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Bird Books on the shelve's-

1- Birds of Southern Africa-Burger Cillie

2- Roberts Bird guide

3- Roberts bird guide: Kruger and adjacent Lowveld

4- Newmans bird guide- Kenneth newman

5- Sassol bird guide

please forgive me if i have left some books out! if forumites can just add them in!

Sasol guide to raptors of africa and its islands.

And

The Chamberlain guide to birding gauteng.

Thanks Imax! forgot about those!

I am starting to lean towards Sasol but the new Roberts bird guide to birds of Kruger is fairly nice and shows the raptors in flight and also has a few new plates.

I always used Newman's very happily as my Field Guide, with Roberts (6th ed. Wish I could afford the giant new one!) as my informational back-up; however the Sasol Guide has improved over the years and, like you, batmad, I am now using it far more than I use Newmans. Especially as I have discovered their larger version - same book, bigger print. Its a bit heavy to walk around with, but sitting in the car in Kruger it is fantastic for me and others like me who are forced to wear reading glasses! I also like the section at the back 'Identifying Problem Species' which helps those of us who are slightly more challenged in terms of identification.

This might be slightly off-topic, not sure. Anyway, JenB and the Stiffnecks, I would like to recommend a delightful little book: "How to be a bad Birdwatcher" by Simon Barnes, if you can find it - probably on Amazon. It will make you laugh and make you think and savour the joys of birdwatching "without letting birdwatching get in the way".

Awesome, thanx Oryx! I'll keep my eyes open, sound like my kinda book.

I have used no 5 happily for a few years, and it is well thumbed so I bought no 2. I should have bought no 1, but it was a bit more expensive. I should have paid the extra.

I need to add a bird book to this list!

My parents use the roberts and that is OK. I use the Sasol and I love that book, especially the raptors and the good overall drawings. I have added a book to my collection lately and I'm using it just as much. Very good.

Complete photographic field guide: Birds of Southern Africa by Ian Sinclair and Peter Ryan!
A must in the collection.....

Very, Very true Ferdelance! this book is an amazing book! i have paged through it in the book store before but unfortunatly i do not own it yet. But as Ferdelance mentions it is a must in your bird book collection!

Another book that I recently bought which I find absolutely amazing
is 'BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH 'Birds', by Trevor Carnaby. A really wonderful
addition to my library.

Had to buy "The Raptor Guide of Southern Africa" - Ulrich Oberprieler and Burger Cillié's new book.

Available from CNA - R194.95 (Paid with my Edgars's Account Card - what a pleasure!!)

It is an extremely informative book and the photos are excellent. Gotta help my poor ID skills!!!

I use:
Sasol Guide (3rd edition)
Sasol guide electronic version on my phone (great for bird calls)
Beat About the Bush - Birds (and Mammals)
Birds - The Inside Story (By Rael Loon I think)
Pocket size photographic guide (can't remember the author offhand) for hiking etc

I've also read in the past:
Beating about the Bush
Birders of a Feather

and others I can't recall now

Fortunately I don't have eyesight problems, so I don't need the large version of the Sasol guide.

I've often found the Sasol guide lacking a bit in terms of more details of a bird, like habits, breeding times etc etc. I checked Roberts 8th ed. when it came out but it also didn't have too much of that kind of info. I was at the book shop a few months ago paging through the bird guides and I remember liking the plates in one of them. I can't remember exactly which but it might have been Roberts 8th ed.

I can highly recommend Prime Origins Guide to Best Birding In Kruger by Brett Hilton-Barber & Lou Arthur

Ideal for planning birding trips. The "what to see, where, when and how". Bought at LS - R200