Books and Sounds

The Best Bird Books for Africa

There was a time when most of us would be content with our British and European field guides but today's birdwatchers are more likely than ever before to venture further afield in search of new birding experiences. A recent survey of African Bird Club members showed that 83 percent plan to go birding in Africa over the next three years, and as cheap package holidays to places such as the Gambia continue to offer amazing value for money, more and more of us are visiting the Dark Continent. Who can blame them? With 2,238 species to be seen - of which 1,492 are found nowhere else, Africa offers a lifetime of birding opportunities. So which books should you use? In this article, Keith Betton presents his personal choice.

If you would like to order copies of these please click on the image and you can obtain further details from Wildsounds, our book supplier. If you order ABC will receive 5% of the cost which will be put towards conservation projects in Africa - get a great deal AND benefit conservation!

1. The Birds of Africa
For the dedicated enthusiast the authoritative reference has to be the soon-to-be-completed seven volume anthology known simply as The Birds of Africa. Published by Academic Press in regular intervals since 1982 the final volume was published in 2004. Under the editorship of Hilary Fry, Stuart Keith and Emil Urban each new tome has steadily got better and Martin Woodcock's paintings are clear and uncluttered. The authoritative text covers all breeding species in full, with details of range, status, description, voice, general habits and breeding. Non-breeding visitors are treated more briefly, with emphasis on their status and behaviour whilst in Africa. Large distribution maps are given for each species showing both breeding and wintering ranges together with isolated sightings. Each volume has an extensive bibliography and set of acoustic references. Indexes are given in English, French and scientific names. The six volumes currently available can be bought together for £585 while individual volumes cost £115 each. Volumes 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 are available.

2. Birds of Western Africa: An Identification Guide
Until last year you really were visiting the Dark Continent when birding in West Africa as many of the species had still not been illustrated in a field guide - and those that had been illustrated were often in monochrome and looked remarkably similar to each other! However thanks to Nik Borrow's outstanding 142 plates in Birds of Western Africa: An Identification Guide the spotlight is now shining on those confusing tropical forest skulkers. The text by Ron Demey describes 1,282 species occurring in Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Rio Muni, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, part of Mauritania and the islands of Sao Tome, Principe and Bioko (Fernando Po). Almost 1,100 distribution maps are clear and precise. The book is published by Christopher Helm and at 832 pages it will need a big pocket in your jacket and a significant bite out of your wallet. A new version (right hand picture) is available which has all the plates but much reduced text - much more useful in the field!

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3. Field Guide to the Birds of the Gambia and Senegal
However, if like so many birders you are simply visiting the Gambia then you will only need A Field Guide to the Birds of the Gambia and Senegal by Clive Barlow and Tim Wacher which describes the 660 species that have been seen in the two countries - of which 570 are illustrated by Tony Disley. Identification tips, habits and voice descriptions are given at the back of the book away from the plates. There are also helpful comments on status and distribution. However there are no maps - no doubt due to the relatively small scale of the area covered and lack of available information. Published by Pica Press it has just been reprinted and offers good value for money.

4. Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania
For many years visitors to East Africa were also deprived of a really great field guide, but their prayers were answered when Dale Zimmerman, Don Turner and David Pearson joined forces with artists Ian Willis and Douglas Pratt to produce a mighty tome. The result was Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania which was published by Christopher Helm in 1996. It describes and illustrates 1,114 species - representing all of Kenya's birds, and 90 percent of those from Uganda and 75 percent of those from Tanzania. Many species from southern Ethiopia are therefore covered too - but not any of the endemics. Each species description provides full identification notes, and there is a full distribution map for all but 56 species. This is an essential reference for anyone visiting East Africa, but weighing in at a hefty 2 kg, you are should consider using the much lighter softback edition which has all of the 124 plates but gives reduced information - cutting the text by 200 pages. It is also lighter on your wallet!

5. Field Guide to Birds of East Africa
Good field guides are a bit like buses - you wait ages for one to arrive and then suddenly you have two! In 2001 the arrival of Poyser's Field Guide to Birds of East Africa gave birders a choice. Covering Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi it describes a massive 1,388 species. The text by Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe gives concise identification information and the accompanying distribution maps are in red - a great advance over the monochrome maps in the previous book. Working in very similar styles Brian Small, John Gale and Norman Arlott have divided the illustrations between them. Another great advantage is the positioning of the text facing the illustrations. All field guides should follow this format. This is VERY good value for money.

6. SASOL Birds of Southern Africa
Over the last sixty years South African birders have had quite a number of good field guides to use ranging from the legendary "Roberts" which has been re-issued and improved many times to various photo guides. Everyone has their favourite, but for me the best has to be SASOL Birds of Southern Africa which first appeared in 1993 and has just been re-issued as a third edition. The text is by South Africa residents Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, while two British artists - Peter Hayman and Norman Arlott - combined to provide over 900 illustrations. The new revision reflects the latest views on taxonomy and includes recently recorded species splits as well as correcting previous misidentifications. Published by New Holland, the book is now only available in paperback.

7. SASOL Birds of Prey of Africa and its Islands
Another excellent New Holland field guide is SASOL Birds of Prey of Africa and its Islands by Alan and Meg Kemp. Using a combination of Peter Hayman's illustrations from the other SASOL guide together with new material and good quality photographs, this gives much more information on each species. Over 100 raptors and 40 owls are described and each is afforded a double-page spread including a distribution map. Available as a softback.

