Customer Reviews

Albatrosses Petrels & Shearwaters/World (Helm Field Guides)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book as a replacement for my older Peter Harrison's book on Seabirds. That book is good, but is somewhat outdated and too large for the field.

This book is much smaller, as it only covers the procellariform birds, and much more field friendly. As such, it makes a good pelagic field guide rather than just a desk reference.

The plates are nice and show several views and plumages of each species.

The maps are good, the text concise and readable with good references and comparisons with similar species.

For the inexperienced pelagic birder, there is a good discussion of approaches to pelagic birding and challenges that this specialized type of birding presents. For the experienced seabirder, there are tables of measurement data for certain problematic groups (Little Shearwaters, Prions, etc.) and a good discussion of plumage variation in the "Wandering" Albatrosses.

I think this book will provide a good introduction to the challenges of pelagic species identification as well as being an indispensable book for the pelagic birder. And all this comes at a reasonable price.

Basics: 2007, softcover, 240 pages, 45 color plates of 136 species, range maps

Second only to the classic book by Harrison, this is a quality book that focuses on a specific set of the pelagic species. Groups not included in this book are the gulls, jaegers, terns, penguins, cormorants, pelicans, tropicbirds, and frigatebirds. I like having this narrower focus since it allows more plates and information to be included while maintaining a smaller sized book.

The artistry and the variety of plumages in the plates are excellent. Each species is shown with anywhere from 2-8 different angles or plumages. Some birds, such as the Leach's Storm-Petrel, are shown on multiple plates to show direct comparisons with similar species. Wisely, a note is placed with these birds to alert you to where additional illustrations may be found on the other plates. The plates make good use of the space with 8-23 illustrations. Those with higher counts still do not appear too crowded since these often involve only the heads of the birds to show subtle differences. I found these extra illustrations, such as the bill variations for the Westland and White-chinned Petrels, to be very useful when using this book off the coast of Chile. My only small critique with the plates is the stark, shiny white background, which makes the paler-plumaged birds not stand out as much - especially in the bright sunlight when standing on the deck of the boat.

The text is arranged into two sections. One consists of brief identification notes found opposite the plates. These are brief but potent. The bulk of the species accounts is in the last half of the book. About one page is dedicated to each bird and is broken into these catetories: taxonomy, distribution, behavior, jizz, size, plumage, molt, and identification. At least half of the information is given towards plumage and identification. This is top notch information that covers the variety of races, subspecies, and color morphs. The notes on jizz are also well written and quite helpful to aid in the identification. These offer distinct pointers that might not be noticed otherwise.

The range maps, which must cover a large area for these widely wandering birds, do a good job at depicting the ranges. Of course, the vast area covered means these ranges are somewhat generalized. Where a species is more locally confined, the maps zoom in to be more specific.

This is a must-have book for pelagic excursions. Although the Harrison guide might offer some additional text, its age falls behind the many taxonomic changes addressed in Onley's book. Also, Harrison's book is simply bigger to handle with all the other seabird families included.

I've listed several related books below...

1) Seabirds: An Identification Guide by Harrison

2) Seabirds of the World by Harrison

3) Southern albatrosses and petrels: An identification guide by Harper

4) Seabirds of Australia by Lindsey

5) The Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife by Shirihai

6) Sea Birds Britain Ireland by Cramp

7) Field Guide to New Zealand Seabirds by Parkinson

8) Ocean Birds of the Nearshore Pacific by Stallcup

A very useful and well illustrated book. A must for the expert and amateur alike. Easy to use and well laid out, it is essential reading for those of us who go to sea with our eyes open to the nature around us

One of the trickiest groups of birds to identify are the tubenoses; those birds seen mainly at sea, like the albatross, petrels, shearwaters, etc. Add to the that confusion are the recent many taxonmic changes. But this book offers detailed variations of species, the most recent taxonomy, as well as lots of extra info on feeding, behaviour and likely range maps. This book is fairly pricey for it's size if you buy it in NZ or Australia, but worth it if you are spending some time on the southern seas. It definitely helped me out for ID and pointers for these ocean going birds in my "Ocean Surfaces" book.

Damon Ramsey, author of "Ocean Surfaces of Australasia"

The illustrations are very nice, but with one drawback. All species are shown in-flight, but only one or two are shown on the water. Granted, the majority of sightings of these birds will be on the wing, but it still seems like an oversight and missed opportunity.

If you go on many pelagic trips and are constantly looking for new species, then this book is definitely for you.

But for those who only occasionally go out to sea and also have a good general field guide, you can skip this one. For instance, the Sibley Guide should be sufficient for most North American birders, on most trips. But if the region's general field guide does not adequately cover this group of birds, then this one would be a great aide on any boat trip.