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The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Birds of the World: A Detailed Visual Reference Guide To 1600 Birds And Their Habitats, Shown In More Than 1800 Pictures
A comprehensive guide to the avian species with beautiful illustrations and a detailed natural-history introduction.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
David Alderton
408 books21 followersDavid Alderton is a UK-based writer specialising in pets and natural history topics. Growing up in a home surrounded by pets, he originally trained to become a veterinary surgeon. An allergic dermatitis acquired in his final year of study forced a change of career however, and so led him into the field of writing about pets and their care. He has since become a regular contributor of articles on this subject to a wide range of newspapers and magazines in the UK and abroad, and also participates frequently in radio and television programmes.
His books have currently sold over six million copies, and have been translated into 30 different languages. David’s titles have won awards in the USA from the Cat Writers' Association of America and the Maxwell Medallion from the Dog Writers’ Association of America, as well as being nominated for the Sir Peter Kent Conservation Book Prize. He has also chaired the National Council for Aviculture, the umbrella organisation for bird-keeping clubs and associations in the UK, and is a member of the Kennel Club, as well as editor of the monthly magazine Practical Reptile Keeping.
His books have currently sold over six million copies, and have been translated into 30 different languages. David’s titles have won awards in the USA from the Cat Writers' Association of America and the Maxwell Medallion from the Dog Writers’ Association of America, as well as being nominated for the Sir Peter Kent Conservation Book Prize. He has also chaired the National Council for Aviculture, the umbrella organisation for bird-keeping clubs and associations in the UK, and is a member of the Kennel Club, as well as editor of the monthly magazine Practical Reptile Keeping.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 20, 2022
To be fair I’ve only read through the bookending sections and the Australia/NZ section so far but I don’t think I need to read through the whole thing to be able to give this a good review! What I liked:
1. Logical organization (first by geographical region, then into specific habitats/biomes and related birds - more accessible to the average reader than “Birds” by Per Christiansen which is organized by order, then family, which is nice but more difficult to reference and look things up quickly; that one also has a lot of white space, while this one I feel has much more information)
2. Easy to navigate, helpful directory
3. Lots of pictures, both color photos and drawings
4. Really love the great background information and context provided by the “Discovering Birds” section. This contains “Birds and Myth,” “Documenting Birds,” “Domestication of Birds,” “Threats to Habitat,” “Endangered Species & Conservation,” and “Classification of Birds.” Very succinct with only the most relevant and useful information, but enough to delve into the content of the book with. There is also a section near the end called Where/How Birds Live, which is kind of a summary of key elements and fun facts about the different habitats covered (plus birdwatching tips for that specific habitat)
5. Distribution maps for EVERY bird! Also lists related species, identification tips (including variations by season, bird call, flight, etc), size information, and more; it varies by entry
6. I’m not an ornithologist so of course I can’t say with any degree of certainty how “complete” it is (is there even such a thing for bird books?), but I was very satisfied with the range and variety of birds covered. This book makes great use of all its 500-some pages.
7. Great full page color physical maps at the beginning of each habitat chapter to show the topography, so you can match the individual bird distribution maps to that. Only thing that I would’ve liked – though it’s probably not necessary for this since the birds can migrate so far and it’s just a rough geographical estimate/just a general book and not supposed to be super specific (again, I’m not a scientist so what do I know) – is an indication of scale on the chapter maps. It’s a bit harder to understand the range of distribution and compare the individual maps to the chapter maps without it.
8. Cool section on Birdwatching, perfect for the beginner. I particularly liked the short guidance on drawing birds in the field – will definitely explore this topic more using other materials
9. Index includes both the scientific and common names together.
10. “Useful websites” section is nice! This was published in 2004 so it might be a fun personal
project to conduct your own research online/in books and try to add to this, tailoring it to your own particular interests.
1. Logical organization (first by geographical region, then into specific habitats/biomes and related birds - more accessible to the average reader than “Birds” by Per Christiansen which is organized by order, then family, which is nice but more difficult to reference and look things up quickly; that one also has a lot of white space, while this one I feel has much more information)
2. Easy to navigate, helpful directory
3. Lots of pictures, both color photos and drawings
4. Really love the great background information and context provided by the “Discovering Birds” section. This contains “Birds and Myth,” “Documenting Birds,” “Domestication of Birds,” “Threats to Habitat,” “Endangered Species & Conservation,” and “Classification of Birds.” Very succinct with only the most relevant and useful information, but enough to delve into the content of the book with. There is also a section near the end called Where/How Birds Live, which is kind of a summary of key elements and fun facts about the different habitats covered (plus birdwatching tips for that specific habitat)
5. Distribution maps for EVERY bird! Also lists related species, identification tips (including variations by season, bird call, flight, etc), size information, and more; it varies by entry
6. I’m not an ornithologist so of course I can’t say with any degree of certainty how “complete” it is (is there even such a thing for bird books?), but I was very satisfied with the range and variety of birds covered. This book makes great use of all its 500-some pages.
7. Great full page color physical maps at the beginning of each habitat chapter to show the topography, so you can match the individual bird distribution maps to that. Only thing that I would’ve liked – though it’s probably not necessary for this since the birds can migrate so far and it’s just a rough geographical estimate/just a general book and not supposed to be super specific (again, I’m not a scientist so what do I know) – is an indication of scale on the chapter maps. It’s a bit harder to understand the range of distribution and compare the individual maps to the chapter maps without it.
8. Cool section on Birdwatching, perfect for the beginner. I particularly liked the short guidance on drawing birds in the field – will definitely explore this topic more using other materials
9. Index includes both the scientific and common names together.
10. “Useful websites” section is nice! This was published in 2004 so it might be a fun personal
project to conduct your own research online/in books and try to add to this, tailoring it to your own particular interests.
May 10, 2018
Birds have successfully colonized the planet, reaching most inaccessible places.
The encyclopedic book excellently covers the avian world, educating the reader and adding valuable knowledge.
The encyclopedic book excellently covers the avian world, educating the reader and adding valuable knowledge.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews