Best current field guide for Southern India (Kerala) (1 Viewer)

Some of my family are off on a botanical tour to Kerala in October and want to take a good field guide to the birds with them.

There seem to be (at least) four candidates.

The Collins Birds of India -Arlott

http://amzn.eu/hPeSRFp

Which is also available in a Kindle format - anyone have any experience of this?



Helm's Birds of Southern India - Grimmet et al.

http://amzn.eu/1NjrFco


Also from Helm - Birds of the Indian Subcontinent - Inskipp et al.

http://amzn.eu/b5BDHSc


From Princeton - Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, Second Edition - Grimmett et al.


http://amzn.eu/1kBucwI


Any advice would be most welcome.

They're also interested in any apps (particularly for calls) which are recommended.

The Helm and Princeton ones are essentially the same book. The Southern India one I think is derived from that book too, but it's not very recent so is likely to be out of date. I don't know the Arlott one by I suspect it's not as good as the 'Grimskip'. The Helm guide is also available as an app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coolideas.eproducts.birdsofindia&hl=en
The app is okay but annoyingly doesn't include any sounds.

Thanks Andrew :t:

Got a sample of the Kindle version of the Arlott guide from Amazon - not hugely impressed with what looks like a rather odd format.

I think the e-book version of the Helm guide may be their best option - shame there's no calls.

Hi, I wasn't too impressed with the Arnott Guide either.

The 3rd one on your list, Helm - Birds of the Indian Subcontinent - Inskipp et al. is available from google books, and includes sounds for the majority of species, plus the layout was more user friendly. i think that is the link to the version with sounds included:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kMwXBAAAQBAJ&dq=birds of india&source=gbs_book_other_versions

The only snag I have noticed with this book is on my phone, the sound icons hide some of the text. It's fine on a tablet

Thanks Peter :t:

That looks like the best option to me. Very useful that there are calls too.

On a recent trip to Goa I used the Grimmett and Inskipp Birds of the Indian Subcontinent which is probably the most comprehensive. Having said that there are a number of anomalies with recent splits and renaming, but a more casual birder could get along with that. The South India book is fairly disappointing in my opinion and not a worthwhile alternative.

Birds of South Asia - The Ripley Guide is also good with a lot more detailed information, but is quite pricey and comes in two volumes, one of which is the filed guide.

Most eguides don't yet come up to scratch, with a couple of outstanding exceptions, and I don't have any experience with the Indian ones. Ebird is always worth a look though and it gets better by the day, of course.