Seabirds

2021 Birders’ Choice Awards

BOOK OF THE YEAR

“This exhaustive title provides a wealth of detail and information on the world’s 434 seabird species. Lavishly illustrated with more than 3,800 colour figures, the comprehensive and definitive text covers status and conservation, geographic range, movements and migration, breeding biology and feeding habits, plus identification and latest taxonomic treatments. One reader described it as: ‘Just the very best all-encompassing seabird guide ever.'”

Birdwatch, February 2022, p 43

The BB/BTO Best Bird Book of the Year 2021

FINALIST

“A much-anticipated follow-on to the groundbreaking 1983 original, this title remains the only single-volume field guide to cover all of the world’s seabirds. With more than 3,800 illustrations – including many by world-renowned artist Hans Larsson – covering 433 species, this title is a must-have in the library of any pelagic birder.”

British Birds, 115, p 102, February 2022

BEST BIRD BOOK OF 2021

”RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for all pelagic birders! This book will be the standard seabirds reference for years to come!”

Ian Paulsen, THE BIRDBOOKER REPORT, December 5, 2021

“The difference in the quality of the artwork is amazing as the new book is lavishly, accurately and superbly illustrated. Every species receives wonderful coverage showing multiple plumages and age classes.

Compared to the earlier book this one has less cluttered plates with many fine details highlighted with textual inserts right on the plates. All said and done if you want a concise single source reference book that will teach you about all these families of birds, this is the one. It’s big, full of facts and a bit technical but well worth it!”

Geoff Carpentier, North Durham Nature Newsletter, Volume 9 No. 1, p 8, January 2022

“This volume is a masterful revision of the original classic, and likely to remain the primary seabird reference for many years to come. From professional ornithologists to seasoned seawatchers, it should be required reading.”

Dominic Mitchell, BirdLife, Oct-Dec 2021

“The species accounts are a delight, with wonderful up-to-date illustrations and the latest information captured by the succinct accompanying text, which also contains a map of the distribution of each and every bird described.

For anyone with an interest in the world’s seabirds this book is a must, but it doesn’t stop there – this is a book for anyone with an interest in birds and one not to be missed.”

Paul Stancliffe, BTO Book Reviews, British Trust for Ornithology, 2021

“Seabirds – The New Identification Guide is Peter Harrison’s life’s work and as such it is stunning.

The author knows the subject; he himself has seen all except for one of the 433 species described in the book.”

Risto Nevanlinna, Tringa 3, 2021

“Covering 434 species across 18 families, from seaduck and sheathbills to penguins and petrels, this synthesises the world’s ocean-going birds into a 600-page magnum opus and, almost four decades on, provides a complete update to Harrison’s 1983 title, Seabirds: An Identification Guide.

Does Seabirds do as Harrison hopes and fulfil its obligations of being the new go-to guide for its subject? In short, it certainly does! It’s clear when you begin to flick through that this is no amateur production and has been compiled by someone who really knows how to put such a guide together.

It is common for reviews to sing the praises of their subject matter, but I would happily label this one of the most exciting and informative bird books that I have picked up in some time. No doubt it will be revered as a modern classic within birding circles worldwide.”

Josh Jones, BirdGuides, September 28, 2021

“Seabirds: The New Identification Guide by Peter Harrison, Martin Perrow, and Hans Larsson is a landmark book. An identification guide that approaches handbook depth, it offers up-to-date species and seabird family knowledge in a structured way, aimed at giving the birder the tools and skills needed for quick and accurate identification of species in the field.

If you want to study seabird identification in depth, in the context of increasingly complicated taxonomies and an exploding world of ornithological study, from ornithologists and artists who have devoted their lives to observing and documenting these birds, then Seabirds: The New Identification Guide is the necessary resource. It’s an incredible book.”

Donna Lynn Schulman, 10,000 Birds, September 7, 2021

“I would recommend this book to all ‘seabirders’ amateur or professional. It will be a useful resource for researchers working with seabirds or coastal birds. It will be a useful addition to many research libraries or coastal libraries.”

Graham R. Fulton, Pacific Conservation Biology, Volume 27 Number 2, August 2021

“A monumental new book that is a treasure-trove of information /…/ Not only are the paintings extraordinarily detailed, but they are accompanied by identification tips that are the results of years of meticulous observation. /…/ The new book is a quantum leap forward /…/ I encourage all serious birders to get this book, whether or not you ever expect to find yourself in the Drake Passage – or even ten miles offshore. It is truly a masterpiece of science and art.”

Dr Pepper Trail, Feather Friday,  August 5, 2021