This guide is a celebration of the beauty of birds and the British and Irish countryside. Aimed at beginner and intermediate birders, yet suitable for all levels, this new volume in the groundbreaking Crossley ID Guide series is the most user-friendly guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland. Following The Crossley ID Guides’ award-winning design, this book looks at all regularly occurring species in Britain and Ireland, and shows readers how to identify birds in their natural habitats using size, structure, shape, probability, and behavior—just like the experts do! Stunning images are accompanied by the colorful and compelling text of Dominic Couzens, one of Britain’s leading nature writers.
This unique book treats more than 300 species—all the regularly occurring birds likely to be encountered by observers—and the guide’s attractive pages provide a real-life approach to bird identification. Beautiful, in-focus scenes present birds in various plumages and in lifelike poses set in identifiable British and Irish habitats. The plates also illustrate how a bird’s appearance changes with distance. Organizing images in cohesive, easy-to-understand plates rather than as separate photographs, this book also sets itself apart by containing more images that demonstrate flight, behavior, habitat, and plumages than any other volume available. Not only is this field guide a reference book, it is also a spectacular teaching resource that makes it easy for nature enthusiasts to see and appreciate the big picture of bird identification.
- The most user-friendly guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland
- A close look at more than 300 regularly occurring species
- Award-winning Crossley ID Guide design
- Lifelike images of birds from near to far
- A celebration of the British and Irish countryside
- A teaching and field guide and essential reference
- Concise and compelling text by Dominic Couzens and Richard Crossley
Awards and Recognition
- Richard Crossley, Winner of the 2012 ABA Robert Ridgway Award for Publications in Field Ornithology, American Birding Association
- One of The Guardian’s Best Nature Books of 2013, chosen by Stephen Moss
"[The Crossley ID Guide series focuses] on maximising your chances of correctly identifying species by ramping up the number and variety of species images within the guide and placing these images within typical habitats. . . . Each beautiful plate is painstakingly filled with images of hundreds of individual species in different settings or from different angles to help recreate how you might encounter it."—Kate Jones, New Scientist
"This book is beyond excellent and there won't be a birder in Europe and beyond who won't be hoping to find this in their Xmas stocking!"—Bo Beolens, Fat Birder
"The Crossley Guide has something for everyone. I would suggest this book is an absolute must for beginners or novice birders. I can think of no better format that I have seen that caters for this audience. The species are set out in an order that immediately aids comparison between similar species and most are shown in flight and in all plumages."—Paul Freestone, Cornwall Birding
"Although clearly directed at the more novice birdwatchers amongst us, I see much merit and use for this within the more experienced members of the community—well worth keeping a copy in the car and well worthy of perusal. Overall, a thoroughly recommended purchase."—Lee G R Evans, UK400ClubRareBirdAlert
"Overall I think this book is superb and it should be on every birders Christmas list or even a treat for yourself as you buy presents this year. For the target audience this really is the book they've been waiting for and it is one every birder should recommend to a friend who is starting to get interested in birds. . . . My book of the year."—John Hague, Drunk Birder
"For me this new volume will be essential as an additional aid in identifying difficult species."—Derek Bird Brain
"This photographic field guide is different, and quite informative. Each species is presented as a number of small individual photographs mounted on a full-page photograph of their typical preferred habitat. . . . Mostly targeted to beginners to use in the field, but it is detailed enough to be a useful study guide for more advanced birders, too."—Devorah Bennu, GrrlScientist at The Guardian
"Informative, unique and enthusiastically written, with something for everyone. Sure to be an excellent addition to many a bookshelf and a core reference for those building on their bird ID skills."—Anthony Hurd, Birding Frontiers
"If you are just a beginner or wanting to expand your skills then the Crossley ID Guide to birds of Britain and Ireland is a 'must buy book' and even if you are experienced birder then it is a highly engrossing book looking at the scenery of the plates and the postures of the birds making a great browse through."—Birding Ecosse
"The multi-image scenes of wildfowl in The Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland are especially praiseworthy. . . . I heartily recommend it to anyone looking for an introductory guide and learning tool to British and Irish birds."—Phil Slade, Another Bird Blog
"Richard Crossley and Dominic Couzens have lifted the field guide out of the rut and produced a first class book that is well worth looking at."—Biggest Twitch
"Showing lots of birds in natural surroundings really does conjure up the 'feel' of the bird sighting as well as its technical details."—Mark Avery Blog
