A Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Birds [Paperback]

H. Douglas Pratt (Author, Photographer), Jack Jeffrey (Photographer)

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Mutual Publishing; illustrated edition edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566471451
• ISBN-13: 978-1566471459
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Travel > Specialty Travel > Adventure > Birdwatching
  • #2 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Birds & Birdwatching > Excursion Guides
  • #3 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Travel > United States

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for the casual observer, July 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Birds (Paperback)

This book is intended for the casual observer of birds, not the dedicated birder. (Serious bird-watchers should use Pratt's Field Guide to the Birds of Hawai'i and the Tropical Pacific together with his Enjoying Birds in Hawai'i or Rick Soehren's Birdwatcher's Guide to Hawai'i.) But within its limits, this is a fascinating and readable book. Pratt discusses the native birds, especially the endemic passerines, and illustrates the evolutionary processes which produced their astonishing variety. Then he describes the introduced birds, including their effect on the native avifauna when that is significant. The result is a clear though brief analysis of Hawai'i's avian world.

Pratt is a fine photographer and bird illustrator, and Jack Jeffrey is a true master of avian photography. The result of their collaboration is one of the best-illustrated books on birds I know.

Pratt's writing style is direct and clear. His straightforward narration of the destruction of a large part of the native Hawai'ian avifauna is heartbreaking in its simplicity.

This is an excellent introduction to Hawai'i's birds.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for birders!, November 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Birds (Paperback)

I bought this book in Hawaii because it was the only bird book I could find. It at least showed me some of the birds I would see, but the organization (if there is any--can't tell) is horrible. Next time I would go online ahead of time and buy an actual field guide to birds. It is a nightmare to find a bird in this book, and it doesn't give any information about them, such as their size, or male/female differences; also, it lists some birds more than once--weird. This book should be named differently...perhaps, "A glimpse into the history of birds in Hawaii." Overall, it did help me identify the birds I saw, so was better than nothing, but I would definitely not choose it again.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Intro for Tourists, December 23, 2006

By 

Dr. No (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Birds (Paperback)

...which is how I found this book and became interested in the subject. The book is ubiquitous in Hawaii in ABC Stores you see everywhere, especially in Waikiki. I'm not a birdwatcher, however I am interested in conservation of native species. This book gives some historical background behind previous conservation efforts, has colorful pictures of most of the birds you're likely to encounter while on vacation in Hawaii (most of which are introduced species) and includes some sad footnotes about birds endangered or thought to be extinct. The latter are largely due to destruction of habitat and introduction of predators/diseases/non-native species. It also includes a chapter with some better-known "hotspots", which may have led some readers to believe that this little book is trying to masquerade as a field guide for serious birders.

No, if you're an Audubon Society member or serious birdwatcher, this book won't sate you, and you should purchase a true field guide, as the other reviewers have suggested. And no, it is not perhaps as well organized as members of those aforementioned groups would like. But it is written in a personable style, and reads very well in a hotel room at the end of a long day of sightseeing. In fact, I've read it several times.

If you're interested in a more thorough treatise of Hawaii's birds, then I'd recommend the encyclopedic (but dated) Hawaiian Birdlife by Andrew Berger, also an interesting read. It's out-of-print, but still available used as of this writing.