Australian bird books
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| Books about Australian birds |
| 1. The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds Peter Slater, Pat Slater, Raoul Slater This is currently the only comprehensive guide to Australia's birds that is truly suitable for the pocket, and as such it gains good marks from me. That said, if 'pocketability' isn't important to you then perhaps you should look elsewhere because there are other books that do almost everything else better. That's not to say that this isn't a good book - there's plenty out there that are a lot worse - it's just that it's a compromise. The lack of a larger scale map could be an issue for those unfamiliar with the territory of Australia and many would rather have a checklist. The relatively sparse introduction and the lack of a scientific index will mainly be issues for serious birders. However, these criticisms must be borne in mind with the size. If you want a smaller field guide some things have to be omitted and, for me, that's how it should be. The illustrations are still good, the maps are good enough and the descriptions are concise but sufficient. It's also good value for money so for me it get's an 8/10. |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 213x114x20 / 8.5x4.5x0.75 |
| 440/15.5 |
| Illustrations |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| Yes |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 344 |
| Scientific index? |
| No |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 3/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 8/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| No |
| Glossary? |
| No |
 |
| 2. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson and Day Wow, what a book! A bit too big and heavy for my liking for a field guide but that aside it does everything well. The illustrations are wonderful and include excellent plumage variations as well as all the male/female differences. The distribution maps are great and the descriptions, including the typical behaviour, are comprehensive. The call descriptions are accurate and the family information will be appreciated by anyone with more than just a passing interest in birds and the introduction includes a good section in ID techniques. If the size and weight are not a problem for you then this book comes highly recommended. 9/10 |
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| 3. The Field Guide to the Birds of Australian Pizzey and Knight This is another impressive book, but just take a look at the weight! If the Simpson and Day book is a bit heavy then this could give you a hernia. However, I know that some people aren't worried about all that so what about the contents?This book really is pretty comprehensive, there are no egg or nest pictures and no checklist, but just about everything else that you could ever want for ID is here. The illustrations are perfect, the inclusion of breeding dates useful, the introductory information all you would want. This book is a match for the Simpson and Day book in every regard except size and weight, but only on price does it actually better it. On those grounds it can't get my vote. |
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| 4. Birds of Australia, Green Guide Peter Rowland Well this is another book that does what it sets out to do very well. However, let's start by making it clear what this book is about. Like all the Green Guides it is intended as an introduction only and so what you get is a photo guide of Australia's most commonly observed birds and you get it in a format that is small and lightweight (back pocket kind of size). You get the basics of bird ID and lots of 'interesting facts' (do you know how much a pelican can hold in its bill?) which might indicate that this book is aimed more at the younger end of the market. Nevertheless, it's still well written and the photos are good (illustrations are always better for ID) and the little facts are actually quite interesting (15Kg was the answer). It has a great introduction too, and if I were buying a book to enhance the birding experience of someone who is either young or who possibly only had a limited interest in the subject then this would be it. |
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| 5. A photographic Guide to the Birds of Australia Peter Rowland This is a small book, ideal for the pocket, but beyond that it's quite limited. It has photos rather than illustrations, has incomplete species coverage, small maps, no scientific index and no females shown.That said, as an introduction to Aussie birds it's okay and it certainly is inexpensive. That said, see number 4 above! |
| 6. Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Jim Flegg and N Longmore Once again this is a big, heavy book, and to my mind it falls between two stools. It has plenty enough information for a field guide but really it's quite cumbersome, and it doesn't quite have the depth to be a reference book. The introduction is pretty basic and the omission of a large scale coverage map is unnecessary. Unfortunately some of the water bird photos are not up to scratch, as is the case with a few others, eg nightjars. Also, some of the female variants are omitted and there is no nest or egg information. Overall this isn't a bad book, it's just that to my mind you are better off with one of the others. On the other hand, if it's a comprehensive photo guide book that you're after then this is probably as good as you will get. |
| My rating |
| 8/10 |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight (g) |
| 218 x 173 x 25 / 8.6 x 6.8 x 1.0 |
| 750/28 approx |
| Illustrations |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| Yes |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 382 |
| Scientific ind |
| Yes |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 10/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 10/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| Yes |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| Yes |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 9/10 |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 240x158x33 |
