If you watch birds while going on country walks it is always helpful to take an identification guide.

Birds may only be glimpsed diving into a copse or landing infuriatingly on the opposite side of trees. Yet you noted a white rump, a red head or a black tail with white edges and that’s where the book comes in. By studying all the species you believe it may have been it’s possible to eliminate those without the features noted and eventually pick out the correct one.

Birdwatchers know from experience that carrying an ID guide can lead to developing a Titanic-like list while the heavy book threatens to burst jacket pocket seams.

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One of the most recent is Britain’s Birds, launched a couple of years ago by Princeton. It’s a fine publication but at eight and a half inches by six inches and including nearly 600 pages it can leave you looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame if you tote it about all day. Contestants in the Strongest Man in the World competition might deal with it on long walks but to the rest of us it feels like having a housebrick in your pocket.

Luckily the production team from WildGuides realised the need for a more compact version hence, just in time for Christmas, the appearance of British Birds – A Pocket Guide, a mini version of the 2016 book by the same authors.

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British Birds featured 648 species and more than 3,200 colour photographs. The pocket guide concentrates on 248 species most likely to be seen in Britain and Ireland with streamlined text and 300 illustrations. All relevant details are included and there’s no sense of the 272 pages being cluttered. At a handy five inches by seven inches it slips easily in the pocket and is also ideal for the kitchen shelf. Best of all it is lightweight and won’t leave you feeling like Quasimodo after walks. A perfect Christmas gift at a bargain price.

British Birds A Pocket Guide by Rob Hume, Robert Still, Andy Swash, Hugh Harrop and David Tipling is published by Princeton for WildGuides. Price £9.99

Happy Christmas to all Wildthings readers.