andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (07/25/90)
In article <350@spam.ua.oz> wvenable@spam.ua.oz (Bill Venables) writes: >>Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds (Slater, Slater and Slater) 1986. >>$ 27.50. Available from ABA (toll-free 800-634-7736). >> >>Field Guide to the Birds of Australia (Simpson and Day) 1989. 11.95 pounds >>sterling (in the UK). Not available from ABA? The larger handbook from >>which this field guide was derived is available from ABA. >> I have both guides (and several older ones). Slater is the one I use in the field. It is signifcantly smaller and personally I prefer its illustrations. Its also has all the very rare vagrants (the occurred once in 1887 birds). The revised edition of Slater (1989) fixed a lot of errors. >... The name is 'Where to find birds in Australia' by John Bransbury. This book would be very useful to anyone visiting Australia. It is just what you need when planning a trip. However, the information contained is not very detailed and its omits major birding spots so its not so much use if you actually live here. The publisher is Hutchinson (1989). A good value field guide companion is the Readers Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds published by Readers Digest Services (Australia?). Its a coffee table book (definitely non-portable). > Australian expert? That's Andrew Taylor. (How're y'goin' Andrew?) I'm not an expert, as was made clear on a walk last weekend when I could not remember which honeyeater call was which (too much time in front of a computer). I was slightly redeemed when I pointed out the distinctive call of a Spotted Pardalote to my non-birding friends just before it flew to a close branch to give them good views. For those OS, a Spotted Pardolotte is a tiny foliage-gleaning bird beautifully marked in orange, yellow, black and white. Andrew