The fourth guide in a series covering birdwatching sites in the great continents. It describes almost 150 sites in detail and many more in passing. It's primary aim is to help birders make the most of their trips, detailing the endemic and special" birds to be found at each site as well as the more common and "usual" species. Countries are treated alphabetically, with all the practical information required to make the most of a trip and to avoid wasted time. Included are detailed maps and line drawings."
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This book unfortunately fails to meet its aims. Why? It covers its subject matter in barely adequate depth, and contains many errors.
Various people have reviewed it on internet birding discussion groups (especially birding-aus) and almost everyone said it wasn't up to scratch. By covering all of Australasia and Oceania it cannot hope to cover places in sufficient depth.
Consider some of the comments made by Australian reviewers. One person familiar with the Cairns area listed several species that the book mentioned as being present which are either very rare vagrants or not present at all. Perhaps more importantly, the directions on how to get to sites are often vague, or downright inaccurate. Contact details for various people (eg boat tour operators) are sometimes several years out of date.
The Australian section is like an abridged version of The Complete Guide to Finding the Birds of Australia by Richard and Sarah Thomas. The latter book, whilst itself containing some similar shortcomings, is far more likely to be of use to a visitor to Australia. Equally Doug Pratt's Enjoying Birds in Hawaii would be a better buy for someone going there.
The book does contain site information about a number of places (especially Pacific islands) that is not readily available in other books. However one birder who has used the book in a number of south Pacific islands described it as "essentially worthless ... just a cobbling together of outdated trip reports and third hand descriptions of places he's probably never visited".
This may sound harsh, but given the amount of money people spend to get to some of these places, buyers of this book are entitled to expect a higher standard of accuracy.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As usual with the series, this book does a very good job at introducing the "essential" birdwatching sites of a huge region.
Much of it is, for better or worse, devoted to describing the two biggest and most visited countries, Australia and New Zealand. Coverage of these is good, but since there are also single country guides to them you could also use those.
Where this book really becomes invaluable is its coverage of the often little-known archipelagos of Oceania: Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. Few of these countries are often visited by birders, yet even the remotest ones, like Pitcairn, are described. Since other guides to nature reserves of these island nations are basically non-existant, descriptions and maps of remote islands and forested regions are of interest to anyone with an interest in the fauna of the Pacific.
But of course, twitchers are well served too - with lists of endemics, key sites to see each one, suggested itineraries and the like.
A worthy investment for your trip!
Much of it is, for better or worse, devoted to describing the two biggest and most visited countries, Australia and New Zealand. Coverage of these is good, but since there are also single country guides to them you could also use those.
Where this book really becomes invaluable is its coverage of the often little-known archipelagos of Oceania: Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. Few of these countries are often visited by birders, yet even the remotest ones, like Pitcairn, are described. Since other guides to nature reserves of these island nations are basically non-existant, descriptions and maps of remote islands and forested regions are of interest to anyone with an interest in the fauna of the Pacific.
But of course, twitchers are well served too - with lists of endemics, key sites to see each one, suggested itineraries and the like.
A worthy investment for your trip!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
I wrote the review above. Despite what seems like a harsh review I have since bought other books in the series. On reflection, it's a reasonable book for someone on the other side of the world who wants to know what they are likely to see in Australiasia and Oceania by visiting particular areas. Just don't rely on it for exact details of how to get to the sites - use it to decide which trip to take, not where to go birding each morning!
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