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What is the best South Africa Bird Guide? (1 Viewer)

travelnlass

New member
Hi all Avians - I'm planning a 6 week sally throughout South Africa and am hoping you can point me to the best bird guide for South Africa (and/or southern Africa)

I checked Amazon/Borders and find (only) these:

Birds of Southern Africa, by Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton
- the editorial review sounds pretty good - paperback: 432 pgs. 200 color plates, of all 950 species found in southern Africa. The book is 1" x 9" x 6" (size/weight is important when one is on the road for weeks)

Birds of Southern Africa, by Ber van Perlo
- again, a good editorial review - paperback: 320 pages, 84 color plates - of all 1,250 bird species in southern Africa (hmmm... so which is it, 950 or 1,250?); The book measures a bit less than 1" x 8" x 5" (the 1 review notes that it's a good size for travelers - i.e. an inch smaller in width and height.)

These 2 above are both around $20. There's also "Sasol Birds of Southern Africa" by Ian Sinclair (as above), Pieter Cox and Warwick Tarboton (as above). But that puppy's nearly $60 for the paperback!

The thing is, for any given region, it seems there's always one birding field guide that true avians rely on - that's heads above all the rest. Question is - which of these is it? Else - what would you recommend?

All thoughts muchly appreciated.
 
Haven't used either one of them yet, but have been studying both the SASOL and Sinclair guides for the last 6 months. I like the SASOL guide because it doesn't waste time on some of the basics-- the Sinclair guide is beginner-friendly. Both however, appear to be excellent sources of information with fine illustrations, and they are certainly the most highly lauded in reviews. I know nothing about the van Perlo book. Since 'southern Africa' is not a country but an area, I suppose there are different opinions on the area it incorporates. SASOL covers the area 'south of the Kunene and Zambezi Rivers', including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and the s. part of Zimbabwe and Mozambique (950 species).
 
I used the SASOL Guide when I was there, although I suspect this was an older version of it. I found it pretty helpful and it has quite detailed information on some of the trickier species, such as Pipits and Cisticolas.
 
travelnlass, on behalf of admin and all the moderators, welcome to Bird Forum. I hope you enjoy participating in the discussions and we look forward to hearing about your birding, both at home and on your travels.

I, too, have the SASOL guide, although I haven't been there yet. It was recommended to me as the best one - by someone in the book trade who is a birder and is from SA. I think it may be worth paying the extra, although it may be a bit heavy for you to carry around if you're wanting something lightweight.
 
Thanks to All!

Goodness, surely must be losing my mind here - thought suuuure I'd posted my thanks here earlier, but...

Suffice that I opted for the Sinclair/Hockey/Tarboton guide, mainly 'cuz it's the most recent (2002). Just got it from Amazon (most quickly I might add) and...

Interestingly, it appears to be a "SASOL" publication (though, for the life of me, this yankee newbie - dunno what the acronym stands for.), ANYWAY...

Better yet, apparently it does indeed include most the new names from the recent IOC world standardization report (and they kindly include both the old and the new names in this edition of the guide).

Nice handy graphic quick reference icons inside both the front and back covers, color-coded bird group tabs, and looks like excellent illustrations.

Only downside... goodness but this sucker is HEAVY! As I'll be backpacking for 6 weeks, bulk/weight is necessarily a major consideration. And - even as a paperback - this puppy must surely weighs more than half of my 2 lb. 5 oz. sleeping bag!

Ah well, guess that's a small price to pay for... the chance to see 900+ sweet species!

Thanks again for all your thoughtful comments. Now I can't WAIT to get down there (leaving March 31 - return, May 12) and see all the glorious new (for me) species.

Dyanne
 
Hi Dyanne I am a little late in answering this as I haven't had time to get onto the forum recently. The SASOL guide is a popular one out here and I think you will find it useful and easy to follow. I use Kenneth Newman's 'Birds of Southern Africa' in the field, with SASOL as my backup. Hope you have a wonderful time and if I can answer any questions (as a very amateur birder) plese PM me.
 
Bumping this up and asking the same question, but maybe in the light of more recent publications such as Birds of Africa South of the Sahara, what is the present consensus on the best field guide at present?

Thanks
 
Newman's

Hi Dyanne I am a little late in answering this as I haven't had time to get onto the forum recently. The SASOL guide is a popular one out here and I think you will find it useful and easy to follow. I use Kenneth Newman's 'Birds of Southern Africa' in the field, with SASOL as my backup. Hope you have a wonderful time and if I can answer any questions (as a very amateur birder) plese PM me.

When I was in South Africa at the end of 2006, I used Newman's "Birds of Southern Africa." I thought it was excellent. It was perhaps a little heavy but certainly portable enough.

Jeff
 
I too own the Newman's book and have never had a reason to change although I have paged through the Sasol book and at first glance looked pretty good. Probably the same size and weight.
 
Hi, Dyanne,

For someone unfamiliar with South Africa's birds, I think Sasol is as good as it gets. It takes considerable trouble to point out subtle differences between similar species, which is a great feature. It falls a little short on more specialised info such as feeding and breeding habits, but guides which include those are correspondiongly heavier and probably more expensive.

The name SASOL comes from a South African fuel-producing company called SASOL - it manufactures petrol from coal - and you will see its filling stations when you come to South Africa. SASOL sponsored the book, hence the name.

Best wishes,

Dave Kennedy
 
I prefer the SASOL, my wife prefers Newmans. Often we find it helpful to have both.

If all else fails take a photo, post it in the ID forum and Dave will identify it for you!

Allan
 
Hey.. we traveled to SA earlier this year and had the SASOL and the Newmans packed. During the trip we also acquired the Roberts field guide (had just come out). In the end, we found that the SASOL was the most useful, however Newmans really did complement it in many areas. Couldn't have used Newmans by itself I don't think. Roberts FG was useful, particularly for some groups of birds (like raptors) however the new taxonomic order was most annoying. All in all, I recommend any two of the three, as i don't feel like any one by itself was quite enough, particularly when it came to larks/pipits/cisticolas.
 
Having used Newmans for a long time, I tend to favour it, but I am also using SASOL a great deal. It is equally well set out, has perhaps a few more birds and more information. The pics are a little smaller. I agree with Swiss7, the one complements the other.
 
I notice that there is a new Collins Guide to the Birds of Southern Africa (van Perlo) due out in January 2009. Has anyone got any inside information about this book?
 
Are any of these publications particularly strong on where the best viewing places are for different species?

Thanks

Pat

No, the are fieldguides and my vote also goes for SASOL.


For finding birds, if in Cape Province, you will not get better than the book 'Essential Birding: Western South Africa' by Callen Cohen and Claire Spottiswoode.

They have also brought out something similar for the whole of southern Africa - Southern African Birdfinder, I imagine it is also excellent, but covering a greater region.
 
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