Field guides

["Philip Veerman" <>]

I will mostly agree with the inputs others have made and add a few other bits. I would not regard Parrots of the World, by Forshaw as being in any way a field guide. It is one of many reference books that cover a whole group of birds from around the world and so, not the sort of thing typically used for identifying birds in the field. Actually writing "is one of many" is a bit demeaning, as it is better than most, because the illustrations by W T Cooper are (I think) far superior than anyone else and the text is also excellent.

 

About is it common for birders to annotate their field guides when and where they have seen a species. Some might but I suspect they would quickly become scrappy. Do whatever you like but other systems probably work better. So your choice. I have sometimes made small corrections to the books if errors are found that I think I might not remember.

 

I usually only carry around a field guide if I am in some place unfamiliar to me (as in not for local ACT or even SE Aust terrestrial birds).

 

Anthony commented on finding birds field guide in other countries. I had interesting experiences searching several big bookshops in China for a book on the birds there (even in Chinese). Even with Sophia translating I only got nothing beyond blank non understandings as to why would someone want that. Maybe I'm glad I didn't, as they may have all been in the recipes & cooking sections.

 

I believe that the Taylor & Day, ACT guide was reissued but am disappointed that the many little things that could easily be made right should have been fixed or updated appear not to have been. The best thing about that book is its existence and it has a few clever ideas in its design.

 

There is a review of the latest update of Pizzey (not done by him as he is gone) & Knight in the latest Emu.

 

Philip

 

-----Original Message-----From: Erika Roper [ Sent: Monday, 25 February 2013 1:23 AM      To: canberrabirds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Field guides

Hello all,

I recently acquired a new field guide (Parrots of the World, by Forshaw) and I began wondering about how others use field guides. Is it common for birders to annotate their field guides (i.e. add additional common names to species entries), and to note in the guide when and where they have seen a species? I was also wondering how many of you "study" before taking a trip to a new place, in order to memorise species that you may encounter.

I love field guides, and if I had the money I'm sure I would be buying new ones all the time. I suppose next on my list should be a current version of an Australian field guide, as my current copy (given to me by my grandma) is as old as I am (Simpson and Day, published in 1986)! Which reminds me, is it actually worth investing in an up-to-date copy? Any recommendations for which guide to get (author-wise)?

Thanks!

Erika