Customer Reviews

A Photographic Guide to Birds of Israel and the Middle East

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

 

 

Basics: 2000, softcover, 144 pages, color photos of 252 species, no range maps

As a note, this book is remarkably similar to Birds of Egypt and the Middle East by the same authors. These two books cover 85% of the same species. Not only are the same species shared, but so are many of the same photographs. Of the 252 birds found in each book, only 37 are unique. Thus, using either one of these books in the adjoining countries of Israel and Egypt will be just as useful, especially since these books cover only 50% of the nearly 500 birds found in either Israel or Egypt. The text is often shared as well with some modifications to address the different geographic place names of the bird's distribution.

The photos are of pretty good for 95% of the birds, although, the small size necessary to fit into this small book will limit the visibility of some necessary identification points. Just one photo is given for nearly all the birds. For the other 5% of the photos, they are too dark or too distant to allow proper identification. A few of raptors in flight are simply not good photos.

The text is a brief paragraph that focuses primarily on the description of the bird to aid in identification. This will be helpful some of the time but will be limited because of the single photo of one plumage. For some birds, a comparison is made to a similar species. Some additional short notes are offered on behavior and habitat along with notes on its status.

This photo guide, like its many sister photo guides, is best used as a practice tool in conjunction with a complete field guide. There are a couple of excellent field guides, such as "Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East" by Jonsson or the "Field Guide to the Birds of the Middle East" by Porter.

I've listed several related books below...
1) The Birds of Israel by Shirihai
2) The Birds of Israel by Paz
3) Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East by Jonsson
4) Field Guide to the Birds of the Middle East by Porter et.al.
5) Birds of the Middle East and North Africa: A Companion Guide by Hollom et.al.
6) Birds of Israel by Inbar
7) Birds of Lebanon and the Jordan area by Benson
8) The Birds of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan by Andrews

Our friend just turned thirteen and had his bar mitzvah. He said that this was one of the best gifts he received because he is a bird lover and is traveling to Israel with his family this summer and can fit the guide into a backpack.