Donald Trounson

THE BASICS:
softcover; a total of 815 good color photos in 103 plates show 690 species which include all but the rarer vagrants; the majority of the birds have only a single photograph; a one-color range map shows the distribution of the bird across all Australia; a short paragraph for each bird reviews natural history with little or no description of the bird

THE REVIEW:
Of the many, many field guides I've examined, this is the first one I have seen with an instruction manual on how to use it. I couldn't help but to chuckle when I read the six lines of simple instructions. While reading these, I imagined it seemed just as silly as reading instructions on using a tube of toothpaste. These instructions, as stated by the authors, are intended to be useful for professional and amateur ornithologists regarding the different layout of the book. As it turns out, the layout of this book is also different from most other field guides.

The guide is separated into two groups of birds: Land and Water, in that order. Each group is further divided into multiple sections: 16 for the Landbirds and 5 for the Waterbirds. Basically, these are sections are generic and semi-arbitrary groupings such as pigeons & doves, waders, wrens, marsh birds, etc. After becoming familiar with the standard taxonomic scheme used by nearly all other field guides (which is often not liked by beginners), I found this layout to be annoying as I skimmed through the book looking, looking, looking for a Green Catbird.

All species are shown with very good quality, color photographs. Adding to the attraction of the book is the decent size of most photos. The majority of the birds are shown with just a single photograph. Regarding the layout of these photos, the strategy is a bit unique and creates a couple of negative side effects. One, the photographs are not labeled with the bird’s name. Instead, they are numbered. This means it is necessary to take a moment to match up the numbered photo on the right with the corresponding number key on the left to know which bird is which – unless you already know them all by sight. Second, the photos are printed so closely to the inner edge of the page (i.e., down inside the fold of the spine) that you must forcibly open the book wide enough to see the entire photo. Another consequence of the photo layout occurs when one of the larger pictures on the left page continues onto the right page. This means some of the photo is hidden in the spine’s fold. The only photo of the poor White-throated Needletail is buried deep within the fold of the book.

The text that accompanies each bird is located in the last third of the book. This material contains a short paragraph dealing primarily with the bird’s natural history. Little, if any information, is given to describe the bird or to aid with identification. If you cannot identify the bird by the one photo, you’re on your own. The slimmest of descriptions (2-12 words) is given for the voice.

Range maps are supplied for all of the birds. These are located adjacent to the birds’ photos. Each map is a standard template of the entire Australia continent. The range is displayed as a single color.

I like this book for the color photos and for the practice it affords when learning the Australian birds; but, I would advise against bringing it into the field. Perhaps a slight benefit of using this book as practice is it takes a little longer to match up the name of the bird with the photo. I've found the field guides by either Simpson & Day, by Pizzey, or by Morcombe to be much more user-friendly. The text and multiple illustrations are easily superior. -- (written by Jack at Avian Review with sample pages, July 2008)… (meer)