely difficult identification challenges and a group of birds known to frequently hybridize. A must reference for the Larid-phile.

This is a gorgeous book, by far the best European field guide I've seen. The illustrations are incredible - detailed and accurate - and there is a wealth of text information as well. An all-around high quality book, and the first one I'd recommend for anyone wanting a European field guide.

Excellent basic field guide for birds of Europe and the Mediterranean. Great and clear illustrations, and informative texts in a pocket size book. The guide has served me very well from Finland to Morocco.

This field guide is regarded by many birdwatchers to be the best one available.