An ornithological handbook is a book (or series of books) giving summarised information either about the birds of a particular geographical area or a particular taxonomic group of birds. Some handbooks cover many aspects of their subjects' biology, whereas others focus on specific topics, particularly identification.

List of ornithological handbooks with a worldwide scope

• Handbook of the Birds of the World
• The Bird families of the world series
• The Helm Identification Guides series

List of ornithological handbooks with a geographic scope

• The Birds of Africa
• The Birds of the Malay Peninsula
• Birds of North America
• The Birds of South America
• Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide
• Birds of the Western Palearctic
• Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds: Passerines: A Photographic Guide (Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd, 2018)
• Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, the standard text of Australian ornithology, abbreviated as HANZAB
• Birds of Western Australia, the handbook by Serventy and Whittell, published in 1948 through five editions.