- Paperback: 760 pages
- Publisher: Princeton University Press (Jan 5 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0691118159
- ISBN-13: 978-0691118154
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14.7 x 3.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 Kg
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,359,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
This compact and easy-to-use guide is the first book to describe and illustrate all of the birds found in sub-Saharan Africa. Detailing more than 2,100 species, it covers the entire Afrotropic Region, including Socotra, Pemba, and the islands in the Gulf of Guinea.
Stunning color illustrations depict most distinctive plumages as well as diagnostic flight patterns and major geographic variants. Range maps are provided for each species, and the well-formatted text highlights precise identification features and differences between similar species as well as providing concise information on habitat, status, and calls. All information is completely up-to-date, incorporating the latest taxonomy (including descriptions of many new species never before illustrated) and the most recent atlas surveys.
Offering unrivalled coverage of African birds in a single volume, this book will tempt many more birders to one of the world's richest faunas.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everyone will borrow this,
By
This review is from: Birds of Africa South of the Sahara (Paperback)
I bought this during a trip to Johannesburg and brought it with me on a trip to Swaziland and then back to work in Darfur, Sudan.It was useful in both areas. There may be other guides to choose from when birding in Swaziland, but there ain't much else of any use for a birder in Darfur. This was of immense value in each place. Over two years in Darfur, everyone that came through the guest house seemed to borrow it. Additionally, while you may or may not support the idea,the book adds to the concept of pan-africanism by not putting borders between regions or countries, but instead treats the entire area of Africa, south of the Sahara, as an interconnected whole.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive & Well-organized,
By
This review is from: Birds of Africa South of the Sahara (Paperback)
This book has taken on a monumental task by introducing the entire bird fauna of a huge region in one volume.I was sceptical before seeing it, thinking that quantity would probably take priority over quality. It did not! For a start, it is surprisingly detailed and well-organized. The editors have resisted the usual temptetion of cramming too many similar or small species on one page. Usually there are just 5-6 species on each page, sometimes 7 or just 3-4. What this means is that illustrations are big enough to show detail, plus there are often 4 or more different illustrations for the same 1 species, showing different colour morphs, juveniles, females, birds in flight, head or wing details, etc. It also means that the maps and text for each species could be placed on the page facing its picture. The text itself is still amazingly detailed for a book of this scope, giving the essential information on distribution, appearence, habitat, status and voice. All in all,a great value introduction to the bird fauna of Africa, though perhaps unsurprisingly, I found it a bit too bulky to carry on the field.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great ornithological overview,
By Robert K. Furrer "Swissboy" (Sempach, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Birds of Africa South of the Sahara (Paperback)
This is the first field guide type book that enables birdwatchers to get an overview of what mainland Africa has to offer as far as birds are concerned. The only area that is not covered by this book is North Africa. Most of that is included in every major field guide for Europe. So in the end, just a few species of northern Sudan escape coverage in this way. Compared with other books that claim to be field guides, this one is still relatively compact. Certainly so, when one takes into account the incredibly rich avifauna. A total of more than 2100 species are covered.The color plates, as a whole, are excellent. As they were drawn by a number of artists, the general impression of "unity" is missing to some extent. But that is a problem of most modern field guides, as it would take too long - in an impatient market - for one artist to come up with a full set of good plates. The original South-African publisher Struik had the possibility to use many pictures from other field guides they publish. This may have been the only way to make such a monumental task feasible at all. The texts and range maps are opposite the plates. This practical - and customary - arrangement necessitates rather short texts. However, they are very informative, providing the essentials for a field guide like field identification, habitat, abundance, and voice. The range maps do not show seasonal changes, but the texts compensate to some degree with brief hints. For some areas of Africa, this is the first field guide available, whereas one would probably take recourse to the more compact regional books where they are available. At any rate, the publishers are to be congratulated to this most valuable and well organized book.
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