Collins BTO Guide to British Birds

Excellent pictures. A bit on the heavy side

Really good pictures, loads of extra info. Best book I've found for starter level birding. Very pleased.

Brilliant.The 'black Collins' guide by Lars Svensson, Kieran Mullarney, Dan Zetterstrom and the late Peter Grant remains unsurpassed.But it can be daunting because it covers such a wide geographical area.Thanks to the two Pauls (Sterry & Stancliffe) for this guide to Britain & Ireland to our 246 species. It is great for novices and a a brilliant aide-memoire for the rest of us weighing just 560g. I cannot imagine any birder who would not learn something from this book.I was biased from the start. not liking photoguides. So, what is good?1. Selection of photos. Most are excellent, although beginners might be surprised by the HUGE white wedge on Greenshank when they see one.2. Default species. Most birders use them, but nice to see others' choices spelt out.2. Maps & Calendar Wheels compiled from BTO data by Simon Gillings.The maps ARE small, but nothing like as tiny for Britain as in European guides! Criticisms of the maps seem totally overblown. First, I can see them. Second, as I get older a 10X hand-lens will clearly help.Calendar Wheels are brilliant.3. Size of UK populations up-to-date.4. It gives BTO 2 letter codes5. Cringeing, I admit to seeing all the species in this book (not all in B&I). I can spot no errors.So what are my criticisms?:1. Title: the book actually covers Britain and Ireland; N..B. Irish population estimates were sadly not available for all species2. Juveniles needed more attention.3. The term 'eclipse' is applied to many ducks but not defined in glossary.4. Nothing really about how to take notes; sorry, but this is vital.

There are countless bird identification books out there, and most birdwatchers - myself included - own more than one. This is a nice little addition to my library, for several reasons:1) It’s British birds only, and it leaves out the rarities. The average birder is unlikely to come across all of the birds in this book, and I always find that including European species or vagrants is a lot of information that’s not really relevant to me when I’m trying to identify birds while out and about in the U.K.2) It’s small enough to carry around, and there are several images for each species3) Photos instead of drawings. I know that’s a big no-no for many purists, but I prefer photographsNo book can be all things to all people, and this one is no exception. The maps are detailed, which is good, but very small. I’d also have liked estimated population numbers.There are definitely more comprehensive books out there, and I’d always recommend building up a collection. But if you’re looking for a UK species only field guide that doesn’t add a ton of weight to your gear, this book is a very viable option.

Recommended to me by Nigel Marven at a party, I got the book purely to note down my sightings but it's full of brilliant info! I'm using What's The Bird, as my way to properly and easily ID birds, to then jot in the Collins book!Absolutely recommend!

Bought this to replace an older pocket book that is now out of date. This book is much better and very informative with great photos and descriptions of birds including their habitats. The only thing I don't like is when it tries to describe a bird song which is pretty pointless in my opinion (never understand why people try to describe a bird song in writing it never works).Already came in useful when I spotted my very first hobby a couple of weeks ago and did not know what it was but the book helped. If you are getting into bird watching this is a great start.

Very useful

The best book I have purchased for identifying birds but still lacking in some areas especially when trying to identify differences between very similar species, e.g. the entry for the pied and white wagtail does not make it that clear what the differences are (I have had a White plus male and female Pied all feeding together and the differences can be seen quite clearly) and similarly for the Lesser and common Redpoll. Some of the comparison illustrations use different background colours which doesn't help. On the whole the photos are very good and the explanations and detailed illustrations/drawings are the best I have found to date. Definitely the book to have if you are taking your bird watching seriously, also at 20 x 14 x 2.5 cm (hard back) it is not too big to carry around.