Book Review - A Pocket Guide to Birds of Galápagos - Princeton University Press

      When I think of these legendary islands my mind turns to the luminaries associated with them. Uppermost in my thoughts is a young divinity student named Charles Darwin whose visit changed the course of history. David Lack was surely one of the most important ornithologists of the twentieth century and he was greatly influenced by his discoveries there. And how could one not marvel at the incredible work done by Peter and Rosemary Grant? Graciously, the Grants have provided the foreword to the book.

     The fourth name that leaps into my consciousness is Tui De Roy, associated with Galápagos all her life, passionate about them, and arguably the person who knows them in greater detail than anyone else alive today. Who better to produce this field guide to their birds?

     A pocket guide, often, is a pared down version of a standard field guide, smaller and with less information and frequently featuring only the species most likely to be encountered. As the name implies, it is designed to slip easily into a pocket. For Galápagos it is possible to fit in all of the resident birds and some of the principal migrants into this format. Not only that, but informative text is provided about the islands, their geographic setting, physical character and the underpinnings of the endemism of species, and the role of Galápagos as a laboratory of evolutionary study.

     Each species receives a full treatment, with the keys necessary to identify it, and notes on its status and natural history. Tui De Roy's award-winning photographs accompany each species account, adding allure and gob-smacking illustrations. 

     Whose heart does not skip a beat when studying Darwin's finches? A special chart explains their distribution at a glance, followed by an examination of their origin and evolution and the impact of natural selection and adaptive radiation. Concise, accurate, beautifully presented - and all in a guide that slips easily into a pocket.

     This is a first rate publication from front cover to back and is destined to become the default bird guide for the visitor to these enchanted isles. 

     No one will leave home without it!

A Pocket Guide to Birds of Galápagos - Princeton University Press

Tui De Roy

Paperback - US$17.95 - ISBN: 9780691233635

136 pages - 4.75 x 6.25 inches (11.875 x 15.625 cm)

616 colour photographs - 33 maps

Publication date: 29 November, 2022