Reviews (3)

Only book we needed
We bought a second reference because it's hard to know which plates will help amateurs like us identify the species in a place we've not previously visited. However, with the plates, the maps, and the generally brief, but accurate descriptions, this was the only book we needed to quickly identify the over 100 species we spotted on our trip. The soft cover made it easier to stuff into one of our binocular bags.

The birder's companion to India
Going to India? BUY THIS BOOK. Truly a definitive guide to the birds of India, absolutely user-friendly in the field. Accurate slates and distribution diagrams will help you determine, very briskly, the bird you are looking at. This is important in India because there are tons of birds. Morphological and behavioural characteristics are also defined in this intense field guide. Importantly, this is easy to access, it doesn't make you bounce back and forth 3 times from the slate. Pointers on the slate also help you to quickly make distinctions between similar birds. This field guide makes birding fun and an ease. Colourful slates, smart layout, if only all field guides could be this good.

At long last...
Finally, a complete, comphrensive FIELD guide to the birds of India! Gone are the days of hauling 2 or 3 hardcover bird books to the subcontinent just to be able to identify relatively common species. The drawings in thisbook are excellent, the descriptions very detailed, and the range maps veryhelpful. My two criticisms are that birders familiar with the common namesin Salim Ali's "The Book of Indian Birds" will be confused withthe revised nomenclature in this guide (based on the Inskipp's IndianChecklist); some changes are relatively minor, while others are sodramatically different (and frankly puzzling) that cross-referencing is achore. The second involves the seperation of many of the range maps fromthe plates and descriptions, sometimes by many pages. This was due to thelarge number of species featured on some plates- there just wasn't enoughroom for the maps also. A better strategy might have been to put them allin the back of the book. But the benefits of this book far outweigh theshortcomings- my next trip to India promises to be more rewarding andproductive bird-wise (as well as easier on my back)due to this excellentand overdue field guide. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Birds & Birdwatching - Guides    4. Identification    5. India    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Ornithology    9. Pictorial works    10. Biological Sciences    11. Birds and Natural History    12. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (3)

Comprehensive and excellent, but not a field guide
Ali and Ripley's masterwork cannot be touched in terms of the completeness of individual descriptions, but this volume is amazing in that it draws together all the subcontinent's spp. into one book. Even so, the tome istoo heavy to carry to the field. The taxonomy is updated, as is the specieslist. The colour illustrations are of a very high quality; my quibble isthat the individual species are too small to be very useful. The maps areminiscule and that limits their utility; the use of two colours would havehelped under the circumstances. Otherwise, this book is a long-awaitedtreasure.

The best guide forthe birds of the Indian Subcontinent.
Simply the best available guide to the birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Subcontinental birders have long awaited a comphrehensive guide to the birds of this region. The best available book on birds of Indian subcontinent.
This is the best one-volume book on the market at this time.It has very good illustrations and good species accounts that include excellent range maps. It is the only book of one volume that covers all the birds of theIndian subcontinent with this quality of illustration.The range maps arevery good and there is an adequate amount of information about each bird. It's too heavy to take into the field on your trip to India, but it is anexcellent reference. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Birds & Birdwatching - Guides    4. Identification    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Ornithology    8. Reference    9. South Asia    10. Biological Sciences    11. Birds (ornithology)    12. Birds and Natural History    13. India    14. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching    15. Nepal    16. Pakistan   

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southwest    2. Guidebooks    3. Maldives    4. Reference - General    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Historical geography    8. Places & peoples: general interest   

Reviews (2)

Avoid
wORTH aVOIDING - BAD PICTURES ( A FEW GOOD) NO MATCH FOR THE INSKIPP - NOT A GUIDE BUT A PICTURE BOOK

"A" for effort, "B plus" for results
This book is a very noble effort at a photographic field guide to Indian birds. Not surprisingly, the quality of the photos varies from excellent to marginal-at-best; a few species could not possibly be intentified from the photos provided. Having said that, this book does contain several valuable features lacking from the other Indian bird guides. The range maps are displayed along with each species, with symbols and notes on the relative rarity of each species. Another very nice feature is the inclusion of the older, common (English) names which is great for those who have birded in India for awhile. I also like the smaller size and portablility of this book. The bottom line: if you are going to take one bird field guide to India, I wouldn't take this one- the Grimmett/Inskipps or Kazmeirczak "non-photo" guides are better bets. However, if you are a serious birder and don't mind packing two bird books, I'd highly recommned taking this one along to supplement the information in the other field guides. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Identification    4. India    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Photography    8. Pictorial works    9. South Asia    10. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    11. Techniques - General    12. Biological Sciences    13. Birds (ornithology)    14. Birds and Natural History    15. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    16. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Subjects:  1. Antiquities    2. History    3. Maldives    4. Non-Classifiable    5. Nonfiction - General    6. Sociology    7. Controversial Knowledge & Mysteries   

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. Asia - India & South Asia    3. Asia, Southern    4. Dictionaries    5. Encyclopedias    6. General    7. India    8. Reference    9. South Asia    10. South Asia - History    11. Asian / Middle Eastern history    12. Bangladesh    13. Bhutan    14. Maldives    15. Pakistan    16. Reference / General    17. Sri Lanka   

Subjects:  1. Ethnology    2. Maldives    3. Social life and customs   

Subjects:  1. History: World    2. Reference    3. Customs & Traditions    4. ASIA    5. History    6. Maldives    7. Asian / Middle Eastern history   

Subjects:  1. 16th century    2. 17th century    3. Asia - India & South Asia    4. History    5. History: World    6. International Relations - General    7. Maldives    8. Modern - General    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Portuguese    11. Sources    12. Sri Lanka    13. Asian / Middle Eastern history: c 1500 to c 1900    14. Asian / Middle Eastern history: c 500 to c 1500    15. Geographical discovery & exploration   

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. General    3. History - General History    4. Travel    5. Travel Guides   

Subjects:  1. Coastal zone management    2. Marine parks and reserves    3. Marine resources conservation    4. Nature/Ecology    5. South Asia    6. Maldives    7. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Maldives   

Subjects:  1. Developing countries    2. History    3. Islands    4. Natural disasters   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Maldives    3. Thakurufān, Mohamed   

Subjects:  1. Collectors and collecting    2. History    3. Maldives    4. Postage stamps    5. Postal service