Customer Reviews

Field Guide to the Birds of the Middle East (T & AD Poyser)

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

 

 

After an earlier edition of this guide was long out of print and increasingly hard to find and expensive even as a second hand copy, the publication of this new, paperback edition was most welcome!
I found this book just about perfect: the size and weight are still convenient for field-use, and editing is very well done, with the range maps (which only show summer/bredding ranges though) and essential status and habitat info right opposite the color plates illustrating each species, though longer, detailed information on appearence and voice are to be found separately at the back.
Most importantly, the illustrations are excellent and plentiful, usually with several pictures of each species showing various races, sexes, juveniles, summer and winter plumage, birds in flight, etc. as justified by variation.
I kind of missed (more) information on the birds' ecology, habits and taxonomy, but I guess omitting these was the price that had to be paid for a not-too-bulky field guide.
I can only wish I could have carried this book on my previous trips to the Middle East - it will certainly be with me on the next ones!

I would actually rate this book at a 4.99. The reason I did not give it a 5 is that the maps only show the breeding or summer range. Other than that the book is outstanding. The colors vivid and the artwork is exceptional. The plates have brief descriptions that you need in the field and in the back of the book the author goes into greater depth and gets really specific, this format is different than any other guide I have and I liked it. When and if it ever comes out in soft cover it should be the book to carry when visiting the Middle East.
Do not get caught without this field guide when traveling in this area, it is a must to have! The price is just right.

There has been a much improved new edition that was published in August 2010. So make sure you buy that one as it provides much more detailed distribution maps. Also, the new edition, with the Sooty Falcon on the cover, now has the text opposite the plates.

The book has quite some positives but on an initial look it may not be as user friendly as other books I have encountered. One problem is you cannot tell the size of the bird based on the descriptions at the photo page. Again shuffling between the plates and the "story" of the birds has not beeen my forte.

I stay in Bahrain so the dots are not so easy to trace. It would have been good if a caption was added summarising the countries where the birds are found. Normally if more than five countries are in the map it becomes quite a handful.

this book is the best dictionary for birds watchers to watch, recognize, identify & mapping the distribution of birds in the middle east region. birds watchers can learn a lot from the discriptions, wanderful and accurate drawings, distribution maps and details supply by the authors. The variety of birds species in this book is enormous!

This book is NOT like the Birds of Europe (Princeton Guide). Many illustrations are crowded on pages with very little written information on the same pages. It is all stuck in the back, keyed to the plate number of the illustration.
Range maps are only breeding ranges.
This book may be the current best of the group in English for this region but it is far inferior in design to the Sibley's or the Princeton Europe effort.
Very difficult flipping back and forth to find field marks or behavior information. The information except winter and migration ranges is very good, however it is not accessible as a field guide.

Having returned from several weeks in the Middle East, I can testify that this guide was essential. Even though it's a heavy book, nearly 750 grams, I cheerfully hauled it with me everywhere. It is actually two guides -- the first half of the book are the color plates and maps with short descriptions -- and the second provides substantial detail for each speces. It surely seems comprehensive, its maps are terrific, and the artwork exquisite. Because it includes every possible species, I did find that I had to mark the more likely ones for each area. Incidentally, the cover of the 2004 edition I have is quite different from the image shown in the Amazon description.

I found this book to be a big disappointment, especially after reaching my destination, of Israel, and having the guide point out all the errors in the drawing and color of the plates. I also did NOT like, the color plates in one section of the book and the main information in the very back. Also NO INFORMATION on wintering habitat. Bird drawings seemed disproportionate with the actual size of the bird. You had to look up the size of each bird in the back of the book. Plus the birds weren't always in the order that they should be, Falcons were not with the raptors.
It is barely an acceptable secondary book for the field, but should NOT be the first or only book. It should be used only as a quick reference to what might be there, but then still only in breeding. I would never have purchased this book, had I known.

I chose this particular guide for the illustrations which I thought were better than most- however - colors are off in some - like the Night kingfisher - he's almost blue and is depicted as grey in the book. Recommended by my librarian fried - and she sees lots of book.

Have not been very impressed with this book. Truely not as it has been described. I have birds around our house that are not in there - with so many and so common, you would expect them to be.