SELECTED BIRDYOGRAPHY

 THE WARBLER GUIDE (Princeton)

(Amazon listing details March 2015)

The Warbler Guide revolutionizes birdwatching, making warbler identification easier than ever before. For more information, please see the author videos on the Princeton University Press website.

• Covers all 56 species of warblers in the United States and Canada
• Visual quick finders help you identify warblers from any angle
• Song and call finders make identification easy using a few simple questions
• Uses sonograms to teach a new system of song identification that makes it easier to understand and hear differences between similar species
• Detailed species accounts show multiple views with diagnostic points, direct comparisons of plumage and vocalizations with similar species, and complete aging and sexing descriptions
• New aids to identification include song mnemonics and icons for undertail pattern, color impression, habitat, and behavior
• Includes field exercises, flight shots, general identification strategies, and quizzes
• A complete, page-by-page audio companion to all of the 1,000-plus songs and calls covered by the book is available for purchase and download from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library by using the link at http://www.TheWarblerGuide.com

• Winner of a 2014 National Outdoor Book Award in Nature Guidebooks
• Second Place for the 2013 BB/BTO Best Bird Book of the Year, British Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology
• Honorable Mention for the 2013 PROSE Award in Single Volume Reference/Science, Association of American Publishers

For a detailed review of this excellent small book, available on Kindle for peanuts as well as in spiral-bound format, CLICK HERE

NEW FOR 2014

THE DELPHI CLUB GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF ABACO

For full details of this magnificent photographic book with more than 350 photographs covering 163 species CLICK HERE (I am the author, so I will refrain from rating this tome!)

NEW ENTRY

Herbert Raffaele et al

Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies (Helm Field Guides) 216pp

rh rating: [not yet] ****

Update Jan 2012: I have now got hold of a copy of this book (£12 0n Amazon). I reckon it lives up to the publisher’s blurb (see below). My edition is 2003, updated from the 1998 original. The drawings are excellent, as is the general layout and the index. There’s a useful introduction covering taxonomy, identification, conservation and endangerment (with a helpful species list). It’s a small, light, book that would fit in a large pocket, or take up very little room in a day bag. It probably doesn’t have enough detail for the serious birder, but for everyday use, if you choose this as your guide I think it would serve you well.

[This is not a book I have looked at, other than online. However, it sounds quite a worthwhile prospect, with good reviews. I borrow, if I may without being sued too enthusiatically, what is freely available to view on a*a*o* (aka *m*z*n)]

“The guide covers all species occurring in the West Indies. It has colour plates and concise text covering all aspects of field identification… aimed at experienced birders and interested laypersons alike, this guide is a lightweight and easy-to-use field guide to the spectacular West Indian avifauna.”

“This guide is beautifully illustrated with clear drawings and distribution maps. It is portable, robustly bound and is well printed. Part of a series of well illustrated and comprehensive guides, this one is well up to the standard of the series. There are no better guides.”

NEW ENTRY

I have just got hold of a small bird book that seems to cover the basics pretty well. I got a (very) cheap and cheerful copy from ABE (see above) to check it out (too cheap, in fact: condition not ‘good’ at all, but ‘v tatty’)

Flieg and Sander

A Photographic Guide to Birds of the West Indies

rh rating***

Compact pocket guide with 135 pages of photos and brief descriptions. Bird groups listed under helpful coloured-coded corner tabs (‘Vireos’; ‘Gulls’ etc). Photos clear and look very good for ID by the puzzled amateur. It covers the whole West Indies, so includes birds not found in the Bahamas as well as omitting some that are. Overall I’d say this is a very useful little guide for ID of the mainstream birds you are likely to encounter at Delphi. It would do very well as a book to take out and about with you for those “what on earth is that?” moments. Earns its 4 stars. I will definitely take this (or a better copy!) on our next visit…

2012 addition …which I have done this year. Result? I’ve knocked off a star. Still useful, still very portable, but not Bahamas-specific enough to be indispensable in the field. Stick with Hallett and you won’t go wrong

BASIC BOOKS, INCLUDING THE EXCELLENT HALLETT GUIDE

Bruce Hallett

Birds of the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands

rh rating: the coveted and sparingly-awarded *****

INDISPENSIBLE for the uninitiated (me). Probably the best all-round book for basic bird ID. Good photos, very helpful descriptions, easily portable. If you know little of nothing about birds, this book is completely unintimidating. Even if you know quite a lot, it won’t feel like a “Dummies’ Guide”. This is the book to have with you when you are out and about.There are 3 copies in the Library. You are welcome to take the one with the initials KS on the flyleaf on a day trip.

James Bond

Birds of the West Indies (Collins Field Guide)

rh rating ***

Locus Classicus, first published in 1960, with several subsequent editions. Colour illustrations and line drawings. I enjoy word ‘nidification’ for nesting. 1 copy in the library (5th Ed). However, see next entry. (Reputedly Ian Fleming chose the name for 007 having seen this book out on a table).

2012 addition see now a Bond / Fleming post, with a full history of this book JAMES BOND – ORNITHOLOGIST

Norman Arlott

Birds of the West Indies (Collins Field Guide)

rh rating****

First published 2010, and supersedes ‘James Bond’. As far as I can see, a superior book in every way. Full and clear colour illustrations of all birds by the author. 60 pages of species distribution maps. Not (yet) Copy now (2012) in the library. I’m afraid the author’s name is unlikely to inspire a rival to 007 – “The name’s Arlott. Norman Arlott” doesn’t quite do it

STOP PRESS Jan 2012: Norman Arlott has another excellent book covering North America & Greenland. For an illustrated positive review by AVIAN101 CLICK LOGO===>;>;>;

P G C Brudenell-Bruce

The Birds of New Providence and the Bahama Islands (1975)

rh rating **.5

Thinner, lighter, somewhat dated-seeming now (in a charming way). Selectively illustrated with colour and B & W illustrations. Includes useful appendices on Accidentals and what common songbirds sing in which month. Not the first one for your shopping list. 1 copy in the Library.

SUMMARY: If I had to pick one book, as a rank amateur, it would definitely be Hallett. My second would be Arlott. These books can be bought on Amazon and eBay (not all are always available) but you might do well to check out ABE first, where cheap copies can often be found: http://www.abebooks.co.uk