A summary of information on 154 species of duck, geese and swans of the world intended as an identification manual for the wildfowl enthusiast that goes beyond a regional basis and is light enough to be used as a handy reference book in the field. Wildfowl is a unique combination of scientifically accurate information compressed into an easy-to-use format which has been planned to give anyone a greater understanding of the lives of this fascinating group of birds. The 47 superb colour plates form the backbone of the book, each plate being accompanied by an informative caption page summarising the criteria required to identify, and in many cases, to age and sex each species, along with an easy-to-use cross reference system to the main body of text. The text not only clarifies identification techniques but fully discusses problematic plumages in detail as well as providing a summary on world distribution and status complemented by clear distribution maps.

Steve Madge became interested in birds as a child, the honking croaks of ravens along the rugged coast of his native Cornwall being among his earliest memories. He lived in Cornwall, but spent part of the year overseas leading birdwatching tours for Birdquest, the company he helped to form. He is a former member of the British Birds Rarities Committee, and contributed many articles on birds to journals in various parts of the world. His book with Hilary Burn, Wildfowl, was a worthy winner of British Birds' 'Bird Book of the Year' award; he was also a co-author of the Helm Identification Guides, Handbook of Bird Identification and Pheasants, Partridges and Grouse.