The Bird Songs of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East

By far and away the most comprehensive and complete set of bird recordings covering this vast area. Some 2817 recordings represent both calls and songs of 819 species and the total running time is over 19 hours. All the regular species in the region are represented with multiple recordings of songs, calls, juvenile begging and other noises where relevant. Vagrants are also covered with many species from the Americas and Far East finding their way onto the discs albeit with shorter entries. The tendency is towards separation of taxa so, for instance, the Chiffchaff section is split into Common Chiffchaff (P. collybita), Iberian (P. brehmii), Canary Islands (P. canariensis), Mountain (P. sindianus) and Siberian (P. tristis) and many of the individual species entries also feature distinctively different sounding subspecies/races. As MP3 discs (the recordings are also available in a 17 CD set) the recordings can be downloaded onto computer and hence to other media such as an MP3 player. These can then be used in the field and, with such a wide area covered, this will be invaluable when travelling to areas with unfamiliar species. The discs come with a pdf which describes each recording, and the information will be displayed on the screen as each recording plays if required. The quality of the recordings sampled is exceedingly high, with minimal background noise to distract or confuse, and where other sounds (usually other birds) are audible a note is given on the pdf. No commentary or description is given on the recordings, or before or after each entry. For the serious student of bird song, traveller or birdwatcher these discs are indispensable and simply stunning!

Book reviewed by Su Gough