As anyone who has ever spent time trying identify birds in the field knows, some are much more readily identifiable than others. For those that are particularly tricky to distinguish from others due to their having a very similar appearance and often an overlapping geographic range (the “confusion species”), having the learnéd guidance of someone highly skilled in making such identifications is of inestimable value. For those seeking to improve their skill in sorting through the confusion species among the birds of Europe, the recently published Helm Guide to Bird Identification; an In-depth Look at Confusion Species by Keith Vinicombe, Alan Harris, and Laurel Tucker promises to provide just such learnéd guidance.
