My doorbell rang this morning. Courier brought me my order from Amazon. Estimated delivery date was 18th April, so the package came early. Cannot complain!
The Sibley Guide to the Birds, Second Edition
David Allen Sibley
I got Sibley's 1st edition as a gift over a decade ago, and it has been a valuable tool. I haven't ever visited North America, but several American species are recorded here and the internet is full of people posting pics of Starlings and Grey Mockingbirds, asking for an ID. For waders, gulls and seabirds an American guide is almost as useful as an European guide, since the species are often the same. As such, Sibley is a no-brainer for Finnish birdwatcher, since it widens one's perspective and gives ID tips that books such as Svensson et al. ignore or miss.
Sibley's second edition brings to the table the same relatively stylized yet lifelike paintings of David A. Sibley. The pictures aren't as photorealistic as in Collins or Howell et al.'s RBNA, but I consider it a stylistic choice, since the important parts are all right. The new pictures and tables are much more detailed and lack the sometimes obvious "large strokes" effect that was so prominent in the 1st Edition. Especially large, relatively uniform species are still somewhat roughish and even sketch-like - see large white-winged gulls, waterbirds, terns and auklets for examples - but on the other hand they are so pleasant to look at that I don't really mind. They just look "right". Some new plates, such as Old World passerine migrants, are much more detailed and focused. I assume the 14 years between the publications may play a role. For example the Roadside Hawk, Northern Goshawk and the vagrant Charadrius species are magnificent.
The new edition is huge, and should be to warrant the purchase. There are 600 new paintings and 111 new species illustrated. Many of these are Palearctic vagrants, but it also includes a delighting amount of Mesoamerican species. There is also more information per page. Whereas the old Sibley had almost artistic look - large white spaces draw focus to the paintings themselves and almost minimalistic layout - the new edition has more busy and field guide feel to it. There is now much more practical information re: distribution, vocalizations etc.
The new text, however, is a bit of a miss: It's thin and tall, using lots of space but somewhat limiting it's value in low light conditions and requires a bit too much focus. Also I question the choice of using only trivial North American common names for subspecies. Using also proper scientific names for subspecies would make the guide much better for non-americans. Although I know the LBBG "Denmark race" is supposed to be intermedius, I have no idea what the Picoides dorsalis' different subspecies actually are! Since there is also no consistent information on whether the described morphs are subspecies, clinal variants or just basic polymorphism the taxonomical information provided is missing. This was already lacking in the 1st Edition and I am sad to see that this sacrifice was made in second edition as well. In times when taxonomy is ever-changing a good, understandable scientific name should be attached whenever possible.
For me the meat is obviously waders, gulls and raptors. To demand good, exact and up-to-date pictures of large Gulls is almost impossible, but the increased amount of information in the plates is well worth it. There are some small errors - gull back colors are sometimes bit off - but then again this isn't a Gull Guide and we have to make do with whatever we have.
Overall: I recommend this guide to rarity-orientated or curious birders.
Pros:
- The Guide to North America
- valuable asset in internet birding
- much of the information readily usable in Northern Europe
- painting style is very pleasant
Cons:
- text, sometimes almost too busy
- decision to omit scientific names for subspecies makes google-fu necessary
Rare Birds of North America
Steve Howell, Ian Lewington, Will Russell
Ian Lewington's big brother, Richard, is well known among dragonfly enthusiasts for his work on the celebrated Dijkstra-Lewington's 2006 book, Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe. His little brother, Ian, has made remarkable work in RBNA, and the illustrations are a joy to look at. They are completely different in the philosophy from Sibley's more artistic style: the minute details are illustrated in painstaking detail, but posing is lifelike.
RBNA is a twitcher's book for rarity-orientated birders in Northern Hemisphere. That's pretty much it. It starts with descriptions of different vagrancy patterns in North America, with understandable focus on West Indies, Mexico and North Pacific. A obligatory short introduction to plumage and moult follows. The main body is an exhaustive listing of different rare vagrants, grouped in region-taxonomic bunches - Old World waterfowl first, New World waterfowl then, etc. This is sometimes a bit irritating, since e.g. swifts and shorebirds are not grouped taxonomically, leading to jumping back and forth. However this is obviously good for American customers, since someone who is birding in Attu or Newfoundland is probably more interested in Old World vagrants as is someone from Mexican border.
The species descriptions give a slightly vagueish summary, notes on taxonomy, distribution and status in North America. They are split geographically when needed, so reader can quickly determine where and when the species is usually encountered. Finns are delighted to note that some species, such as Common Crane, Corncrake and Common Cuckoo, are recorded both in Alaska and more rarely in the eastern seaboard.
The guide is valuable for those of us interested in potential additions to Finnish fauna, since there is a notable eastern element in European rarities. For example, the book gives detailed accounts of whopping 7 species of Muscicapidae from genera Muscicapa and Ficedula. Out of these, M.dauurica and F.albicilla are expected for Finland (in other words, will maybe be recorded in the next 100 years), and species such as M.sibirica and F.narcissina might be wild cards. Since those species are currently somewhat lacking in ordinary guides, this book is a valuable addition to those longing for the megatick. Same goes for some other Old World passerines, such as Locustella ochotensis, Emberiza pallasi and Luscinia sibilans.
The waders are obviously also interesting. Although most of the waders are familiar or well-described in European literature, many interesting species are described so well as to make this guide a concrete investment in potential ID problems. These include species such as Gallinago solitaria and stenura, Limosa limosa melanuroides, Numenius madagascariensis, Calidris tenuirostris and subminuta and Glareola maldivarum. Many of these have been recorded in Europe several times and more ID material is always useful for a birder that might well be twitching tenuirostris from Pori in a few weeks - or never!
There are, of course, lots of interesting New World species. Since those are way beyond my knowledge, I will not comment on them.
The layout of the book is not consistent enough in my opinion. It is too tight. Even though it saves space, it does not save time, and is somewhat deletorious to easy, interesting and fun reading experience. To save pages there is no empty space, and in some cases new descriptions start at the end of the right-hand page, leading to unnecessary back-and-forth (see Wood Warbler, Mangrove Swallow, Key West Quail Dove etc.). When half of the description - including Field Identification! - is on another double page than the picture, or the description and picture are split in right-hand and left-hand sides (see Xantus's Hummingbird) the reader has to constantly switch pages. This is somewhat understandable, since the book describes a total of 262 species in 275 color plates in 428 pages, but this is not a field guide anyways. I hope this is fixed in the next edition. It's a significant minus, but the book has so many strenghts that I am more than willing to forgive this. But seriously, people, good layout is very important for reader and makes it easier to appreciate the meat and bones of the book.
Overall the book is a great find, has lots of interesting trivia and is a good supplementary material for European guides if you're interested in Northern Hemisphere long-distance migrants.
Pros:
- What the book actually says
- Useful supplementary material
- Lots of data
Cons:
- breaking up taxonomic groupings makes species comparisons unnecessarily complex in some cases
- page savings -> layout trouble
No comments:
Post a Comment