Birds of Botswana (Southern African Green Guide)

Rating:
Summary: Birds of Botswana
Review: For a birder traveling to Botswana, there are two books that should be considered -- this one and Birds of Southern Africa by the same author. The larger book is similar to the Peterson or Audobon guides familier to US birders, with large drawings of species, text descriptions and maps. However, it is large, including a thousand or so species. And complex. Many types of birds in Africa have no counterpart in the US. Thus, finding a species in the larger book can be difficult until you become extremely familier with its basic layout and structure. Enter the Birds of Botswana. It is small -- only 80 pages, covering 250 birds. It is lightweight. Most common birds are much easier to find. It has fairly complete text; in many cases nearly identical to the text in the larger book. Its downside is that its pictures are quite small, it has no maps, and it is limited to the most commonly identified species. Due to the lack of maps, it is impossible to say how useful this book would be in neighboring countries. Frankly, we're taking both on our trip this summer. I expect that when we field test them, we will find that whoever has the smaller book in hand will identify the vast majority of birds first. On the other hand, I also won't be surprized if we have to turn to the larger book for some identifications. Summary: This is an excellent book for novice or beginning birders, and a good companion book for more experienced birders or for those who are not familier with African birds. Finally, if weight or size is you principle criteria, this one is small and would serve most needs.