About the Author

Jonathan Elphick is a wildlife writer, editor, consultant, lecturer and broadcaster, specializing in ornithology. During a career spanning almost 40 years, he has written many books including The World of Birds, the bestseller Birdsong, Birds: The Art of Ornithology and the award-winning Birdwatcher's Handbook. He was researcher for Birds and People, the largest survey of cultural attitudes to birds worldwide, and spent five years as researcher on the acclaimed bestseller Birds Britannica. Jonathan is a Fellow of both the Linnean Society of London and the Zoological Society. He lives in Exeter, UK.

Reviews

A lovely survey of bird families that belongs in any basic natural history collection, whether for neo-professionals or newcomers to birding.--Diane Donovan "Donovan Literary Services" (6/1/2019 12:00:00 AM)

Bird enthusiasts will enjoy this impressive book by ornithologist Jonathan Elphick who has provided considerable information about the world's orders and families of birds... Featuring interesting text and stunning photographs, The Handbook of Bird Families contains an introduction to each of the bird orders along with information on each of the 234 families. Information includes appearance, behaviour and lifestyle... The Handbook of Bird Families makes a nice addition to a birder's library.--David M. Bird "Hamilton Spectator" (5/4/2019 12:00:00 AM)

If you are an international birder you will enjoy this book. It is well organized, illustrated with beautiful photographs, and packed with interesting information about each group of birds. I like just cracking open this book and learning new information about herons or orioles and then flicking back to sheathbills or some other bird I haven't yet heard of. Remarkably, just three of more than 400 pages are given over to wood warblers. That helps to put Ontario's 500 species into context. There are more than 10,000 species and 234 bird families globally. This is a valuable reference book for them.--Paul Nicholson "London Free Press" (6/14/2019 12:00:00 AM)

This is an encyclopedia of world birds as found in the 234 avian families. Species in each family are discussed in detail -- world location, range, habit, size, behavior, nesting, voice, food. Some species are illustrated... If you have questions about the difference of one species to another, the answer is in this book.--Jim Williams "Minneapolis Star Tribune" (2/18/2020 12:00:00 AM)