Birds of the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Socotra (Helm Field Guides) (Paperback)

~ Nigel Redman (Author), Iain Robertson (Author), John Fanshawe (Author), Terry Stevenson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Without a doubt, this is an essential companion for birders visiting the region.' Biologist (August 2009)

Review

Birds of the Horn of Africa is a welcome addition to the literature on the birds of Africa. . . . [I]t is an outstanding work.
(Emil K. Urban, Augusta State University ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd (April 18, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0713665416
• ISBN-13: 978-0713665413
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,783,656 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent plates makes it a must-have for birding in the region, May 27, 2009

By	Soleglad (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

Basics: 2009, softcover, 496pp, field/identification guide, 213 color plates of all 1,000+ species in the region; range maps

This is another top quality book produced by the authors for the eastern region of Africa. Upon opening this book, you'll recognize many of the plates from their earlier work, "Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa" (see #6 below). You'll also see many new plates along with modifications of prior ones.

The artistry is very good, easily making this book equal to or better than any other field guide on African birds. The 213 color plates illustrate all 1,000+ species found in the four "Horn" countries of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia (plus the island of Socotra, which belongs to Yemen). Nearly every bird is shown with multiple (2-5) drawings that display excellent detail. The Yellow Wagtail has 13 different illustrations that compare the wide variation of this species. The plates do a great job at showing variations between genders, ages, and subspecies. I especially appreciated the extra effort that went into separating out the many subspecies. Additional focus seems to have been given to in-flight poses for many of the non-passerines.

A brief paragraph is given for each bird across from its illustration. Although the amount of text may seem light, the information is very informative, to the point, and precise. About 80% of the information is on identification. A couple more lines are dedicated to habitat, distribution notes, and voice. You may want to take note of the font size, which is small and thin; consequently, you might want to have your reading glasses handy.

The range maps - one for each bird - shows the resident, breeding, and non-breeding ranges in three different colors. These maps reflect the bird's range within only the four countries and artificially stop at the political borders. The maps show very good detail; however, this is sometimes difficult to make out due to the shaded highland regions in the background and to the rather faint gray boundaries that separate the countries. Ranges of birds with a very restricted distribution (e.g., Sidamo Lark, Ash's Lark, Djibouti Francolin, Black-backed Cisticola) can be difficult to see with just a small dot representing the range. Inserting an arrow would have been helpful. Making a more prominent note of the 70+ endemics would also have been appreciated, versus simply burying the word "endemic" within the text.

In case you're wondering if you would need this book over the authors' prior book for East Africa, the answer is "Yes, if you are visiting any of these four countries." Twenty percent of the birds found in the Horn are not in the other book. Also, when there is overlap of the species between the two regions, the authors' have modified the plates to reflect the plumages of the local subspecies.

This is a superb guide that will be essential for birding in these countries. Being the only complete book for this region makes it even more indispensible.

1) Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea by Atkins/Ash
2) Ethiopia's Endemic Birds by Urban
3) A Guide to Endemic Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea by Pol
4) Ethiopia: In Search of Endemic Birds by Francis
5) Birds of Somalia by Ash
6) Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Stevenson
7) Birds of Africa South of the Sahara by Sinclair/Ryan
8) Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania by Zimmerman
9) A Checklist of the Birds of Ethiopia by Urban
(written by Soleglad at Avian Review or Avian Books, May 2009)