The ''Helm Identification Guides'' are a series of books that identify groups of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s. The series include two types of guides, those that are: * Taxonomic, dealing with a particular family of birds on a worldwide scale—most early Helm Guides were this type, as well as many more-recent ones, although some later books deal with identification of such groups on a regional scale only (e.g., ''The Gulls Guide,'' which covers only species in Europe, Asia, and North America) * Geographic, including all bird species in an area (e.g., ''The Birds of the West Indies'') Early volumes were sometimes published under the Croom Helm or Christopher Helm imprints. In addition, a parallel set of guides, very similar in design, was published by

Pica Press A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 180 ...

in the 1990s (marked ''Pica'' in the list below); Pica was later absorbed into

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 18 ...

(now part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc), and all guides are now marketed as a single series. Several of the books have won the British Birds ''Bird Book of the Year'' award. A list of titles in the series, in chronological order of publication, is as follows:

Works with a taxonomic scope

Note: 'nW' indicates those that do not have worldwide coverage.

1980s

* ''Seabirds - an identification guide'' by Peter Harrison (1983) * ''Shorebirds - an identification guide to the waders of the world'' by John Marchant,

A. J. Prater A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure o ...

and Peter Hayman (1986) * ''Wildfowl - an identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world'' by

Steve Madge Steve Madge (15 January 1948 – July 2020) was a birder, author, and bird tour leader, based in Cornwall, England. He was a member of the British Birds Rarities Committee and president of the Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society. He ...

and Hilary Burn (1988) * ''A Handbook to the Swallows and Martins of the World'' by

Angela Turner Angela may refer to: Places * Angela, Montana * Angela Lake, in Volusia County, Florida * Lake Angela, in Lyon Township, Oakland County, Michigan * Lake Angela, the reservoir impounded by the source dam of the South Yuba River Fiction * Ange ...

, illustrated by Chris Rose (1989)

1990–1994

* ''Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers - A Handbook'' by C. Hilary Fry and Kathie Fry, illustrated by Alan Harris (1992) * ''Finches and Sparrows'' by Peter Clement, illustrated by Alan Harris and John Davis (1993) * ''Crows and Jays - A Guide to the Crows, Jays and Magpies of the World'' by

, illustrated by Hilary Burn (1994) * ''New World Warblers'' by

Jon Curson Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".David Quinn and David Beadle (1994)

1995–1999

* ''Woodpeckers'' by Hans Winkler, translated by David Christie, illustrated by David Nurney (1995) 'Pica' * ''Buntings and Sparrows - A Guide to the Buntings and North American Sparrows'' by Urban Olsson and

Jon Curson Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".Clive Byers Clive Byers is a British bird-watcher, a professional bird artist and an early ''"twitcher"'':''Take Clive, a leading member of the tribe. Many years ago, Clive went down in birding legend when he and two companions were sprayed with liquid manur ...

(1995) 'Pica' * ''Terns of Europe and North America'' by

Klaus Malling Olsen Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus *Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American basebal ...

, illustrated by

Hans Larsson Hans Larsson (18 February 1862 in Östra Klagstorp, Malmöhus län – 16 February 1944, Lund) was a Swedish Professor of Philosophy at Lund University, Sweden and a Member of the Swedish Academy (1925-1944), chair no. 15. He was known in Sweden ...

(1995) 'nW' * ''Swifts - A Guide to the Swifts and Treeswifts of the World'' by

Phil Chantler Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root term ...

, illustrated by

Gerald Driessens Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Irish ...

(1995) 'Pica' * ''Tits, Nuthatches & Treecreepers'' by Simon Harrap, illustrated by David Quinn (1996) * ''Munias and Mannikins'' by Robin L. Restall (1996) * ''Pittas, Broadbills and Asities'' by Frank Lambert, illustrated by Martin Woodcock (1996) 'Pica' * ''Warblers of Europe, Asia and North Africa'' by Kevin Baker (1997) 'nW' * ''Skuas and Jaegers - a guide to the skuas and jaegers of the world'' by

, illustrated by

(1997) 'Pica' * ''Shrikes - A Guide to the Shrikes of the World'', by Norbert Lefranc, illustrated by Tim Worfolk (1997) 'Pica' * ''Nightjars - A Guide to Nightjars and related Nightbirds'' by Nigel Cleere, illustrated by Dave Nurney (1998) 'Pica' * ''Parrots - A Guide to the Parrots of the World'' by Tony Juniper and

Mike Parr Mike Parr is an Australian performance artist and printmaker. Parr's works have been exhibited in Australia and internationally, including in Brazil, Cuba, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United States. In the 1970s, he ...

, illustrated by Kim Franklin, Robin Restall, Dan Powell,

David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commi ...

and

Carl D'Silva Carl d'Silva (died 19 July 2015) was an Indian wildlife artist and naturalist well known for his paintings of birds in many ornithological handbooks and field guides. Born in Goa, D'Silva worked with Salim Ali and illustrated several of his ...

(1998) 'Pica' * ''Rails - a guide to the rails, crakes, gallinules and coots of the world'' by Barry Taylor, illustrated by

Ber van Perlo ''Ziziphus mauritiana'', also known as Indian jujube, Indian plum, Chinese date, Chinese apple, ber, and dunks is a tropical fruit tree species belonging to the family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused with the closely related Chinese jujube (' ...

(1998) 'Pica' * ''Starlings and Mynas'' by

Chris Feare Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

and

Adrian Craig Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

, illustrated by

Barry Croucher Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 1950 ...

