Many birdwatchers are not only interested in birds, so we have added the most useful books for other taxa where possible. Clicking on a link will take you to our partner, Wildsounds, one of the largest specialist UK mail-order companies. The prices here are a guide price and Wildsounds may be able to offer a better deal.
*** Wildsounds donates 5% of each order generated via these links to the ABC Conservation Fund. Please order here, get a good price and support ABC! ***
Field Guides | Avifaunas and Monographs | Bird Sounds | Mammals | General Titles | Insects | Plants | Other taxa - Sounds |
Field Guides
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Birds of Europe with North Africa & The Middle East |
Still one of the best field guides. Covers all but a few of the Western Palearctic's breeding birds and along with the Collins guide the recommended choice for the north African countries. 400 superb colour plates by the author Lars Jonsson. |
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Raptors of Europe and Middle East |
Comprehensive collection of photos, by the foremost authority on Western Palearctic raptors, showing all plumages of species in the field. The detailed text enables birdwatchers to recognise even the most difficult species. Over 700 photographs, 100 drawings. 607 pages. |
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Birds of Prey of Africa & its Islands |
llustrator is Peter Hayman and the photographers include Nigel Dennis, Peter Steyn, and Warwick Tarboton. Following the success of Sasol Birds of Southern Africa, this guide presents the birds in photographic and illustrative form in a single volume. Each of the more than 140 species is afforded one double-page spread. Includes birds of prey found on Madagascar, the Comores, the Mascarenes and the Seychelles. A glossary and indexes to English and scientific names appear at the back of the book, as does a table of Afrikaans, French, German and Spanish common names, 347 pages. |
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Field Guide to the Raptors of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa |
In this comprehensive new identification guide, Bill Clark presents the latest information on tried and tested field marks for identifying the diurnal raptors of the Western Palearctic region. Forty-eight stunning colour plates depict all the plumages for every raptor, both regularly occurring and vagrant. The plates are augmented by a forty page colour photograph section. The accompanying text provides the reader with essential clues to identification: detailed plumage descriptions for each age, sex, and colour morph; sections describing flight, moult, behaviour, and distribution for every species; sections on similar species - notoriously difficult to identify - and how to distinguish them. Each account concludes with the range of measurements for length, wing span, and weight. This will be essential reading for any birdwatcher or ornithologist who wants to watch and identify the region's raptors in the field. |
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Raptors of the World: A Field Guide |
This new field guide uses all of the plates from the Helm ID Guide Raptors of the World, with concise, revised text on facing pages, to create a conveniently-sized, lightweight field reference covering all 330 raptor species. Several of the plates have been reworked and repainted for this field guide. The book also has an updated colour distribution map for each species. 320 pages. |
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Photographic Guide to the Birds of the Western Palearctic |
Available from 12 December 2008. This long-awaited book will be the finest and most complete identification handbook of the birds of Western Palearctic ever produced. Unlike many other guides, the handbook is illustrated with high-quality photography, which, together with the comprehensive text, details the entire plumage spectrum and geographical variation of every species in the region. The book will be packed with information, guiding birders through the complexities of ageing and sexing, and enabling them to identify challenging species and plumages in the field. The book also contains details of the very latest taxonomic research. 1000 pages. |
Avifaunas and Monographs
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Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands |
This book is great. Need to know something about important sites in Africa? This book should be your first port of call and is ideal for background reading or planning a trip. This is the first regional analysis of its kind for the African continent including Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands, giving a clear understanding of the conservation status of the most significant sites for birds in Africa. 1144 pages. |
Bird Sounds
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Bird Songs of Europe, North Africa and Middle East |
The birds are systematically arranged so similar species can thus be compared easily. Each bird species has one to five separate, consecutive indices. This enables you to choose the calls separately from the songs, for example, which in practice brings obvious advantages. 19 hours. |
Mammals
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Handbook of the Bats of Britain, Europe & North-west Africa |
This comprehensive handbook presents for the first time all 51 bat species that occur across Europe and Northwest Africa, taking in to account recent taxonomic advances and new species descriptions from over the last few years. Extensive introductory chapters reveal the remarkable biology of bats and explore the latest findings in bat evolution and echolocation. The in-depth species accounts cover life history, conservation status and identification. Distribution maps accompany illustrations comprise of beautifully detailed diagrams and over 400 breathtaking colour photos. This unique reference is an authoritative guide suitable for all bat enthusiasts, whether they are beginners, students, professionals or conservationists. 400 pages. |
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Mammals of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East |
Covering over 400 species, this work presents all of the terrestrial mammal species of the Western Palearctic, serving as an excellent guide to the great wealth of fauna in this region. Species accounts are concise and authoritative, giving information on size, distribution, habitat, behaviour, reproduction and feeding. Each account is supported by distribution maps and superb illustrations. The book features over 100 plates, comprising of over 600 colour species artworks. Variation between the sexes is illustrated and anatomical diagrams are provided to assist identification. 272 pages. |
