Customer Reviews

Atlas: Birds of Moscow City & the Moscow Region (Faunistica)

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Basics: 2006, hardcover, 372 pages, 900 color photographs of 273 breeding species, atlas maps; Russian and English

This is a large attractive book that offers quality color photos for all 273 birds recorded to breed within the official Moscow Region between 1999 and 2004. This book is a combination of a photo guide and a breeding atlas.

On each page of this large format book (12 x 8 inches) is one, sometimes two, birds illustrated with multiple photos, maps, and text. A few of the birds are showcased to cover two pages with photos. Each bird has 1-5 good photos. At least half of the species have photos of their nest, eggs, or fledglings. As with most atlases, the focus of the book is not to be an identification book, but a natural history reference that displays the breeding backgrounds of the birds. This is evident in the photos which capture the birds in a variety of natural settings (e.g., preening, foraging, bathing, at the nest, etc.).

Two maps are given for each bird: One for the city of Moscow and a second for the Moscow Region that contains the city. Each map displays four symbol types to denote the following: winter sightings, spring-summer-autumn sightings, site of evident breeding, and site of probable breeding. Considering the high volume of records for the common species, it was a good idea to use multiple colors and shapes for the symbols. This helps to quickly differentiate between winter or summer and between a site record or breeding.

Very little text is provided for the birds. By very little, I mean just one short sentence for many of them (e.g., A common migratory breeding bird in the Moscow Region.). The maximum text provided is about three sentences. This information, in both Russian and English, simply provides the status of the bird and sometimes specific dates or locations of sightings or nesting.

Lastly, a simple 12-month linear calendar or graph is provided to show when the bird is present during the year in the region.

This atlas is a great reference to the breeding birds in the Moscow region, made enjoyable with the hundreds of good photos and the nicely done maps. -- (written by Soleglad at Avian Review or Avian Books, October 2008)

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