A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka [Paperback]

John Harrison (Author), Tim Worfolk (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 1999

The Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka is the first fully comprehensive, modern field guide to this ornithologically fascinating country. All of Sri Lanka's 426 official avian species are described in the text and depicted in 48 stunning new colour plates painted by Tim Worfolk, one of Britain's leading bird artists. The text, accessible to both experienced ornithologists and beginners, highlights the important identification features, such as plumage variations, size, calls and songs, range, distribution, and status, for every species. The plates illustrate the various plumage variations for each bird, and show the birds perched and also in flight, where relevant to their identification. An introduction to the guide describes briefly some of the best sites for watching Sri Lanka's abundant avifauna, and provides useful contact addresses for the prospective traveller. This will be an essential purchase for all birdwatchers travelling to the region; the beautiful plates and clearly-written text will also make it a must-have for anyone who loves birds, and Sri Lankan birds in particular.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Despite the small format the book comprehensively covers all confirmed and many more species found including rare winter guests and other birds that mistakenly find their way. [] it is an excellent field guide that greatly contributes to the ornithological research of the island state. Author and artist managed to depict and characterize all existing species in full colour and mostly superb pictures. With Birds of Sri Lanka local ornithologists and ornithology tourists finally have a handy field guide that fits into every backpack, fully satisfies experts, and meets international standards. - Highly recommendable! Volker Konrad, Hamburger Avifaunistische Beitrage --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

John Harrison has a lifelong interest in wildlife, and birds in particular. In 1973 he was appointed as a radio producer in the BBC Natural History Unit; during the 18 years he was there, he worked with most of the top naturalists and ornithologists in Britain. He now works on a voluntary basis as Press Officer with the Wildlife Trust in Bristol. As a birdwatcher and wildlife enthusiast, he has made many visits to Sri Lanka over a number of years, and has a first-hand knowledge of the Sri Lankan avifauna. John Harrison Box Bush Cottage Weston in Gordano Bristol BS20 8PZ Tel. [phone] Tim Worfolk is a full-time wildlife artist with several publications to his credit. Amongst others, he has worked on the Handbook of the Birds of the World, Pica Press Shrikes of the World, Birds of South-East Asia published by New Holland, and Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, by Black.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198549601
• ISBN-13: 978-0198549604
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,257,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really professional handbook, May 15, 2005

By 

Sarakani (Harrow United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka (Paperback)

For the current traveller this is probably the best identification guide you can take with you. The distribution maps are a bit generalised but they give a general idea, and changes in distribution and status since the time of such writers like Henry have been updated.

The illustrations throughout are thorough and the book does its best to help you distinguish between similar looking birds. More on vocalisations would have been helpful.

An invaluable and well illustrated reference overall.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quality, complete guide for all Sri Lanka's birds, October 30, 2008

By 

Soleglad (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka (Paperback)

Basics: 1999, softcover, 219 pages, 48 color plates of 426 species, range maps

Of the few field guides that cover only Sri Lanka, this is easily the best book for several reasons. One, it's the only Sri Lanka guide to illustrate all the birds of the island instead of being limited to just the resident birds. Two, the artistry is very good and many more plumages are displayed. And, three, the text contains relatively more information for identification and offers tips to distinguish between the similar species.

Each plate contains between 4 and 15 different species with most plates having about 10. To illustrate these species, each plate may have anywhere between 15 and 40 different illustrations. As an extreme, the plate for the harriers contains only 4 species yet over 40 different illustrations; thus, making all the images slightly small. The high number of small illustrations on one page makes for a rather crowded or busy looking page. This same scenario is true for most of the plates showing the raptors, gulls, terns, and shorebirds. However, I'll take a slightly crammed plate with all the many plumages over a more limited selection of views.

Across from each plate are brief notes (1-4 lines) that address the identification of the bird. A small range map of Sri Lanka is also supplied. Due to the small size of the island -- and of the map on the page -- the ranges are generalized and look much the same between all the birds. These maps are only somewhat useful for making generalizations of the bird's distribution.

The final two-thirds of the book contains the species accounts. Each bird receives a few short paragraphs with the bulk of information dedicated to identifying the bird and comparing it to similar species. This information offers some nice detail, providing good notes to identify the bird. Other brief information is given for the voice, status/distribution, habitat, and range.

Any birding done in Sri Lanka should use this book as the primary reference. It is both a good book and, the best one dedicated to just Sri Lanka. A few other all-India books would also work, but the vast number of species included would be overkill for the island. -- (written by Jack, shown with sample pages at Avian Review, October 2008)

I've listed several related books below...

1) Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka by Kotagama/Fernando

2) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Sri Lanka by Wijeyeratne et al.

3) A Guide to the Birds of Ceylon by Henry

4) A History of the Birds of Ceylon by Legge

5) A Guide to the Birds of India... by Grimmett/Inskipp

6) Birds of India... by Grimmett/Inskipp

7) Birds of Southern India by Grimmett/Inskipp

8) A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Kazmierczak

9) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of India by Grewal/Harvey/Pfister

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars But The Binding!, January 10, 2011

By 

OldChap - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka (Paperback)

I have just come back from three weeks in Sri Lanka. The information and explanations good and clear. The drawings are excellent. But the Binding, within four days in the humidity of Sri Lanka the pictures were coming away from the binding and after three weeks one third of the pictures are detached. If there is one, buy the hardback.