J.O. Hilmarsson

This book was written by the chief guide on our tour of 'wild Iceland'. Jóhann Óli Hilmarsson, an internationally renowned photographer of and expert on the birds of Iceland. He contributed most of the excellent photographs in the book. Well organized text and sighting maps accompany the photos. A great multi-lingual list of bird species names is in the back. Icons in the margins of the descriptions make it visually easy to find descriptions of particular features, such as beak shape, or bird song or cry. In addition to the maps that show where a given species might be seen, there are calendar bars that show the periods of residence, breeding, and fledging for each species, along with other useful information. It is, from the point of view of maximum useful information in an easy to extract format, the best bird guide I own.… (meer)

Basics: 2000, softcover, 193 pages, 402 color photos, 124 species, range maps, seasonal charts

This is a slightly different field guide that goes beyond the typical description necessary for just identification of the birds. In addition to notes in the species account on history, breeding, and fledging, a 25-page section of the book is dedicated to the eggs and young of the island’s breeders. It appears a photograph of an egg is supplied for every breeding bird on the island.

For the field guide section, one bird is shown on each page. The color photographs are good quality. Typically, there is one large photo with 1-3 smaller photos to show various poses, genders, or ages. Each of the five sections (seabirds, waders, gull, waterbirds, landbirds, and passerines) is also followed up with a photo section of vagrants. About 124 species are covered, which represent the breeders and the expected migrants, visitors, and vagrants out of a possible 300 birds.

The text offers the expected descriptions of the birds with identification tips. More descriptions are given of the birds voice, habitat, and status. This text is certainly adequate to help identify all the expected birds on the island.

Also included is a range map (incorporating 5 seasonal colors) along with an effective seasonal chart to show when the bird is present throughout the year and when the bird breeds and also when it fledges its young.

This is a great book to have when visiting Iceland. Other than rarer vagrants covered in a more expansive European guide, this book will be all you need for the country.… (meer)