Graham Pizzey

THE BASICS:
softcover, 7th edition; over 2,500 color illustrations of very good quality show the 780+ species found in the country; male, female, breeding, non-breeding, and some immature plumages are shown along with some subspecies; a range map is provided for each species; text for each bird covers description, voice, habitat, range, and breeding with just a little less supplied on identification as in other contemporary guides

THE REVIEW:
This 7th edition is dramatically improved over the book’s first edition created more than two decades earlier. This field guide for all of Australia’s birds is definitely in the top three books available for the country. It is also the thickest of the three which is a trade-off for allowing 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 to describe and to help identify the birds than I would like to see. I would gladly sacrifice the nest/egg information to expand the identification material to help compare the bird against 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 (Morcombe and Simpson & Day).

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. -- (written by Jack at Avian Review with sample pages, October 2008)… (mehr)