The ''Macmillan Field Guides to Bird

Identification Identification or identify may refer to: *Identity document, any document used to verify a person's identity Arts, entertainment and media * ''Identify'' (album) by Got7, 2014 * "Identify" (song), by Natalie Imbruglia, 1999 * Identification ( ...

'' are two small bird

field guide A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exi ...

s. Volume 1, ''The Macmillan Field Guide to Bird Identification'', illustrated by Alan Harris and

Laurel Tucker Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (m ...

, with text by

Keith Vinicombe Keith E. Vinicombe is a British ornithologist and writer on bird identification. Vinicombe is best known for his first book, the '' Macmillan Field Guide to Bird Identification''. Subsequent publications include ''Rare Birds in Britain and Irelan ...

, was originally published in 1989, covered British birds. Volume 2, ''The Macmillan Birder's Guide to European and Middle Eastern Birds'', illustrated by Alan Harris, with text by

Hadoram Shirihai Hadoram Shirihai (born in Israel 1962) is an Israeli ornithologist and writer. Biography Shirihai is the son of Batia and Eli Shirihai. His mother was a schoolteacher, his father was a zoologist in Israel. He grew up in Jerusalem where he becam ...

and David Christie, covered birds of continental Europe and the Middle East, and was published in 1996. The guides adopt an unusual format, in that not all species in the geographical area of coverage are included; instead only groups of species which the authors regarded as difficult to identify are covered. Each such group is given a chapter, where identification is covered discursively rather than in the abbreviated form more usually used in a field guide. The publication of the first volume (covering Britain and Ireland) was the first time that this approach had been used in a European guide The first volume is widely credited as having a major influence on improving the identification skills of birders in Britain during the 1990s.

References

Bird field guides Wild animals identification Books about British Birds {{Ornithology-stub