Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011. Large octavo, paperback, colour photographs.

This stunningly illustrated book from acclaimed birder and photographer Richard Crossley revolutionizes birding by providing the first real-life approach to identification. Whether you are a beginner, expert, or anywhere in between, this 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 each composed of 12-20 colour images showing the bird in a wide range of views - near and far, from different angles, in various plumages and behaviours, 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, behaviour, probability, and colour. 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, this guide will completely redefine how readers look at birds. Essential for all birders, it also promises to make new birders of many people who have despaired of using traditional guides. This guide revolutionizes birding and field guides Lifelike scenes composed from multiple colour photos of the same species - seen near and far, from different angles, and in various plumages and behaviours, including flight Highlights the most important identification characteristics: size, structure and shape, behaviour, probability, and colour Most comprehensive guide available, with 640 scenes incorporating more than 10,000 of the author's images An interactive Web site that includes videos helps readers further sharpen and test their identification skills.