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Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals |
All 1150 known species of African land mammals are covered in precise text with over 480 colour pictures and 280 maps covering 460 mammals or species groups. 494 pages. |
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Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals |
New pocket identification guide to all African land mammals by one of the world's leading naturalists. It is an adaptation of the original Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. The greatly condensed text focuses on essential information such as identification and distribution, while the author's superb illustrations have been rearranged into an easy-to-use plate format and placed opposite the text. Complex and more obscure groups like the bats and certain rodent families are summarised by genera. 272 pages. |
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The Larger Mammals of Africa (Revised Edition) |
Struik Field Guide. 400 colour photos. Includes distribution maps, an extensive discussion on the description, distribution, status, habitat, behaviour, food and reproduction habits of the species as well as a succinct summary. 320 pages. |
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Collins Field Guide to Mammals of Africa |
Available from 7 March 2011. The most up-to-date field guide to the mammals of Africa, a continent that includes about 25% of the world's mammals. This field guide includes all the species people most want to see when on safari and contains some 50 colour plates depicting almost all of Africa's 1150 plus species. For many species the female or juvenile is shown in addition to the adult male. Identifiable races or colour forms have also been included, as have the spores or tracks of key species. Informative notes on each species are placed opposite the illustrations and text describes the key identification features, the usual habits and habitat of the species and its global conservation status. In addition there are over 1000 distribution maps, information on geography, climate, conservation, finding and observing wildlife and a section on the continent's finest national parks. 304 pages. |
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Photographic Guide to Mammals of North Africa & Middle East |
Stunning colour photography depicts roughly 100 species found in this region and covers all major families. Information for each species includes a detailed description with key ID features, distribution, habitat and status, behaviour, diet and reproduction. 128 pages. |
General Titles
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The Good Bird Guide |
This book is a birdfinding guide to Britain, Europe & North Africa's most coveted species. Unlike the Where to Watch Birds series, which directs birders to good general birding sites, this guide takes each individual species as a starting point, and picks out the best places to see that species. Each of the 500 species accounts has information on distribution, habitat and movements, some hints and tips on finding and getting close to the species, and a list of sites in all appropriate countries where that species can reliably be found. The species accounts are followed by a comprehensive, country-by-country gazetteer of the sites covered, with site descriptions and location maps. African countries/regions covered include: Algeria, Azores, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, Egypt, Madeira, Morocco, Tunisia. 600 pages. |
Insects
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Collins Butterfly Guide |
This classic guide to the butterflies of Britain and northern Europe enters its third edition as part of the authoritative `Collins Guide' series. This comprehensive guide to the butterflies of Britain, Europe and North Africa describes and illustrates all 440 species, depicting both males and females and - where there is significant variation - subspecies. Distribution maps accompany every widespread species, and the text covers all taxonomic nomenclature, distributions, flight periods, variations, habitats, behaviour, life cycles and conservation. An ideal field guide for butterfly enthusiasts and naturalists alike. 384 pages. |
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Collins Butterfly Guide |
This classic guide to the butterflies of Britain and northern Europe enters its third edition as part of the authoritative `Collins Guide' series. This comprehensive guide to the butterflies of Britain, Europe and North Africa describes and illustrates all 440 species, depicting both males and females and - where there is significant variation - subspecies. Distribution maps accompany every widespread species, and the text covers all taxonomic nomenclature, distributions, flight periods, variations, habitats, behaviour, life cycles and conservation. An ideal field guide for butterfly enthusiasts and naturalists alike. 384 pages. |
Plants
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Wild Flowers of the Mediterranean |
Second edition. Unfortunately, decent plant guides for sub-saharan Africa are virtually non-existent. For North African this great little field guide covers the flowers, fruit trees, grasses and ferns found in the countries bordering the Mediterranean. Covers, amongst other countries, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco - in all over 2500 plant species are described. Introductory chapters cover the general ecology and climate of the region, and describe the structure of the book and how to use it. 560 pages. |
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Orchids of Europe, North Africa & the Middle East |
English translation of Guide des Orchidées d'Europe. Identification guide to over 520 species found in Britain, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Basic keys are followed by detailed species descriptions which cover nomenclature, variations, habitat, distribution and species biology. The text is illustrated with 1270 colour photos and line drawings to allow the specialist, as well as the avid botanist, to identify the wild orchids of the region with precision. 640 pages. |
Other taxa - Sounds
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Animal Calls of Africa |
40 mammals and 9 conspicuous birds. 34 min. |
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