| Illustrations |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| Yes |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 576 |
| Scientific ind |
| Yes |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 8/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 10/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| Yes |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| Yes |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 8/10 |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 178 x 130 x 8 7.0 x 5.1 x 0.3 |
| Photos |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| No |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 96 |
| Scientific ind |
| No |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 3/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 8/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| No |
| Maps next to description? |
| No |
| Checklist? |
| No |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 9/10 |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 190 x 94 x 13/7.5 x 3.7 x 0.5 |
| 181/6.4 |
| Photos |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| No |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 144 |
| Scientific ind |
| No |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 4/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 7/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| Yes |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 6/10 |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 208 x 147 x 20/8.2 x 5.8 x 0.8 |
| 771/27 |
| Photos |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| Yes |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 367 |
| Scientific ind |
| Yes |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 6/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 8/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| No |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 6/10 |
| Size (mm) |
| Weight g/oz |
| 213x114x20 |
| 440/15.5 |
| Illustrations |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| Yes |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Paperback |
| Number of pages |
| 344 |
| Scientific ind |
| No |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 3/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 8/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| Yes |
| Maps next to description? |
| Yes |
| Checklist? |
| No |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 8/10 |
| 1180 / 41.6 |
| 7. The Best of Australian Birds D Watts Not only is this the best of Australian birds, it's also the best of the glossy coffee table books (on birds) available. The one thing you want from books of this type is high quality images of the prettiest subjects and with this Dave Watts rarely fails. As you'd expect there are no LBJs (little brown jobs) or shorebirds, just the likes of the parrots, kingfishers, wrens and the birds of prey, in short, just the ones that are good to look at. There's also a really interesting 9 page introduction describing why Aussie birds are of interest to the author and some brief information about the habitats and behaviour of the various families. This is a gorgeous book which I'm glad to own. As a souvenir of your time birding in Australia it would be hard to beat. Stepnell and Newman's 'Spectacular Birds of Australia' is the other book in this category but the images are of such a poor standard that I've not even bothered to do a full review. As mentioned on another part of the site, the 'coffee-table' book covering Aussie birds which is head and shoulders above anything else is the Readers Digest offering. However, it is only licenced for sale in Australia and New Zealand, so consider visiting a bookshop while you are here and taking a copy back with you. Beware though, it weighs a ton and is as big as a house! |
| Size mm/in |
| Weight g/oz |
| 246 x 277 x 15/9.7 x 10.9 x .06 |
| N/A |
| Photos |
| Photos/Illustrations |
| Complete coverage? |
| No |
| Paperback/Hardback |
| Hardback |
| Number of pages |
| 128 |
| Scientific ind |
| No |
| English index? |
| Yes |
| Quality of introduction info. |
| 8/10 |
| Quality of illustrations/photos |
| 9/10 |
| Large scale coverage map? |
| No |
| Distribution maps? |
| No |
| Maps next to description? |
| No |
| Checklist? |
| No |
| Glossary? |
| No |
| My rating |
| 9/10 |
|
| 218x173x25 |
| 750 |
| Illustrations |
| Yes |
| Paperback |
| 382 |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| 10/10 |
| 10/10 |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| No |
| 9/10 |
| 178x130x8 |
| 173/6.1 |
| Photos |
| No |
| Paperback |
| 96 |
| No |
| Yes |
| 3/10 |
| 8/10 |
| No |
| No |
| No |
| No |
| No |
| 9/10 |
| 178x130x8 |
| 178/6.2 |
| Photos |
| No |
| Paperback |
| 96 |
| No |
| Yes |
| 3/10 |
| 8/10 |
| No |
| No |
| No |
| No |
| No |
| 9/10 |
| 208x147x20 |
| 771/27 |
| Photos |
| Yes |
| Paperback |
| 367 |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| 6/10 |
| 8/10 |
| No |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| No |
| No |
| 6/10 |
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| 2. |
| 3. |
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| 5. |
| 6. |
| Maybe weight is the most important thing for you, maybe your choice has to have a scientific index, maybe it's all down to whether it will fit into your back pocket. Whatever your requirements, use this chart to quickly find the book that's just right. |
| 240x158x33 / 9.4x6.2x1.3 |
| Illustrations |
| Yes |
| Paperback |
| 576 |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| 8/10 |
| 10/10 |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| No |
| 8/10 |
| 1180 / 41.6 |
| 173/6.1 approx. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book from Amazon. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book from Amazon. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book from Amazon. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book from Amazon. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book from Amazon. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book from Amazon. |
| Please click on either the US or UK link if you wish to purchase this book from Amazon. |