The Crossley ID Guide: Britain and Ireland (The Crossley ID Guides)

I've got a number of bird ID books including the authoritative Collins Bird Guide and this is easily the most useful for UK birds.1) It's not full of details of birds that you won't see in the UK to confuse you2) Instead of drawings that never really represent the bird, it has photos, but multiple photos of the birds from different angles, at different distances and all the different plumages.3) It has descriptions of bird behaviour and habitat which are often vital for identification.The main problem is that 'proper' birders will look down their noses at it but you just have to ignore them. At some point you will be able to identify all the UK birds without needing a book and can move onto something more detailed but until then this is the best book I've found.

As a birder, the Collins is usually the go to book for identification. This is an excellent book with photos of the bird in different poses instead of drawings with entertaining descriptions by Dominic Couzens. The book only covers birds that are commonly seen in the UK and Ireland.

Great if you are a begginer and like both helpful images and some descriptive help in identifying and discovering some habits of birds you spot.I found the photos very good and true to the real birds images.It got frowned upon by an expert birder during a visti to a nature reserve, but personaly I have found it of use to get me started before I could navigate through much more complext and descriptive guides (as the birds have an habit of disappering before you leaf through 500 pages of tightly packed writing and drawrings)Some of the facts describing the background of the species (migration, id, hunting/foraging habits) are even more informative than i found subsequentially in other books, so would say that the overal quality is very good.

What a book, if you wish to own a Bird ID Guide then this has to be the one to own, superb book from beginning to end, you will never be disappointed. Richard Crossley and Dominic Couzens, have produced one great book,.The book is easy to use, from the introduction, how to use the book, How to be a better birder, some good and interesting content in this section,Bird Topography is a great section as it covers the following Topography, Song Bird, Raptor, Duck, Gull, and Wader, all the bird details are clearly marked and is all well done,.So I am well delighted with this publication, and will definetly recommend that if you are going to buy an ID Guide,on the birds of Britain and Ireland then this is the one as it puts all the other bird guides to shame.

I have many bird guides, but this is a favourite. Despite the unconventional approach of presenting a number of 'typical view' photographs of each bird in it common habitat, it really works and makes identification of unfamiliar species much easier.The original way of presenting pictures also makes this book much more approachable for a child or someone who is not your typical 'twitcher'Add in quality printing and a robust binding and this book represents impressive value.

This book was recommended to me and I would be happy to recommend it to anyone alsoFirst rate

Really helpful with different angles and views of the birds. The comparisons to commonly mistaken birds is good too.

This is a new approach to field guides that I had not seen before. It took a little getting used to (Sibley's is my go-to guy but he of course d/n have a guide for Scotland!) but I eventually really loved it. It is also the only field guide I could find that was just for UK and Ireland. The others, while great, also include a LOT of countries so there are many birds in those to wade through. I do NOT need another north american guide, but thinking about getting Crossley's just because. Loved it!