The Helm Identification Guides are a series of books that identify groups of birds. The series include two types of guides, those that are:
Taxonomic, dealing with a particular family of birds on a worldwide scale—most early Helm Guides were this type, as well as many more-recent ones, although some later books deal with identification of such groups on a regional scale only (e.g., The Gulls Guide, which covers only species in Europe, Asia, and North America)
Geographic, including all bird species in an area (e.g., The Birds of the West Indies)
Early volumes were sometimes published under the Croom Helm or Christopher Helm imprints. In addition, a parallel set of guides, very similar in design, was published by Pica Press in the 1990s (marked Pica in the list below); Pica was later absorbed into A & C Black (now part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc), and all guides are now marketed as a single series.
Several of the books have won the British BirdsBird Book of the Year award.
A list of titles in the series, in chronological order of publication, is as follows:
Works with a taxonomic scope
Note: 'nW' indicates those that do not have worldwide coverage.
1980s
Seabirds - an identification guide by Peter Harrison (1983) ISBN0-7470-1410-8
Shorebirds - an identification guide to the waders of the world by John Marchant, A. J. Prater and Peter Hayman (1986) ISBN0-7470-1403-5
Woodpeckers by Hans Winkler, translated by David Christie, illustrated by David Nurney (1995) ISBN1-873403-25-9 'Pica'
Buntings and Sparrows - A Guide to the Buntings and North American Sparrows by Urban Olsson and Jon Curson, illustrated by Clive Byers (1995) ISBN1-873403-19-4 'Pica'
Rails - a guide to the rails, crakes, gallinules and coots of the world by Barry Taylor, illustrated by Ber van Perlo (1998) ISBN0-300-07758-0 'Pica'
Starlings and Mynas by Chris Feare and Adrian Craig, illustrated by Barry Croucher, Chris Shields and Kamol Komolphalin (1998) ISBN0-7136-3961-X
Owls - a Guide to the Owls of the World by Claus König & Friedhelm Weick and Jan-Hendrik Becking (1999) ISBN1-873403-74-7 'Pica'
New World Blackbirds - the Icterids by Alvaro Jaramillo and Peter Burke (1999) ISBN0-7136-4333-1
Tanagers by Morton L. Isler and Phyllis R. Isler (1999) ISBN978-0-7136-5116-4softcover (a revision of The Tanagers : Natural History, Distribution, and Identification (1987) ISBN978-0-87474-552-8)
Sylvia Warblers - identification, taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Sylvia, by Hadoram Shirihai, Gabriel Gargallo and Andreas J. Helbig, illustrated by Alan Harris, photographic editor David Cottridge (2001) ISBN0-7136-3984-9
Sunbirds - A Guide to the Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Spiderhunters and Sugarbirds of the World by Robert A. Cheke and Clive F. Mann, illustrated by Richard Allen (2001) ISBN1-873403-80-1
Wrens, Dippers and Thrashers by David Brewer, illustrated by Barry Kent MacKay (2001) ISBN1-873403-95-X
Stonechats - A Guide to the Genus Saxicola by Ewan Urquhart, illustrated by Adam Bowley (2002) ISBN0-7136-6024-4
Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse - a guide to the Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guineafowl, Buttonquails and Sandgrouse of the World by Steve Madge and Phil MacGowan (2002) ISBN0-7136-3966-0
Pipits and Wagtails of Europe, Asia and North America, by Per Alstrom & Krister Mild, illustrated by Bill Zetterstrom (2003) ISBN0-7136-5834-7 'nW'
Reed and Bush Warblers by Peter Kennerley and David Pearson, illustrated by Brian Small (2010) ISBN9780713660227
Cotingas and Manakins by Graeme Green and Guy Kirwan (2011) ISBN9780713660258
Cuckoos of the World by Johannes Erritzøe, Clive F. Mann, Frederik P. Brammer and Richard A. Fuller, illustrated by Richard Allen, Jan Wilczur, Martin Woodcock and Tim Worfolk (2012) ISBN9780713660340