Though there is no substitute for a good birding guide, a birding book can give you the luxury of time and convenience. If you are a beginner, a bird watching book can be a good starting point for you before you hit the birding trail. As a beginner into the field of bird watching, it can be quite a daunting task to distinguish one bird from another, and to find the name of each of the bird you spotted.
A birding book helps you bridge this gap very effectively. Most of the birding books provide you with detailed images and name of the birds. You should take the book along with you on your birding trip and may quickly identify the birds.
Books on birding also provide some interesting information like what are the various body parts of a bird called and how they help in the identification of a bird.
Birding books will help you find species and subspecies of birds. It also includes colored pictures, including depictions of flight, hunting style, plumage and much more. It will also help you to familiarize with birds of areas that you are planning to visit or haven’t visited. Some of the birding books even cover the distribution map of various birds. I would recommend you to always go for the latest edition of a book, as the latest edition includes new species identified in the field of bird watching.
There’s no dearth of books that have been written about bird watching. Books like those described below are an amazing read and very enriching. Check these out:
This birding book is one of the earliest books in the field of bird watching in India. Its first edition was published in 1941, while thirteenth revised edition was published in 2002, which includes the extensive changes in the scientific and common bird names
Below are some of the key features of Salim Ali’s book ‘The Book of India Birds’
One can clearly see the passion, love, and effort Sir Salim Ali has given while writing the descriptions in this book.
Salim Ali’s The Book of Indian Birds has in-depth details on distribution, Habits, Nesting etc. This will be very handy for beginners.
Birds of India covers in-depth details of birds around India. You can find 1,300 plus species and distinct subspecies of birds found in the Indian subcontinent. This Book is an excellent collection of over 4,000 colorful bird photographs including depictions of flight, plumage, hunting style and much more.
The way this book has covered birds distribution maps and accompanied notes on status and density, is excellent. This book will enable accurate field identification in one of the world’s most diverse regions. A perfect field guide for all bird lovers whether you are a beginner or an experienced birder.
This book shows the efforts put in by both Grimmet and Inskipp. Together they have published many bird watching articles, books etc, which details about a wide range of bird species in different countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives and more.
For simplicity and better understanding, the book comprises few color maps of the Indian subcontinent along with all types of birds that are found here.
Furthermore, detailed tables with distinguishing bird characteristics are also provided to help identify some difficult to spot birds such as rosefinch, warbler, nightjar etc. Offering a fun and interactive way to enlighten readers about different kinds of birds, this birding book is indeed a delight to read.
The descriptions and illustrations in this ‘A Field Guide to the Birds’ book consistently highlights the specific features that are critical to identifying various difficult species in a straightforward way that works well for me. I also find the descriptions of the vocalizations to be easy to understand.
The taxonomy used in this book is a little outdated.
I think the best feature in this birding book is the index which contains the drawing of representative species of a bird group along with the plate number. It makes it fairly easy to go to the exact plate much faster than in case of field guides without index. All sexually dimorphic forms(both according to gender and age) have been drawn in most cases.
A good book for beginners at a fair price.
The difference between Grimmett and Krys is that Krys mentions only the key identifier of the bird which makes it easier to id at the bird. But the pictures are drawn by hand.
This birding book providing short descriptions of voice, habitat, field notes and distribution of the birds, are quite informative and useful. This wonderful birding book covers Birds of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Andaman Islands, the Nicobar Islands, and the Maldives. It can be used as a field guide due to its compact size and moderate weight.
The illustrations seem to be small, and often not easy to differentiate. No descriptions or sub-tiles near the pictures, but given index wise on the side page. Real pictures of the birds would make this book more interesting. Multi-color maps for all species are in the end and are small. It may require birders to move to the front and back in my view.
This book on bird watching can complement other books which provide the vast details of birds, description, images, etc.
Apart from these books, there are some wonderful magazines on bird watching
There are various bird watching magazines available in the market which can help you learn more about birds, their behavior, birding habits, research, and findings an much more. Check out some of them:
Hope this analysis of helps best birding books of India helps beginners as well experienced in their bird watching endeavor. Please do write your views in comments. Your feedback is important to improve.
This article will help you to understand bird photography. How to capture the bird on your camera just as you imagined. Bird photography article covers Photography Equipment, camera setting, perspective, composition, light, etc.
Bird Birding books of India article covers best birding books available in the market, their key features. How each book can help you to identify the birds, bird species, distribution maps.
Planning your next birding trip, and not sure who are the best guides in that area? Are you in a fix that your birding guide has the right credentials for making a successful trip or not? Now you can choose the best guide available at the location.
Maguri Bill is located in Tinsukia in Assam, located in the northeast region of India. It is a beautiful swampy area created by the confluence of the rivers Dibru, Lohit, and Brahmaputra. This swamp created by these three mighty rivers has become the house for a variety of flora and fauna. Located close to the area is the Dibru Saikhowa National Park. The name “beel” has been given to the piece of land by the local fishermen after a certain kind of catfish.
Dehing Pataki Wildlife Sanctuary located in Assam has rainforests that have given way to picturesque landscapes, plush fields, and an exotic variety of flora and fauna. Its nurturing environment also poses for a popular bird-watching destination in Assam. Several rare species reside in niches of trees in the grasslands here.
Here is a guide on how to make the best out of your excursion to Dehing Pataki Wildlife Sanctuary.
