Note the new edition (left) is marginally larger than the original (right) and in paperback
When I saw the orginal Spanish version of this guide, Aves de España, soon after it was published in 2000, I was so impressed by the artwork that I bought a copy despite my rudimentary Spanish. I soon learnt to appreciate the usefulness of the large distribution maps (covering the whole of Iberia and the Spanish Atlantic Islands) and discovered that with the help of a dictionary, I could grasp interesting details regarding population size and distribution. It was a book that I regularly recommended to others even the linguistically challenged like me! I was delighted therefore when the English translation appeared in 2016 and I was able not only to dispense with the dictionary but use the text for checking ID. Almost a decade on, a second English edition of this book has been published. I start with the assumption that, whether you live there or are merely planning to visit Spain, a copy of this book will be very useful so focus on two questions; What’s changed? and “Is it worth getting if I have the older version?
Even before opening the book two changes are apparent, it has a handsome new cover and it’s now in paperback form. Closer inspection reveals other less obvious changes. It’s dimensions have subtly increased (both width and length are a centimetre larger and it’s a little thicker, the page count rising from 257pp to 286pp). This allows more birds to be covered in the main part of the guide to rise from 372 to 448 species (although a few of these additions lack an illustration). Happily, these changes do not materially alter the book’s portability. Looking inside the changes aren’t immediately obvious either with largely the same illustrations and text being used but, as ever, the devil is in the detail.
As it was the book’s illustrations that first attracted me, let’s turn to them first. The preface tells me that the new edition has 129 “completely new or substantially revised drawings”. Some replace the occasional misfire in the original edition (e.g. Tawny Owl), others illustrate omitted plumages (e.g. juvenile Roller) or better illustrate exotic species which are now promoted to the main body of the work. The latter point is particularly useful for Black-headed and Yellow-crowned Weavers as the illustrations now show females (omitted from the Collins Bird Guide) something which, until now, you had to resort to African guides to discover. Several newly ‘split’ species have fresh illustrations (e.g. Moltoni’s Warbler and Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch plus one of a female). More rare/scarce species also get a fuller treatment being elevated from the appendices to the main part of the work (e.g. Caspian Gull) However, some disappointments remain. The existence of the Mediterranean race of Spotted Flycatcher, split by some, is briefly noted in the text but neither illustrated nor described. Regrettably, Common Rosefinch and Trumpeter Finch are only illustrated by depictions of males in their summer glory despite the drabber winter/female/juvenile plumages being the ones more likely to be encountered. That House Bunting failed to make the cut is unsurprising given that it only recently started breeding in Spain (Algeciras). The larger-than-usual images in this guide (and some seem subtly larger still in this edition) is something that, in general, I like. However, this comes at a cost as many species (particularly passerines) enjoy only a single large illustration reducing both the depiction of variation and the variety of postures shown. The absence of any illustration of juvenile Willow Warbler, for example, may invite confusion with Melodious Warbler for the unwary (although this pitfall is noted in the text).
Blue Chaffinches have been 'split' and re-illustrated (image from the Spanish original)
This nit-picking, however, shouldn’t obscure the fact that, overall the illustrations perform the task demanded of them very well and handsomely. There’s also one simple change to the plates which, in my view, is a surprisingly helpful enhancement of the guide’s utility; all the birds (except divers/loons) now face in the same direction. This may not be game-changing but it’s surprisingly useful when comparing similar species.
The latter point leads on to another, and to my mind significant change, for a field guide. In the original English language edition birds were arranged by strict taxonomic order but this has now been replaced by a more intuitive grouping. The authors acknowledge in the preface to this edition that this arrangement was widely criticised. Taxonomic order may be great for scientists but can be disconcerting in a field guide. Most confusing was the insertion of ‘alien’ species into the treatment of traditional groupings (e.g. woodpeckers and other species intruding into the coverage of birds of prey and swallows doing the same for warblers). The guide now employs a more user-friendly and intuitive approach by grouping birds in four broad categories; seabirds, freshwater birds, terrestrial birds and passerines each indicated by coloured ‘tabs’. I would have preferred subdivision into more groupings with the “terrestrial birds” section in particular being something of a ragbag (and misnomer too as it includes species largely seen in flight). It is a pity, for example, that swifts and swallows/martins remain over twenty pages apart. However, a few caveats aside, this is a more easily navigable arrangement that goes some way to make up for the retention of the irritatingly dysfunctional index which lists birds by the first word in their name rather than by family. Hence to find what we know as Bittern, you need to remember that it’s listed as “Eurasian Bittern” not, as many books do, “Great Bittern”.
The text seems to be mostly unchanged from the original but the changes that have been made are not inconsequential. Details of range, status and population have been updated and refined. For example, whilst both guides state Little Bustard is “in rapid and worrying decline” only the new edition continues “a 70% fall in 1998-2018”. The text contains multiple examples of these small but helpful details all backed up by redrawn maps. However, the most significant change has been the inclusion of QR codes linking to the SEO/Birdlife’s Guía de Aves de España app via your smart phone (or other device). This gives instant access to a mass of further information including photos, videos, vocalisations and larger more easily studied versions of the distribution maps. The “Using this Guide” section notes, somewhat apologetically, that this resource is “in Spanish, with only the common names in English” but if you have your smart phone to access the information, you also have a ready means to translate it into English (or any other language). The translations may not be perfect but they are perfectly understandable and, by literally translating Spanish names into English, sometimes amusing (although English names are also given).
The preceding paragraphs should, I hope, answer the question “What’s changed?” So is it worth getting if you already have I have the older version? My emphatic answer is “Yes!”. Taken individually, the changes may seem no more than incremental but taken collectively they have produced a significantly better and more useful guide. Buy it because it’s more intuitive to use. Buy it for those extra illustrations. Buy it for updated information on range and population. But, above all, buy it for the QR codes that give instant access to a great wealth of information.
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