8, 9 & 10. Collins Illustrated Checklists: Birds of Eastern Africa, Birds of Southern Africa and Birds of Western and Central Africa
Of all the world's bird artists none is more prolific than dutchman Ber Van Perlo. In just six years he has produced three guides illustrating all of mainland Africa's birds. His first offering was Collins Illustrated Checklist: Birds of Eastern Africa which covers every species found in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia and (rather importantly) Ethiopia. Rather surprisingly this also includes the island of Socotra off the coast of Yemen. In all 1,487 species are illustrated and care has been taken to include female and juvenile plumages where these are significant. The text is extremely brief - just four lines in most cases to cover everything, and the distribution maps are hidden away at the back with only plate numbers to help you identify the corresponding species - a real pain! Next in the series from Van Perlo was Collins Illustrated Checklist: Birds of Southern Africa which covers over 1250 species from the region (including Angola and Malawi), and most recently Collins Illustrated Checklist: Birds of Western and Central Africa. Over 1500 species are illustrated - at least 200 more than the tome from Demey and Borrow. I do not mean to be critical of Ber Van Perlo's work because he is a good artist, but you will be hard-pressed to use his guides to differentiate between the fine feather detail on the confusing larks, pipits and greenbuls. The African editions are out of print and may be difficult to obtain - check Amazon or one of the other larger second hand book sellers.

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11. Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands
It is important to remember that the African avifaunal region extends out to the Indian Ocean to include Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues, the Seychelles and the Cormoro Islands. Some 338 species are covered by Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands by Ian Sinclair and Olivier Langrand. Published by New Holland, the style is similar to the SASOL guides, and the illustrations are by Norman Arlott, Hilary Burn, Peter Hayman and Ian Lewington. All the usual descriptive details are given opposite the illustrations and plenty of space is devoted to each painting. Each species has its own map on the text page although these do not indicate seasonal differences. The book is only available in softback and is published by Struik/New Holland.

12. Madagascar: a Photographic Guide
Although seen as a rival publication I thoroughly recommend you also buy Birds of Madagascar: a Photographic Guide by Pete Morris and Frank Hawkins. This really is a superb photographic field guide with over 500 colour photographs covering all 280 species known to have occurred in Madagascar up to 1997. The text is excellent and gives a description of all known plumages likely to be encountered, vocalisations, habitat and behaviour, range, status (including taxonomic notes where relevant) and where to find the species, and an invaluable identification section. There is also a short section detailing the best birding sites. Published by Pica Press.

13. Where to Watch Birds in Africa
Deciding which sites to visit in each country was once a major challenge unless you were weighed down with trip reports but Nigel Wheatley has summarised all the important information into the excellent Where to Watch Birds in Africa. Covering some 200 sites in detail, with brief coverage of many more this gives all the basic information you need to find most species together with a general introductions to each country. Key sites are detailed along lists of endemics, specialities and other birds likely to be seen, accompanied by maps and drawings. Quite how Nigel found the time to pull all this together is a mystery, but we should all be thankful that he has done so. Published by Christopher Helm, this is a hardback, which has now unfortunately gone out of print but many second hand copies are available via one of the larger online second hand booksellers.

Two countries that are now attracting a lot of interest from British birdwatchers are Uganda and Ethiopia. You can choose to visit on an inclusive guided tour from one of the special tour operators or you can plan to do-it-yourself. Considering the latter option would be completely out of the question had there not been excellent site guides to consult.

14. Where to Watch Birds in Uganda
Where to Watch Birds in Uganda is by Jonathan Rossouw and Marco Sacchi is a compact 110 page site guide concentrating on the main national parks and reserves. An error during its production resulted in a chapter on the Marbira Forest being omitted, so make sure your copy includes a special insert on this important site. Without question this is a very impressive booklet packed with information, maps and tables - and will not break the bank. Despite a nasty terrorist incident a few years back Uganda is a relatively safe country and is fortunate in having an excellent network of professional birdwatchers, so make sure you contact the Uganda Bird Guides Club before your visit. Contact the African Bird Club for further details (see below).

15. Ethiopia - In Search of Endemic Birds
A visit to Ethiopia is another "must" for anyone seeking a special experience. Julian Francis and Hadoram Shirihai undertook a month-long tour of the central and southern areas in the autumn of 1997 and they have published their sightings as a 45 page booklet entitled Ethiopia - In Search of Endemic Birds. Their itinerary was planned with a view to seeing all the endemics of the region, and as many other birds as possible. This report provides details on each oth 30 or so Ethiopian endemic species and where to find them. But for me the main attraction is to have a great set of photographs of birds that are poorly served by the field guides. At £10.00 this was well worth getting - but is now out of print

16. Prion guides
I must also mention the Prion Birdwatchers Guides. These are very user-friendly softback guides of more than 100 pages giving detailed maps and instructions for important birding sites. In particular each has notes on the key target birds summarising all the available information. The Prion range includes guides to the Gambia, Canary Islands and Madeira. The guide to Morocco has just been overhauled and will be available very soon.

African Bird Club
The African Bird Club is the leading organisation concerned with the conservation and study of Africa's birds. It has over 1,000 members in 61 countries. It publishes an illustrated Bulletin every six months which includes papers on bird identification, distribution and conservation. ABC supports projects around Africa and has provided over £30,000 of help to projects. For more information look at http://www.africanbirdclub.org

This article, which has been slightly amended from the original, appears by kind permission of the author, Keith Betton, and Bird Watching, Britain's largest-selling birdwatching magazine, available at all large high street newsagents on the 30th of each month. For subscription information call 0845 601 1356. Keith Betton is Vice-Chairman of the African Bird Club, and has travelled widely through the African continent.

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