4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than expected; good selections of photos; decent text, September 4, 2008
This review is from: Photographic Guide to the Shorebirds of the World (Hardcover)
Basics: 1995, hardcover, 175 pages, 700+ color photos, 212 species, no range maps
For a photo guide, this is a pretty good book; especially since it covers all the shorebirds of the world (but not the controversial Cox's Sandpiper). Nearly all the photos are good quality with good light, pose, and size. Exceptions include the pratincoles. Each bird is shown with 1-12 photos with most birds receiving 3-5. Most birds are shown in both breeding and non-breeding plumages, and some in flight. Multiple, good photos are included of even the rarer shorebirds, such as Jerdon's Courser and Toamotu Sandpiper.
Similar species are shown together on the same page, such as an in-flight photo for both Common and Spotted Sandpipers. Other pairings are made, such as Rock & Purple Sandpipers, the two Yellowlegs, the two Tattlers, and the various Calidris peeps.
As a last entry for shorebirds, the seedsnipes, sheathbills, and Plains-wanderer are included.
The text does a solid job at describing the shorebird. The plumages described for most of the birds include adult breeding male, adult breeding female, adult non-breeding, juvenile, and in-flight. Additional information is given for calls, races, behavior, and movements/migration. Compared to many field guides, these are good descriptions; although, species are not compared to offer identification tips.
As for critiques, there are a few errors in the book. There are some typos in the birds' names and some photos have the wrong corresponding letters in the list. The three Common Redshanks on the bottom of page 110 are actually Spotted Redshanks. A more notable criticism is the method of matching the photo on the right page with the bird's name/gender/season/age listed on the left page. You must match the photo's position with a mini-model of the photo layout and then match the layout's letter A-J with a corresponding list below it. This is persistently awkward.
Although a more thorough sampling of the many plumages is not included, what is present offers a pretty sound job of representing these shorebirds. The book won't serve as anyone's primary field guide (it's too tall and wide) due to the limited plumages and the lesser detail found in a more focused field guide; but, this book will certainly give you many good photos from which to practice, or even to help confirm your identification.
I've listed several related books below...
1)
Shorebirds: An Identification Guide to the Waders of the World by Hayman et al.
2)
North Atlantic Shore Birds by Chandler
3)
The Shorebird Guide by Crossley/O'Brien
4)
The Waders of Britain and Europe by Colston/Burton
5)
Guide to the Identification and Ageing of Holarctic Waders by Prater et al.
6)
Shorebirds of North America: The Photographic Guide by Paulson
7)
Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia) by Message/Taylor
8)
Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest by Paulson
9)
Shorebirds of Australia by Geering
10) A Handbook for Shorebirds in Japan (ISBN 4829921854)
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