"One of the great things about my job is that I get to see a lot of bird and natural history books. Choosing the four featured books for each issue of Nature's Home, just four times a year, takes a lot of time and thought. It takes a really special one to jump out from the crowd and I was delighted to see that the Crossley guide to UK birds lived up to my expectations."—Mark Ward, Nature's Home Blog
"Anyone reading my review will be aware just how highly I rate the Crossley Guide."—John Hague, Drunk Birder Blog
"The opportunity to compare potential confusion species in the same 'field of view' in the guide or pick out the odd one in a flock can only be a useful tool."—Alan Tilmouth, Birdguides
"A thoroughly excellent book. If you are wondering what Christmas present to buy for the British birder who has every field guide there is, look no further!"—David Bakewell, Dig Deep blog
"A noteworthy, excellent addition to the European bird guide lists."—Donna Schulman, 10,000 Birds
"[A] revolutionary new bird book."—Stephen Moss, Guardian
"It's a book for all ages and would actually make a great Christmas present for someone starting out in bird watching."—Over Wyre Focus
"Birding is an art form in the United Kingdom, and Richard Crossley and Dominic Couzens team up to turn field guides into an art with The Crossley ID Guide: Britain & Ireland. . . . Ideal just to read or an equally useful tool in the field, this book should have a place of distinction on every birder's bookshelf."—Melissa Mayntz, About.com
"I have also been using this book to ID some of my own wild birds and have . . . found it highly useful. This book is thorough and descriptions detailed about species specific behavior, breeding and placement as well as physical size, seasonal plumage and feeding. . . . This book has literally grown on me; I've gone full circle from unsure to love. I have always valued both Dominic Couzens and Richard Crossley as they are excellent photographers and naturalists. This is the perfect ID book and gift for the beginner to the advanced birder because of the many photos of each species with the added variations in seasonal and age colorations. Plus the fact they are in natural backgrounds it gives you a feel of real bird watching as you have to look for some of them more closely. So this Crossley ID guide now has earned a firm place on my birdy bookshelf."—Gadget Girl Reviews
"[T]his is a solid field guide that expands how we use and arrange photographs of birds in a field guide format. . . . [M]ost birders will discover that this is yet another useful reference on bird identification that will complement other field guides in their library."—Stephen Dinsmore, Iowa Bird Life
"I would highly recommend this book to help you improve your skills at identifying birds in real situations."—Su Gough, BTO News
"Whilst the text and many other aspects of the book are a revelation, it is the plates that make the book for me."—North Star
"Stunning! There is no other word to describe the recently published Crossley ID Guide to Britain and Ireland. How it would have transformed my early birding if such a publication had been available thirty or more years ago."—Surfbirds.com
"Crossley and Couzens certainly have excellent credentials in bird identification, and their talents are on display here. While the present volume is a bird guide, it is unlike any that this reviewer has seen."—P.K. Lago, Choice
"I think this is a user-friendly guide and is unique in its use of photo-montages of life-scenes: varying the angles and distance of the birds to resemble the situation when birding in the real world. It really emphasizes the importance of shape, behavior, size and even habitat that the bird is in which birders really need to grasp to progress in their identification skills. . . . [Y]ou can't question the appeal of this sort of guide to beginner and intermediate birders. . . . [I]t most definitely serves its purpose as a teaching tool and field guide for the basic birds to be encountered and how to correctly ID them."—Danni Gilroy, Next Generation Birders
"The Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland is an impressive and significant contribution to the range of bird identification guides available for the British Isles. Given the development of apps and the availability of pocket guides it is perhaps most valuable not in the field, although Crossley clearly intends it for this purpose, but as a handy home vade mecum to be consulted on return from a birding foray to verify sightings. It is also eminently suited to browsing prior to venturing out and as a 'training' aid for new birders. These features also recommend it for library use—any UK public library that needs to strengthen or just enhance its bird watching collection is recommended to purchase, both for the reference and lending shelves."—Tony Chalcraft, Reference Reviews
"[T]his book is aimed at beginning and intermediate birders. However if you are an experienced US birder but have never birded Great Britain or Ireland, this book is also for you."—Frederic H. Brock, Wildlife Activist
"The book looks fabulous. For me, it spans the gap between the traditional field guide with paintings and the newer guides with photographs. It is the best of both worlds. Now there's no excuse not to identify everything correctly!"—Nick Baker, Wildlife TV Presenter and Naturalist
"Bright, bold, clean-looking and easy to use, it is not just an identification guide—it is a celebration of our birds and how they fit into our landscape."—Andy Stoddart
