THE BIRDS OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT.

de Silva Wijeyeratne, G. (1999). Book Review. The Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Loris, Journal of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka. June 1999. Volume 22, Number 01. ISSN 0024-6514. Page 59.
A review of Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., and Inskipp, T. (1998). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent.

A Pocket Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp and Tim Inskipp has recently gone on sale in bookshops in the UK.

I will leave it for others to submit critical reviews, for this list. But in terms of first impressions, I think it is good news for all of us with an interest in the Indian avi-fauna. At last, there is a decent ‘pocket guide’ (hmm … big pockets) with good plates and at a affordable price (UK price GBP 17.99 versus GBP 55 for the ‘big brother’ edition published in 1998). Presumably this will be cheaper in India. Any ideas as to what it is retailing at over there?

It is however a bit more than simply the plates of the larger format edition stripped down to the plates with facing text. The facing pages have colour coded distribution maps, compared to the monochrome maps of the full edition.. The maps are usually in a row at the bottom of the accompanying text, although in a few instances, a few pages away. The arrangement is not as ideal as having the map next to the text for each bird, but it is still useful.

The book is designed with an eye catching cover which gives way to some disappointment over the reproduction quality of the plates. Many of the plates have suffered, lacking the sharpness and sparkle of the plates in the bigger edition. Perversely, a few of the plates have reproduced better in the pocket edition. Admittedly if the original edition had not been so good, the quality of the plates in this would not have been such a niggle.

Despite a few reservations such as this, I think it is terrific that a good, comprehensive, well illustrated field guide is finally available. The prospect of a competing guide from Pica Press and another book from across the pond, means that good times await sub-continental birders. All of these will certainly help to raise the standards of ‘local’ field birding, especially given that so little literature is easily accessible to the people resident in the sub-continent. I speak from personal experience having grown up in that part of the world.

Regards

Gehan

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The original ‘big brother’ edition published in 1998 was hailed as a vast improvement over the field guide then available. But weighing in at 2 kilos, you had to be very committed or strong to take in the field.

A pocket version stripped down to the plates was always a part of the publisher’s strategy. But they have gone further and introduced colour coding o the distribution maps. The maps are usually in a row at the bottom of the accompanying text and on a few occasions a few pages away. Not as ideal as having the map next to the text for each bird, but still useful.

In addition to the plates and facing text, the introductory sections have been kept and there are sections at the back on the identification of …. .
The book is designed with an eye catching cover which gives way to some disappointment over the reproduction quality of the plates. Many of the plates have suffered, lacking the sharpness and sparkle of the plates in the bigger edition. Perversely, some of the plates (e.g. Bee-eaters) have reproduced better in the pocket edition. Admittedly if the original edition had not been so good, the quality of the plates in this would not be such a niggle.

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Guide such as this will play an important role in elevating the standards field ornithology on the Indian sub-continent. We can expect birders in Sri Lanka to ‘see’ more vagrants and add new sight records because the identification literature has now become accessible in an affordable and portable format. Is this the end of regional guides? I doubt it. I think there would still be a demand for regional guide to Sri Lanka for instance. Local birders would like the extra information a more focused field guide could carry and new comers will find it less daunting to have fewer birds to learn. Visiting birders on the other hand may be tempted to go for a single sub-continental guide as a cheaper alternative to having two guides.