Chris Shields Chris Shields (born 27 December 1990) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Linfield in the Irish Premiership. He previously played for Bray Wanderers where he played for four seasons before joining Dundalk, whe ...

and Kamol Komolphalin (1998) * ''Owls - a Guide to the Owls of the World'' by

Claus König Claus (sometimes Clas) is both a given name and a German, Danish, and Dutch surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), a German officer who, along with others, attempted to assassi ...

Friedhelm Weick Friedhelm is a name of Germanic origin. It may refer to: * Friedhelm Busse (1929–2008), German national socialist politician and activist *Friedhelm Döhl (born 1936), German composer and professor of music *Friedhelm Eronat (born 1953), Geneva-b ...

and Jan-Hendrik Becking (1999) 'Pica' * ''New World Blackbirds - the Icterids'' by Alvaro Jaramillo and Peter Burke (1999) * ''Tanagers'' by Morton L. Isler and Phyllis R. Isler (1999) ''softcover'' (a revision of ''The Tanagers : Natural History, Distribution, and Identification'' (1987) )

2000–2009

* ''Thrushes'' by Peter Clement, illustrated by

Ren Hathway Ren or REN may refer to: Abbreviations * Orenburg Tsentralny Airport, IATA code REN, civil airport in Russia * Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), Portuguese company * Renanthera, abbreviated as Ren, orchid genus * Ringer equivalence number (RE ...

(2000) * ''Shrikes and Bush-shrikes'' by Tony Harris, illustrated by Kim Franklin (2000) * ''Raptors of the World'' by James Ferguson-Lees and David Christie, illustrated by Kim Franklin,

David Mead David Mead may refer to: *David Mead (military general), founder of Meadville, Pennsylvania *David Mead (musician), American pop singer and songwriter *David Mead (rugby league) David Mead (born David Moore on 4 November 1988) is a Papua New Gui ...

and Philip Burton (2001) * ''Pigeons and Doves'' by David Gibbs, illustrated by Eustace Barnes and John Cox (2001) * ''Sylvia Warblers - identification, taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Sylvia'', 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 ...

, Gabriel Gargallo and

Andreas J. Helbig Andreas ( el, Ἀνδρέας) is a name usually given to males in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Armenia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. The name ...

, illustrated by Alan Harris, photographic editor

David Cottridge David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

(2001) * ''Sunbirds - A Guide to the Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Spiderhunters and Sugarbirds of the World'' by Robert A. Cheke and Clive F. Mann, illustrated by Richard Allen (2001) * ''Wrens, Dippers and Thrashers'' by David Brewer, illustrated by

Barry Kent MacKay Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 1950 ...

(2001) * ''Stonechats - A Guide to the Genus Saxicola'' by

Ewan Urquhart Ewan is an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name Eòghann. It is possibly a derivative of the Pictish name, ''Vuen'' (or 'Wen'), "The Warrior" or "born of the mountain". It is most common as a male given name in Scotland and Canada. It ...

, illustrated by

Adam Bowley Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

(2002) * ''Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse - a guide to the Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guineafowl, Buttonquails and Sandgrouse of the World'' by

and

Phil MacGowan Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root ter ...

(2002) * ''Pipits and Wagtails of Europe, Asia and North America'', by

Per Alstrom Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita. Per or PER may also refer to: Places * IOC country code for Peru * Pér, a village in Hungary * Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland Math a ...

& Krister Mild, illustrated by Bill Zetterstrom (2003) 'nW' * '' Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America'' by

, illustrated by

(2003) 'nW'

2010–2019

* ''Reed and Bush Warblers'' by Peter Kennerley and

David Pearson David or Dave Pearson may refer to: * David Pearson (librarian) (born 1955), British librarian and scholar * David Pearson (racing driver) (1934–2018), American car racing champion * David Pearson (scientist) (born 1942), Canadian scientist, a ...

, illustrated by Brian Small (2010) * ''Cotingas and Manakins'' by

Graeme Green Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan Gr ...

and

Guy Kirwan Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorpo ...

(2011) * ''Cuckoos of the World'' by Johannes Erritzøe, Clive F. Mann, Frederik P. Brammer and

Richard A. Fuller Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

, illustrated by Richard Allen,

Jan Wilczur Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

, Martin Woodcock and Tim Worfolk (2012) * ''Robins and Chats'' by Peter Clement, and Chris Rose (2015) * ''Wildfowl of Europe, Asia and North America'' by Sebastien Reeber (2015) 'nW' * ''

Flight Identification of Raptors of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East ''Flight Identification of Raptors of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East'' is a 2016 field guide by Dick Forsman, a Finnish ornithologist, with the purpose of helping the reader identify raptors (that is, birds of prey), in flight. It is p ...

'' by Dick Forsman (2016) 'nW' * ''Antpittas and Gnateaters'' by

Harold F. Greeney Harold Francis Greeney III (born 1972) is an American biologist best known for establishing thYanayacu Biological Research Station and Center for Creative Studieson the eastern slopes of Antisana volcano in Ecuador. He received his PhD from the De ...

and David Beadle (2018) * ''African Raptors'' by

William S. Clark William Smith Clark (July 31, 1826 – March 9, 1886) was an American professor of chemistry, botany and zoology, a colonel during the American Civil War, and a leader in agricultural education. Raised and schooled in Easthampton, Massachuse ...

and Rob Davies (2018) 'nW'

2020–current

* ''Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds '' by Phil Gregory and Richard Allen (2020)

External links

Publisher website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609124109/http://www.acblack.com/ , date=2010-06-09 Bird field guides