This new field guide offers a complete identification reference to all of the sandpipers, plovers, stints and other waders found in Europe, Asia and North America. The superb plates show birds at rest and in flight, in every plumage variant likely to be encountered in the region. Species have been grouped, especially on the flight plates, so that similar species are shown close to each other. Facing text summarises key identification pointers to complete a quick-reference, field-friendly guide to this difficult and challenging group.

This new field guide offers a complete identification reference to all of the sandpipers, plovers, stints and other waders found in Europe, Asia and North America. The superb plates show birds at rest and in flight, in every plumage variant likely to be encountered in the region. Species have been grouped, especially on the flight plates, so that similar species are shown close to each other. Facing text summarises key identification pointers to complete a quick-reference, field-friendly guide to this difficult and challenging group.

An authoritative photographic guide on wader identification. Waders are spectacular members of our avifauna. They are especially prevalent along coasts and in wetlands during the spring and autumn migration periods, when members of several species may perform dramatic flocks that wheel and turn in flight. While waders are often particularly striking in summer plumage, identifying these birds outside the breeding season can be problematic for even the most confident of birdwatchers. Waders of Europe is the ultimate guide to wader identification, ecology and biology. Through outstanding photography and concise, detailed text, this book is indispensable for anyone interested in learning more about waders, and is an invaluable tool for identifying birds to species level in the field.

This eagerly awaited guide offers the most comprehensive treatment ever published on the gulls of Europe, Asia and North America. A total of 43 species is treated, and every species is described in considerable detail, with a full description of each plumage and racial variation. Gulls are intelligent, versatile, opportunistic, and ecological generalists. As such, they exploit a variety of habitats, both coastal and inland, take a wide range of food, and are often extremely abundant. They are also great wanderers, with several American species regularly appearing in Western Europe and vice versa. As well as identification criteria, this book includes an up-to-date assessment of the range and status of every species, together with information on patterns of vagrancy. This important guide is published at a critical time in the development of dull taxonomy. The large, white-headed forms occurring in the region comprise a superspecies complex, with the precise relationships between the various components still under considerable debate. A thorough illustrative and textual treatment of the group is much needed, and this book provided the most complete overview of the complex. The text is complemented not only by superb colour paintings by Hans Larrson, but also by a large selection of colour photographs, sourced from some of the finest bird photographers in the world. This is the essential reference to a fascinating and endlessly challenging group of birds.

Wagtails are noted for their bold plumage patterns and extensive racial variation. Pipits are a large and difficult group which invariably causes vexation to birders on both sides of the Atlantic. This guide covers the 26 species of northern hemisphere pipits and wagtails in detail. It treats identification in the field and in the hand, and includes colour plates, detailed distribution maps and sonograms of songs and calls.

An illustrated guide to all 134 shorebird species found in the Northern Hemisphere includes key identification features, age and sex differences, variations in plumage, similar species, status, habitat, and distribution.

Wildfowl of Europe, Asia and North America is a comprehensive reference summarisingcurrent knowledge on the identification of the different species and subspeciesof ducks, geese and swans in Europe, Asia and North America - in essence theHolarctic zoogeographical region. The detailed species accounts cover taxonomy,specific and subspecific identification features, determination of age and sex,geographic variation, measurements, voice, moult and hybridisation. Inaddition, the current status of each species is treated with up-to-dateinformation on distribution, population size, habitat and life-cycle. The textis complemented by 650 colour photos, almost all taken in the wild, and 72 colourplates painted by the author and featuring over 920 individual artworks.Together, these represent most of the plumages of each of the 84 speciestreated in this book, as well as more than 100 hybrids that are observed moreor less regularly in the wild. The photos are provided with captions that focuson the most important features, and the plates are accompanied by succinctcaption text and distribution maps. This new identification guide provides an unrivalled level of detail and a wealthof information and illustrations. It will be an essential reference for anyoneinterested in the ducks, geese and swans of Eurasia and North America.