Birds Of The Indian Ocean Islands

Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands is a comprehensive guide to the bird life of Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Comoros, and the Mascarenes – an area that boasts high levels of endemism. This new, expanded edition is fully updated to reflect taxonomic changes, and now describes and illustrates 502 species. The species accounts cover the birds’ appearance, basic behaviour, preferred habitats, geographical distribution and IUCN threat status. The text is complemented by newly designed plates with labels pinpointing key differentiating features. The introduction includes maps for each island, lists the region’s 211 endemic species, and gives pointers on where to go bird-watching.

In field guide form, this text presents concise descriptions of each species, highlighting diagnostic features for ease of identification. Differences between sexes and plumages are discussed as well as the status of the bird, its habitat and call.

This major new field guide covers Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands, including the Seychelles, Coromos and Mascarenes (Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues). The Malagasy region contains one of the most extraordinary concentrations of biodiversity in the world. Its recognition as a zoogeographic region in its own right has recently been confirmed and, all taxa combined, the region was found to hold the second most distinct assemblage of vertebrates in the world after the Australian region, despite being the smallest of them all. This new field guide in the Helm Field Guides series covers the whole of the Malagasy region, which comprises the unique island of Madagascar and the various islands and archipelagos of the Indian Ocean including the Seychelles, Comoros and Mascarenes (Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues). Every resident and migrant species is covered in full detail with a colour distibution map for each species. Vagrants are also treated in detail, but without maps. All species are illustrated on a beautiful series of 124 colour plates, with artwork from John Gale and Brian Small. Conveniently, the plates have been arranged so that all the key species of the various archipelagos are placed together in sections. This is a major work of reference on the birds of the region and will remain the standard text for many years to come.

This compact field guide, based on Birds of Seychelles by Adrian Skerrett, Ian Bullock and Tony Disley (Helm 2000), is the only field guide to cover every species recorded in Seychelles. It covers more than 250 species, including all residents, migrants and vagrants. Concise text on facing pages highlights key identification features, including habitat, distribution, status and voice. The plates are based on the authors' previous work, but with the addition on many new images. The text has been completely re-written and revised for this edition, and the plates are been re-worked to accommodate a number of new additions to the country's list. There are now 12 more plates than in the first edition.

This is the first comprehensive field guide dealing exclusively with the birds of this spectacular region. Birds of the Atlantic Islands covers all resident, migrant and vagrant species found in Macaronesia which comprises the Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores and Cape Verde. Over 450 resident, migrant and vagrant species are illustrated with full details of all the plumages and major races likely to be encountered. Species accounts are accompanied with concise text outlining bird identification, status, range, distribution and voice. This authoritative book will not only be an indispensable guide to the visiting birder, but also a vital tool for those engaged in work to conserve and study the avifauna of this region. The Atlantic Islands shelter a remarkable diversity of birds, many seriously endangered with small and vulnerable ranges. It further covers the climate, geography and ornithological history of these incredible islands, as well as practical guidance on the best birdwatching areas.

This photographic guide depicts a selection of the most commonly encountered and striking bird species of Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Comoros, and the Mascarenes - a region boasting high levels of endemism. The species accounts cover the birds' appearance, basic behaviour, preferred habitats, and geographical distribution. Each species account enjoys a full page which features a color photograph, distribution map, and text in English and French.