The Roberts Bird Guide (2nd Edition) has gone to great trouble to concentrate on, and illustrate, difficult-to-identify species and family groups such as raptors, warblers, cisticolas and waders. Special attention has been given to make sure there is far greater coverage of male-female differences and there are also many more juvenile illustrations. Unlike all previously published southern African bird guides, this new edition will be scattered with informative photographs that are incorporated in the text pages and each plate illustration is augmented with an introduction. Apart from the approximately 240 plate spreads, the guide also has 12 photographic and illustrated double spreads that show head enlargements and other details. Plates are annotated far more definitively than other guides – highlighting key identification features, especially for difficult-to-identify species. Plates are richly illustrated with vignettes, which will make any birding experience more informative.
Thorough treatment of ID features As an avid birder for the past 60 years, and an avid consumer of field guides to birds (and other bird-related books), I feel qualified to give this guide a great review (I’m also a retired professional wildlife biologist). The layout is useful, with the bird illustrations across from distribution maps colored in eBird-styled heat maps. The species accounts are very thorough, and a wide range of plumage variations are given for many species. Indeed, this detail may be a drawback for less…
Best Guide to Southern Africa Birds We purchased two different guides to South African birds for our trip to Namibia/Botswana and also compared our guides to those carried by others on our trip. The Roberts Bird Guide was superior in all respects. The illustrations were large and covered all subspecies and age categories, and the range maps were up to date. The organization followed the most recent taxonomy very well. The only drawback is that the book is a bit heavy, but if you don’t mind carrying it in your backpack, you won’t…
Brilliant! Brilliant. A huge improvement over the prior edition. The addition of photos is a plus. Together with the app, which is the best of its kind and which has the entire texts of the Roberts Birds, there is no bird in Southern Africa that will escape you!