Kenya bird guide (1 Viewer)

briddo13

Briddo13

• Jul 9, 2006

• #1

Hi , i am planning to birdwatch Kenya in February . Can anyone recommend a good comprehensive field guide ?

 

S

Steve Lister

Senior Birder, ex County Recorder, Garden Moths.

• Jul 10, 2006

• #2

briddo13 said:

Hi , i am planning to birdwatch Kenya in February . Can anyone recommend a good comprehensive field guide ?

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The Helm Field Guide 'Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania' by Zimmerman et al is good. The other alternative by Fanshawe and Stevenson is a better book IMO but covers a much wider area.

Steve

 

Edward

Umimmak

• Jul 10, 2006

• #3

I went to Kenya in January and I took both books Steve mentioned. In the end we used the Fanshawe/Stevenson far more as it's easier to use and on the whole the illustrations are better. The Zimmermann book was excellent as a back up and the maps are more detailed, so take both if you can.

E

 

briddo13

Briddo13

• Jul 10, 2006

• #4

Edward said:

I went to Kenya in January and I took both books Steve mentioned. In the end we used the Fanshawe/Stevenson far more as it's easier to use and on the whole the illustrations are better. The Zimmermann book was excellent as a back up and the maps are more detailed, so take both if you can.

E

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thanks for the info I hope to but it to good use.

 

A

Alf King

Well-known member

• Jul 13, 2006

• #5

I'd agree with Edward on this one. I've been to Kenya a couple of times and generally found the Fanshawe et al easier to use in the field, but found it helpful to also have the Zimmerman et al back in the room/rucksack. They're both good books and it comes down to a matter of personal preference but, seeing as you'll be paying plenty of money to get there in the first instance it makes sense to buy both.

I would also recommend that you consult the many trip reports for up to date information. I find the TravellingBirder website to be great for this www.travellingbirder.com .

 

Edward

Umimmak

• Jul 13, 2006

• #6

And whatever you do, don't forget to take a mammal guide as you'll see plenty of those (we saw 44 species, all new to me). I took Jonathan Kingdon's pocket guide to African mammals, very handy.

E