|
|
|
|
|
A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawaii: The Main Islands and Offshore Waters (A Latitude 20 Book)
| Our Price |
$ 15.99
|
|
| Retail Value |
$ 19.99 |
|
| You Save |
$ 4.00 (20%) |
|
| Item Number |
1423517 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Item Description...
Product Description
Superbly illustrated in color by two of Hawai'i's best nature photographers, "A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawai'i" includes nearly every species of bird on land and at sea in the main Hawaiian Islands. In total, 170 species or subspecies are described and illustrated. In this comprehensive guide the author has produced an essential resource for those who are interested in identifying, locating, and learning more about the avifauna of Hawai'i. For the last forty years, Jim Denny has been a resident of Kekaha, a small, peaceful town on the leeward coast of Kaua'i. He is the author of two books, "The Birds of Kaua'i" and "Hawai'i's Butterflies and Moths". He has also produced two videos, "Hawai'i's Birds" and "Birds of the Rainforest". His photos have appeared in textbooks, conservation literature, and popular magazines including "Audubon", "Smithsonian", and "National Geographic".
|
Item Specifications...
Pages 210
Dimensions: Length: 0.5" Width: 6" Height: 8.75"
Weight: 1.15 lbs.
Binding Softcover
ISBN 082483383X
EAN 9780824833831
|
Availability 6 units.
Availability accurate as of May 30, 2012 04:14.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Bridgewater NJ.
Orders shipping to an address other than a confirmed Credit Card / Paypal Billing address may incur and additional processing delay.
|
Product Categories
Similar Products
Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | great photos Dec 18, 2009 |
Some of the best photographs of Hawai`ian birds are included in this little volume, along with accurate and easy-to-read text. This is a very worthwhile addition to the small number of good Hawai`ian bird books.
The book's limitations include an absence of birds for which no photograph is available, including the enigmatic Nukupu`u and the inaccessible endemic birds of the Northwest Chain. Obviously, in a photographic guide there can be no pictures of birds which went extinct before good photographs were possible. But the quality of the photos given, and the excellent text, make this a valuable book both for the experience birder and the casual observer. | | |  | This book replicates the Audubon Society book "Hawaii's Birds" Dec 2, 2009 |
When I saw this book had come out, I was excited that a new book building on the existing books regarding the birds of Hawaii - both pelagic and amazing endemic honeycreepers would be published. Compared to the mainland, I always thought the existing books regarding Hawaii's birds could be updated. The two mainstays are:
1. Pratts "A Field Guide to the Birds of the Tropical Pacific" published in 1987 which now appears somewhat dated with some of the honeycreepers shown in plates that do not appear lifelike and the pelagic birds shown flying either from below or above, not both.
2. The Audubon's Societies "Hawaii's Birds" which is a 5x7 photographic book of Hawaii's birds with typically one page per bird with one photo per bird.
Reviewing my copy of the Bird's of Hawaii, this book is essentially a larger version the Audubon book, but lacks the Audubon book's pictures of the birds that are recently thought to have gone extinct. It drives me crazy that a book on the birds of Hawaii devotes the same amount of attention to a house sparrow as compared to a 'Akiapola'au or 'Akohekohe - 1 page for each!? The book title specifically references offshore waters but over half the pictures (one picture per species) show a bird siting on the ground. I bought this book for expanded coverage on Hawaii's native birds and pelagics but all I received was a larger remake with new pictures, some better, some worse.
This book is larger in size than the Audubon book with about the same information and too big to be used a field guide so what niche was it expected to fill?
Can someone publish a new book on Hawaii's birds that includes the following:
1. More photos or pictures of the pelagic birds expected in Hawaii's waters including flying from above and below.
2. A Sibley-style field guide devoted only to Hawaii.
3. An expanded description, maybe 3 or 4 pages with more than 1 picture per species of Hawaii's great endemic forest birds.
4. Pictures of the birds that Hawaii has lost, both before cook and the Polynesians.
This book does not meet any of the criteria above. | | |  | Nice photos with generalized text Nov 23, 2009 |
Basics: softcover; 179 good color photos of 165 species; includes 25 endemics and 53 alien species; excludes extinct or presumed extinct birds; short paragraph gives general overview of description and natural history notes; no range maps
This new guide offers good photos of the expected set of birds to be found on the six main islands of Hawaii. This book covers 165 species. The other 100 vagrant or extinct birds known to occur on Hawaii are not included. Also missing are the four endemic birds for the islands of Laysan (duck and finch) and Nihoa (millerbird and finch).
Most of the birds are shown with a single color photograph, which is typically of good quality in both color and size. While the individual photos are good, the selection of photos seems a bit odd or, perhaps inconsistent. With only one photo per bird for most of the species, a decision had to be made as to which plumage would be displayed. There seems to be no set strategy or decision. As an example, some of the ducks are shown with only a photo of the female while others are shown only as a male. Some are shown in breeding plumage while others are in eclipse. This same mixture is also true for the many shorebirds: Some are shown in breeding and others in non-breeding, even when the migrant bird is present in both plumages.
The one-photo-per bird (for most of the species) creates a weakness with the gulls, terns, shearwaters, and boobies as well. There are a variety of plumages within these birds, but only the adult is shown. It would have been nice to show the very different immature Red-footed Boobies that fly around in abundance, especially when these younger birds are often thought to be Brown Boobies by some less experienced birders.
However, I must give credit to the selection of five different photos for the various plumages of the Elepaio that is found on several islands. And, a small inset photo is given for the differently plumaged juvenile of the Apapane and the Iiwi.
Each bird receives a brief paragraph (7-14 lines) that provides a general description of the bird along with notes about the bird's natural history. This information consists of a mixture of habitat, population status, behavior, seasonal appearance, and introduction background. This information will provide the casual birder a nice review of each bird.
The book is organized into five sections based on a general categorization of where the birds are found. These five sectors are Urban, Country, Forest, Wetland, and Seabirds. A checklist is provided in the appendix, which nearly matches the birds shown in the five categories. I say "nearly" because the checklist includes a few additional birds that are mentioned but not illustrated in the book. Each checklist has a column for each of the six main islands that outlines the status/frequency of each bird.
There are no range maps for the birds, which I think is an oversight. Although the checklists in the back list the bird's presence on an island, even a small map with the appropriate island(s) colored in would have been very useful. There is also no introductory map in the book to show the location or names of the islands.
This book will certainly appeal to many birders who want to learn more about the birds of the islands. Since there are relatively few species of birds expected to be seen on the islands, the photos will certainly aid with identification most of the time. To the more ardent birder, this book might be viewed only as another nice source of photos that mimics other similar books that illustrated the Hawaiian birds. This is not a field guide, but a nice photo guide to help become acquainted with Hawaii's birds. -- (written by Soleglad at Avian Review / Avian Books, November 2009)
I've listed several related books below...
1) A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific by Pratt
2) Hawaii's Birds by Hawaii Audubon Society
3) Hawaii's Beautiful Birds by Pratt
4) A Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Birds by Pratt
5) Hawaiian Birds of the Sea: N Manu Kaiby Schallenberger
6) Birds of Kaua'i by Denny
7) The Birdwatcher's Guide to Hawai'i by Soehren
8) Enjoying Birds and Other Wildlife in Hawaii by Pratt
9) The Hawaiian Honeycreepers: Drepanidinae by Pratt
10) Images of Natural Hawaii by Walther | | | Write your own review about A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawaii: The Main Islands and Offshore Waters (A Latitude 20 Book)
|
Shopping Cart (0 Items)
