Lars Jonsson

A beautiful book, the record of a summer on a small island no more than a sand bar that is home to many nesting birds. The story of the the birds,their families and of the island is beutifully told and illustrated by wonderful watercolours.This book was a present from a friend many years ago and is now apparently hard to come by, this has promted me to write my first review as this is a book that can only make those who read it think about and see what appreciation of wildlife can do for you.

Basics: 1982, hardcover, 160 pages, 78 color plates, 160+ species, range maps

This is the fifth book in the series covering a variety of habitat and natural environments in Europe. This book focuses mainly on the European countries found along the Mediterranean, but a few birds found only around Turkey and southwards are included, such as the Black-headed (aka, White-spectacled) Bulbul. Not all birds found near the Mediterranean are included. To keep the size of the book smaller, the author show more included a selection of 160 birds typically not found in the northern parts of Europe.

All of the birds in the color plates demonstrate quality artwork with accurate detail and structure. The illustrations are of a nice size, typically with 4-6 drawings per page. A variety of plumages is offered for gender, age, and seasonal differences. You might recognize these plates from another book by this author. Many of the plates are used in a publication a decade later, Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. This latter book is even more impressive and is highly recommended.

The text for each bird consists of one paragraph. Good descriptions are given to help identify the bird along with notes on habitat/environment preferences. The songs are aptly described in 2-3 lines. Tucked into the introductory sections of the book on page 13 is a good plate that illustrates 19 different plumages of the variable Black-eared Wheatear.

A map of the Mediterranean region is included for each bird. Two colors (blue for resident or breeding and black-hatching for winter) are used to give a good generalization of the bird’s range. Outlines of the various countries are not included in the map.

As a side note, the font in the book is rather small, at about 8-font. You might want to keep your reading glasses handy.

This book is an interesting book, if not a little odd due to its limited range and its incomplete coverage of the birds within this range. It is a quality book, but made somewhat obsolete by two other better books: Birds of the Mediterranean by Sterry and the European field guide by Jonsson mentioned above.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds of the Mediterranean by Sterry
2) Birds of Europe by Mullarney
3) Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East by Jonsson
4) Birds of Iberia by Finlayson
5) Birds of Southern Portugal by Cary
6) Birds of the Maltese Archipelago by Bannerman
7) Guia de Aves del Estrecho de Gibraltas by Cardona
8) Birds of Cyprus by Christophorou
9) Birds of the Strait of Gibraltar by Finlayson show less

Seen, seems very interesting, beautiful drawings!

My favorite guide for northern europe next to the App, Fiona Barclay, Birds of Northern Europe, Nature Guides (2014). For Summer and Southern Europe most of the (sitting) birds are depicted too thick. See also 'Vogels van Europa' ETI Bioinformatics, Key nature (2013).