Review in Dutch Birding 5/2003
By Steve Geelhoed

For some, seawatching is the most fascinating birding activity, for others it is the most frustrating. The most desired species pass coastal sites under harsh weather conditions only, and, when they do turn up, they usually disappear very quickly. Experienced seawatchers can often tentatively identify passing birds by their jizz, verifying (or falsifying…) their first impression with plumage characters. Frustrating indeed, when you do not have the stamina becoming an experienced seawatcher. Have I good news for you. This spring, Flight identification of European seabirds  appeared. This book deals with the identification of flying seabirds and wildfowl that may be seen while seawatching from European shores. The authors state that they follow the taxonomy used in The birds of the Western Palearctic ‘BWP’ 1-4 (1977-85), which may explain why there is no description of Cory's Shearwater Calonectris borealis and Scopoli's Shearwater C diomedea in this book although features of other ‘subspecies sensu BWP’ are at least described, such as in Green-winged Teal Anas (crecca) carolinensis. On the other hand, there are exceptions in the book’s taxonomy, for instance, resulting in a higher number of gull species than recognized by any taxonomic committee in Europe. Also, Pacific Diver Gavia pacifica, which is listed as subspecies of Black-throated Diver G arctica in BWP, gets a full treatment although it has never being recorded in Europe.

A short introduction and a chapter on the basics of identification are followed by the species accounts, which are divided into different sections. The most important sections are: size, silhouette, flight and flocking, and plumage and bare parts. Most species accounts are well-written with many years of seawatching experience shining through. Descriptions are often made in comparison with common species. Since jizz is an important aspect of identifying flying seabirds, I scrutinized the sections on silhouette, and flight and flocking, but I could only detect minor errors or omissions. For instance, I did not find a description of the different silhouettes of juvenile and adult ‘comic terns’ Sterna hirundo/paradisaea nor a description of the distinct differences in flight style of shearwaters during strong winds. Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus gains height in a steep angle and glides down in a long shallow angle, while Manx Shearwater P puffinus and the other large species descend almost as steep as they ascend. Schematic drawings showing these different flights would have been useful. Useful indeed are the descriptions of plumage characters visible only at long range or under bad viewing conditions separately from characters that are visible under good viewing conditions. It is a pity, though, that the authors do not describe the differences under different viewing conditions in more detail. Furthermore, they neither describe the colour morphs of Northern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis nor how to separate Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens from the three other frigatebird species recorded in the North Atlantic. Every species account is completed with a fine selection of pictures, ranging from one for Spectacled Eider Somateria fischeri to 11 for Parasitic Jaeger in boek Arctic Skua  Stercorarius parasiticus, showing different sexes, ages and plumages. Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica is one of the exceptions; only summer plumage birds are shown, while winter plumage birds and juveniles would be more instructive. Surely there have to be pictures of these plumages? The several photographs with mixed species flocks, illustrating differences between species at a glance, are especially informative. Unfortunately, some pictures are printed slightly out of focus, while others are a shade too blue. Although most captions provide extra information to the pictures, by my knowledge it is impossible to age flying guillemots Uria sp., Razorbills Alca torda or Little Auks Alle alle. The Razorbills on page 364, however, are not adult, judging by the size and shape of the bills. References are limited to books and a list of six ornithological journals. To facilitate further study, references to papers would certainly have been more useful.

Despite the (minor) flaws I highly recommend this guide, not least for the sound advice: "So do not worry about not being able to identify every bird – you are in good company. You are not an unskilled birder because of that, but rather a reliable birder with a clean conscience as you show that you are self-critical."