Book Review - Birds of Southern Africa: Fifth Edition - Princeton Field Guides

 

     When I visited South Africa in 2008 the field guide I took with me was the third edition of this venerable guide. The association with SASOL, the sponsor, goes all the way back to 1997 - longer than many marriages! The third version served me well so I was very keen to see what improvements have been made in the intervening years.

     I was first struck by the stunning image of the enigmatic Ground Woodpecker on the front cover and it brought back memories of a rocky ride up the Sani Pass into Lesotho where I saw my first Ground Woodpecker.  The artwork is sensational. 

     A new edition of an existing field guide recalls a conversation I had with a novice birder several years ago, who was asking why new editions are necessary or desireable since the birds are the same. The birds may be the same, I agreed, but there are changes to distribution, breeding status, abundance, vagrancy and even habitat. Urban expansion and climate change affect different species in different ways.

     This is a first rate work with all the standard features one has come to expect in a field guide - and more!

     The introductory section covers the usual details of classiification, nomenclature, topography etc with a nice section on endemism and a summary of relevant literature. The "How to use this book" section is straightforward.

     The exciting new development, welcomed no doubt by the technically savvy birder of the 21st Century, is a free Nature Call App. Once downloaded by scanning a QR Code, the birder in the field can play the song of each species by scanning the bar code under each bird. What a wonderful addition to a field guide!

    The quality of the artwork, page by page, is of a universally high standard.

     It appeals to me that all the birds are facing right so that realistic comparisons may be made of birds in the same family, illustrating subtle hints of gestalt or jizz, so important to a skilled observer.

     The presentation is a model of clarity, with text and range map on the left and illustrations on the right. The pictures are demarcated by a line so that each species matches picture and text without having to dance around the page trying to figure out which text goes with which illustration. In some guides this can drive you quite barmy!

     The six authors represent a distinguished panel of the "Who's Who" of Southern Africa ornithology, and their combined expertise and field knowledge is manifest throughout the book.

     I have no hesitation in giving this work my highest recommendation.

Birds of Southern Africa: Fifth Revised Edition - Princeton Field Guides

Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey, Warwick Tarboton, Niall Perrins, Dominic Rollinson, Peter Ryan

Paperback - US$39.95 - ISBN 9780691248493

488 pages - 5.88 x 8.25 inches (14.7 x 20.625 cm) 

2,980 colour and 7 black-and-white illustrations 

982 maps

Publication Date: 14 February, 2023