Birds of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East

Frederic Jiguet is one of France's leading ornithologists and a conservation biologist at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. He is director of the Centre de Recherches sur la Biologie des Populations d'Oiseaux (CRBPO), and serves on the editorial board of France's premier bird-study journal, Ornithos. Aurelien Audevard has been studying birds for much of his life and has conducted several high-profile conservation studies for the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (LPO PACA). His photographs have appeared in many of Europe's leading birding magazines, including Ornithos, L'Oiseaux, Birding World, and Dutch Birding.

"This is an exceptional collection of photos... The photos are printed at extremely high resolutions. That many photos and so many birds in 443 pages is asking a lot, but all is crisply delivered."--Jim Williams, Minneapolis Star Tribune's Wingnut blog

• Introduction 6 Species descriptions 12 Swans 12 Geese 14 Shelducks 21 Dabbling ducks 22 Whistling ducks 28 Diving ducks 28 Sea ducks 34 Stifftails 41 Vagrant and exotic ducks 42 Gamebirds 45 Divers (Loons) 55 Grebes 58 Shearwaters and petrels 61 Storm-petrels 66 Rare petrels and albatrosses 67 Frigatebirds 75 Tropicbirds 76 Gannets and boobies 77 Pelicans 80 Cormorants 81 Herons, bitterns and egrets 83 Storks 93 Spoonbills and ibises 94 Spoonbills and storks 96 Flamingos 97 Honey-buzzards 99 Buzzards 101 Snake eagles 105 Kites 106 Vultures 108 Harriers 113 Eagles 117 Osprey and Black-shouldered Kite 126 Accipiters 127 Falcons 129 Rails, crakes and gallinules 137 Cranes 143 Bustards 145 Oystercatcher and Turnstone 148 Stilts and avocets 149 Stone-curlews and coursers 150 Pratincoles 151 Plovers and lapwings 153 Sandpipers 162 Woodcocks and snipes 173 Dowitchers and Upland Sandpiper 176 Godwits 177 Curlews 178 Larger sandpipers 180 Phalaropes 185 Skuas (Jaegers) 187 Gulls 190 Terns 211 Auks 222 Sandgrouse 227 Pigeons and doves 229 Parakeets 234 Cuckoos 235 Owls 238 Nightjars 246 Swifts 248 Contents Kingfishers 251 Rollers 253 Bee-eaters 254 Hoopoe 255 Woodpeckers 256 Larks 262 Swallows and martins 269 Pipits 274 Wagtails 279 Accentors 284 Wren and Dipper 286 Robins and chats 287 Redstarts 291 Stonechats 295 Wheatears 298 Rock thrushes 303 Thrushes 304 Bush warblers and cisticolas 311 Grasshopper warblers 312 Reed warblers 315 Tree warblers 320 Sylvia warblers 324 Leaf warblers 333 Crests 341 Old World flycatchers 343 Tyrant flycatchers 348 Penduline tit and leiothrix 350 Reedling and parrotbill 351 Long-tailed tit 352 Tits 353 Nuthatches 358 Treecreepers 360 Wallcreeper and Golden Oriole 361 Shrikes 362 Crows and jays 370 Starlings 377 Waxwings 379 Bulbuls and mynas 381 Sparrows 382 Introduced exotic finches 386 Finches 389 Buntings 404 Vagrant Nearctic passerines 417 New World warblers 433 Index 434 Photographic credits 444