The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia
by Graham Pizzey
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Book Summary Information
Author: Graham PizzeyEditor: Peter Menkhorst
Illustrator: Frank Knight
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-05-01
ISBN: 0207198217
Number of pages: 608
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers PTY Limited
Book Reviews of The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia
Book Review: Quality, thick field guide with good plates and text
Summary: 5 Stars
Basics: 2003, 7th edition, softcover, 576 pages, 2,500 color illustrations of 783 species, range maps
This 7th edition is dramatically improved over its first edition created more than two decades earlier. This field guide for all Australian birds is definitely in the top three books available for the country. It is also the thickest of the three books, which is a trade-off for creating plates with larger illustrations and a more organized appearance.
The plates are of very good quality, color, and detail. Compared to the other two field guides, these plates are cleaner and less congested since fewer birds have been crammed into the plates. The plates contain 2-5 species each with anywhere from 5-20 different illustrations. Most of the plates contain only 5-10 illustrations, which makes them less busy than the other books. The various plumages of the genders, ages, races, and subspecies are illustrated very well. My only tiny critique is the birds sometimes look just a little too dark, but nothing that is too distracting or misleading for their identification.
The text, which is adjacent to the plate, consists of a long paragraph containing information on description, voice, habitat, breeding, nests and eggs, and range and status. There is less information in the description or identification sections than I would like to see. I would gladly trade space to remove the nest/egg information to expand the identification material to help compare similar species. Although still good, I think the identification text in the book is not as strong as the material found in the two other similar books (see below).
The range maps use a single color to outline the bird's distribution in the country. For a few of the birds that have irruptive patterns, lighter shading is used to define the potential boundary of their dispersal.
This is a great book for use anywhere in Australia. Its quality is on par with two other books by Simpson/Day and by Morcombe. Any of these books will work just as well. My personal leaning is towards the other two books.
I've listed several related books below...
1) Birds of Australia, 7th ed. by Simpson/Day
2) Field Guide to Australian Birds by Morcombe
3) Photographic Field Guide: Birds of Australia by Flegg
4) Australian Birds: A Concise Photographic Field Guide by Trounson
5) The Atlas of Australian Birds by Blakers
6) Birds in the Australian High Country by Frith
7) Complete Book of Australian Birds by Reader's Digest
8) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Australia by Rowland
9) The Birds of Prey of Australia by Debus
10) A Field Guide to Nests & Eggs of Australian Birds by Beruldsen
11) Where to Find Birds in Australia by Bransbury
(written by Soleglad at Avian Review or Avian Books, October 2008)
Summary of The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia
This revised edition of the classic field guide to Australian birds represents the most up-to-date, comprehensive and stunningly illustrated handbook available.
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