Wildfowl of Europe, Asia and North America by Sebastien Reeber

 

Helm identification Guides Published by Bloomsbury

 

Hard back 656 pages ISBN 978 1 4729 1234 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here comes another ‘heavy weight’ from this great Helm ID series just in time for Xmas! We have advanced from the ‘Wildfowl’ identification guide covering the world in 1988, Wildfowl an identification guide to the ducks geese and swans of the world 2010 both by Steve Madge, Wildfowl by David Cabot New Naturalist 2010 etc and now to this one covering the northern hemi sphere. There is an amazing amount of colour in this one along with pictures of the possible hybrids you might find which is so needed these days.  The book has 72 colour plates which also include hybrids [great to add to your list helping you with ID] with 920 individual drawings moving into the normal coverage of the species with plenty of colour photos [650]. The text also includes hybrids with a hybrid index at the back of the book. You have to blink when you see the MuteSwan/Black Swan hybrid! But how many books [which this does] have a section on captivity with wildfowl being the classic. The distribution maps are found in with the plates covering the 83 full species. Both the cover and the plates are painted by the author  making this an attractive filling for a big stocking!