[.ca] Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania (ISBN 0691010218)

From an 8 to a 10:
Seeing the animals in Kenya and Tanzania via safari is fabulous. When you add in birding it gets up to or beyond a 10. Thumb through the book a few times on the airplane. Then count the species you see. Even a medium effort will get you 150 - 180 species. I liked the book so well that I have purchased two copies to send gratis to local guides who were good "finders."

Birders paradise:
A sign of environmental health and richness of biodiversity is the number of birds that a given area supports. Kenya then qualifies as a rich ecosystem with over 1,000 different species of birds. This book was not around when I was a youngster living in Kenya but thumbing through it as an adult has brought back some fond memories of days out in the bush in Amboseli and Masai Mara or at lakes Nakura, Naivasha, and Victoria. Kenya is a birders paradise whatever your interest. There are fairly familiar Eurasian visiting seabirds and shorebirds and unique and beautiful East African sunbirds, weavers, rollers and bee-eaters. There are multitude birds of prey including the unmistakable tiny-tailed Bateleur Eagle and the most impressive hunting bird i've ever seen - the African Crowned Eagle. I can recall like it was yesterday watching one pluck a male colobus monkey right out of the tree tops. All of the birds are here in splendid color with the most appropriate profile presented to assist in making identification easy. You'll find the underside views of the birds of prey very useful. While you probably won't see a Crowned Eagle on a casual birding visit to Kenya, any guided trip into the game parks will guarantee you at least 100 different species - probably in a single day! In the right locations, prepare to have your head on a swivel as the variety of birdlife you will behold has to be seen to be believed. You will find yourself regularly flipping through the pages of this book. This book is absolutely essential for your Kenyan trip.

Great Field Guide.:
I have both the big version and this version. Without doubt you need both. One for back at camp reading and the Field Version for, well, the Field. This is quite packable and the layout makes field Identification pretty easy.

Excellent though a bit on the heavy side !:
I simply had to acquire this one when I saw it in a bookshop in Nairobi. I had another field guide, but wasn't happy with it. Great illustrations. It is now my faviourite souvenir from Kenya. Its only fault is its weight, but I carry it in a shoulder bag. The book also has usefulness outside the target zone: Several birds seen in Cameron are illustrated in it. I always like to compare illustrations and was glad to have it with me when in Yaounde. A book to make others jealous by. You can set it on the coffe table as a conversation piece or to get the children interested without coaxing them.

A Companion for All Kenya Safaris:
The greatest field guide advance in my nearly 20 years of organizing East African safaris, this book is to birders what Amazon.com is to shoppers. If illustrations are the backbone of a field guide, this is the "vertebral" archetype. It features better illustrations of more species than do any of its rivals. Although this and its major competitor, "Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi", are somewhat hefty volumes, take both on safari as the latter is better organized with key descriptions and range maps appearing opposite its illustrations. To effectively use "Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania," you must turn to the back half of the book to find range maps as well as much of its key diagnostic text. Keeping your fingers wedged in two different parts of the book while focusing binoculars on a bird in the field requires great concentration and dexterity. I use both books, but consider the Zimmerman team's illustrations unparalleled.