Better Birding- Tips, tools & concepts for the field by George L Armistead & Brian L Sulliv

Published by Princetown University Press

Paperback | 2015 | $29.95 | £19.95 | ISBN: 9780691129662

360 pp. | 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 | 850 colour photos. 4 maps.

This was one of the top 10 books for American birders in 2015 and although you may feel that it is not useful over here the way the book teaches you to look at birds and be able to identify them is definitely needed. Reading the introduction you may feel that IDing humans is part and part of everyday life but the same stored information is needed to ID birds and being out in the field is the best way to store this information. The chapters are broken down to habitats with water birds, seabirds etc but this does not help sometimes when you come to ‘forest & edge’ and ‘open country’ with some overlaps always possible. I know there will always be some overlaps like storm driven sea birds inland so don’t take it that this weakens the book as the photos really make the book active with mixed species photos asking you to ID the birds and tell others apart. I am sure at some point there will be a ‘European’ equivalent coming out but in the meantime this is a cheap price to get you active.