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Richard Crossley

Dominic Couzens

A groundbreaking and accessible field guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland

This guide is a celebration of the beauty of birds and the British and Irish countryside. Aimed at beginner and intermediate birders, yet suitable for all levels, this new volume in the groundbreaking Crossley ID Guide series is the most user-friendly guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland. Following The Crossley ID Guides' award-winning design, this book looks at all regularly occurring species in Britain and Ireland, and shows readers how to identify birds in their natural habitats using size, structure, shape, probability, and behavior—just like the experts do! Stunning images are accompanied by the colorful and compelling text of Dominic Couzens, one of Britain's leading nature writers.

This unique book treats more than 300 species—all the regularly occurring birds likely to be encountered by observers--and the guide's attractive pages provide a real-life approach to bird identification. Beautiful, in-focus scenes present birds in various plumages and in lifelike poses set in identifiable British and Irish habitats. The plates also illustrate how a bird's appearance changes with distance. Organizing images in cohesive, easy-to-understand plates rather than as separate photographs, this book also sets itself apart by containing more images that demonstrate flight, behavior, habitat, and plumages than any other volume available. Not only is this field guide a reference book, it is also a spectacular teaching resource that makes it easy for nature enthusiasts to see and appreciate the big picture of bird identification.

 • The most user-friendly guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland
 • A close look at more than 300 regularly occurring species
 • Award-winning 
Crossley ID Guide • design
 • Lifelike images of birds from near to far
 • A celebration of the British and Irish countryside
 • A teaching and field guide and essential reference
 • Concise and compelling text by Dominic Couzens and Richard Crossley

Princeton University Press

The Crossley ID Guides

The Crossley ID Guide Britain and Ireland

The acclaimed book that has revolutionized birding and field guides
"[The Crossley ID Guide] has turned the traditional field guide on its ear."—Wall Street Journal
"Deserves to be your essential resource for definitive species identification."—Richmond Times–Dispatch
"The perfect book for beginning birders, and even experts will marvel at its thoroughness."—Pittsburgh Post–Gazette
"A different kind of ID book, a book much more useful and helpful."—Minneapolis Star Tribune

This stunningly illustrated book from acclaimed birder and photographer Richard Crossley revolutionizes field guide design by providing the first real-life approach to identification. Whether you are a beginner, expert, or anywhere in between, The Crossley ID Guide will vastly improve your ability to identify birds.

Unlike other guides, which provide isolated individual photographs or illustrations, this is the first book to feature large, lifelike scenes for each species. These scenes—640 in all—are composed from more than 10,000 of the author's images showing birds in a wide range of views—near and far, from different angles, in various plumages and behaviors, including flight, and in the habitat in which they live. These beautiful compositions show how a bird's appearance changes with distance, and give equal emphasis to characteristics experts use to identify birds: size, structure and shape, behavior, probability, and color. This is the first book to convey all of these features visually—in a single image—and to reinforce them with accurate, concise text. Each scene provides a wealth of detailed visual information that invites and rewards careful study, but the most important identification features can be grasped instantly by anyone.

By making identification easier, more accurate, and more fun than ever before, The Crossley ID Guide will completely redefine how its users look at birds. Essential for all birders, it also promises to make new birders of many people who have despaired of using traditional guides.

 • Revolutionary. This book changes field guide design to make you a better birder
 • A picture says a thousand words. The most comprehensive guide: 640 stunning scenes created from 10,000 of the author's photographs
 • Reality birding. Lifelike in-focus scenes show birds in their habitats, from near and far, and in all plumages and behaviors
 • Teaching and reference. The first book to accurately portray all the key identification characteristics: size, shape, behavior, probability, and color
 • Practice makes perfect. An interactive learning experience to sharpen and test field identification skills
 • Bird like the experts. The first book to simplify birding and help you understand how to bird like the best
 • An interactive website—www.crossleybirds.com—includes expanded captions for the plates and species updates

The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds