Product Description

Shorebirds are a very popular group of birds among birders of all standards, though their identification is often a challenge. Covering all the species of the northern hemisphere, this new photographic guide provides all the information a birder will need at a glance. Lavishly illustrated with colour photography by the author, Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere focuses on specific and subspecific separation and on ageing to provide a complete identification resource.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55295 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Review
' It is a splendid addition to any wader watcher's library ' --Birdwatching (July 2009)

'An important new source for shorebird identification.'
--Scottish Birds (2009)

'...a useful collection of shorebird photographs from one of the world's finest bird photographers...many will find it a valuable purchase.'
--Sandgrouse (2009)

Review
' Fans of tertials and split supercilia will love this technical book '

Review
'An excellent reference guide'

Customer Reviews

The best photographic guide to waders - but could have been even better
This book is a real labour of love by author Richard Chandler - not only has he written detailed text on over 130 species of northern hemisphere waders covered by this book, but he has also taken most of the accompanying photographs. Either achievement on its own would be notable, but to combine both is something pretty special - it's hard to imagine how much time spent in the field this work must represent.

As far as the text goes, the species accounts are authoritative yet concise, the photographs very informatively annotated and the introductory sections on plumage and behaviour a cut above. There is no doubt that Mr Chandler knows his stuff. The photographs, all 850 of them, are generally of a very high standard - whether taken by the author or by other contributors - and show the birds of in a range of different ages and in various plumages. Highlights include 20 shots covering all six races of Dunlin, and a superb gallery of a dozen different breeding plumage male Ruff.

So why "only" four stars?

Well, while the photographs are generally excellent, a few are not quite up to the same standard (there are a couple of very grainy Phalaropes, for example). A further potential issue with any photographic guide is the difficulty of getting good shots of birds in flight, and as a result that's a slight weak spot, though there are useful flight shots of the great majority of species covered.

The major issue I have with this book is, however, nothing to do with its content - it's the way the book is bound. It is published in a (water-resistant) soft cover, and at nearly 450 pages it is too thick to open anything like flat unless you want to break the spine (which would be a pity). The result is that it can be difficult to read the text and fully appreciate the photos towards the inside edge of the pages, and the book is not particularly easy to handle. Helm's reasoning is that the book is intended to be used in the field, so a hard cover would be inappropriate. Personally I think a book like this is far more likely to be used for reference and "swotting up" on identification at home - or at a pinch in the car - than stuck in your jacket pocket on a day's birding. A hard cover presentation would have done the author's labours more justice, and made the book easier to use.

So, this is without doubt the best photographic guide to waders available today, but it could have been even better. The Hayman / Marchant / Prater classic "Shorebirds" is still the one to beat as a first choice wader identification guide, but Richard Chandler's impressive work would make a good companion volume in any keen birder's library.