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What is a good, reasonably priced one that I could find in Cape Town which is our point of entry to SA? We are staying close to the V&A Waterfront if they have bookstores there. My main interest is parrots such as cape parrots and other poicephalus but would like general information on bird in Kgalagadi, Kruger and Limpopo.

Tiki if its a general book you are interested in covering the whole of S.A I would suggest looking at the Sasol or Newmans or Roberts. They are all about the same price. And most of the bookshops sell them.

Tiki, there's a big Exclusive Books in the main V&A shopping mall, towards the northern end. They have a good selection of fieldguides (I bought my Newman's there ) I suggest that you have a look through the various fieldguides there to decide which you prefer. You might even find a specialised parrot guide there, altho I don't think there are many parrots in the Cape — but you will find lots of other interesting birds. And lots of good birding spots, the obvious ones being Kirstenbosch and Cape Point, as well as the Company Gardens in the City Bowl. Farther afield, you might want to visit West Coast National Park. Other good Cape birding spots are Rondevlei, Strandfontein Sewage Works, Silvermine (part of Table Mountain NP), and I'm sure others can suggest more.

Have a great trip!

I may be wrong, so don't shoot me, but isn't the Newmans outdated?
You can also get the books from www.kalahari.net, they ship worldwide against very good prices. And that gives you time beforehand to get familiar with the books?

Perhaps a little, since it's a 2002 edition, but I prefer it to the Sasol. I am extremely happy with mine.

The latest Newmans may show its release in 2002, but it is still being updated!

I just recently bought another Newman's as my older (but also 2002 release) version is by now a bit tattered. When going through the new one, I noticed quite a few updates throughout the book (distribution ranges updated, minor mistakes rectified, etc).

So in my opinion the Newman's is actually current!

Tiki, the three most popular Field Guides are the Newman's, SASOL and Roberts. You can't go wrong with ANY of these, and if you want an opinion on the best of the lot, you'll just open a can of worms! All of them are great and they all cover our entire Southern Africa region, so all your parks are well covered.

FYI, if you have a PDA, or if you'll be here with a laptop, then I could also suggest you consider the Roberts Multimedia SW package for either platforms. It contains all the material of Roberts and includes the calls of 90 % of our ~950 species. But this would be supplementary to the Field Guide book you buy.

To get this SW would be a bit more tricky, as you won't find it in just any of the shops, but I'm sure us locals will be able to assist you in this regard, so let us know.

As I have a PDA and have bought the Roberts Multimedia I can tell you its awesome, you can look up the birds, see a few pictures, listen to the sound and even keep a list of all the birds seen

Have a look Here on how to order

arks has said it.

At the V&A waterfront in Cape Town, Exclusive Books has a good selection. EB is also in most shopping malls, if not CNA, even Bargain Books and Paperweight often carry a variety.

The one by Oberpreier and Cillie, will be my next one. It contains photos. IMHO, the latest Roberts has poor illustrations.

Spend a bit of time browsing the books before you buy one. There are no bad ones, just more excellent ones.

Thanks! Exclusive books sounds perfect. I am doing a course right now so wouldn't have time to read the book before we get there anyway. I'll have a look at all three and see which one suits my needs and seems to have the best coverage of parrots (poicephalus). I also hate small fonts, so that would be an issue too.

I don't have a PDA and won't bring the laptop as we are trying to get away with carry on bags only and it would just use a power point I need for charging camera batteries.

From your signature Tiki, I see you are hardly giving yourself enough time in the parks. You need at least double the number of days to relax & enjoy it fully.

I so agree with you, BB!

I wanted a second guide to use alongside my SASOL for the forum Bird ID Challenges and for my trip in September and, as I'd seen good reports of the latest Roberts and it wasn't available in the shops around here, I was sufficiently confident to order it online.

It arrived last week, and I am so disappointed. The information contained in the text is very good, but I've found the illustrations in SASOL to be so much better that I doubt I shall take the Roberts off the shelf.

Can you give any more information about the photographic guide you referred to? A Google search on "Oberpreier and Cillie" just returns posts in these forums!

I don't know whether to agree or disagree on this one. I have also bought both books and will take them with me for my first ever initiation to Kruger birding; after that I will be in a better position to pass judgement.

The illustrations in Roberts are more stylised, in particular those by Penny Meakin, but whether this is a good thing or not I'm not sure. I do know that we all tend to like what we're used to an adapting to a different approach can at first be confusing, but I'm prepared to persevere. What i do find is that the illustrations in SASOL are in danger of being simplistic and seem to adopt the "classical" 2D profile that fails to communicate any characteristics of a bird.

Oh for an equivalent of Mullarney, Svensson, Zetterstrom and Grant for Africa.

( Of course there is the Handbook of African Birds but my pockets will never get that deep.)

Regards

Yes, Alf, I agree the Mullarney et al is the best field guide for the birds of Britain & Europe, but I feel the style of illustration in the SASOL bears much more likeness to that book than the Roberts does. As you say we all have our preferences, and are happiest with what we are accustomed to.

I found the Cillie and Oberprieler "Pocket-guide to Southern Africa Birds" on Amazon for £6.99. I'm sure you were thinking of a heftier tome than this, Bush Baptist, but this was all I could find in the UK. I wouldn't want to rely totally on a photographic guide, but I think it could be useful alongside the SASOL, and at that price I felt it was worth risking, so I've ordered it. I'll let you know what I think of it when it arrives.

very happy with the
Field Companion
To Roberts Birds of Southern Africa
Not so big and fits easily in any rucksak, big pocket
And has flying images of all birds of prey.

But could not find in any SANpark shop or OR airport anymore

Hi Anita,

try www.kalahari.net

link below for Oberprieler & Cillie. sorry, I misspelt oby's name

http://www.kalahari.net/books/Bird-guid ... 83002.aspx

Regards,
BB