The Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi (Princeton Field Guides, 14)

I have a LOT of field guides, for multiple places on the planet, and have been birding for nearly 60 years. All guides have some errors or less-than-perfect illustrations, but some are better than others. In my opinion, a field guide is supposed to be useful in the field, and so there are always tradeoffs in number of illustrations, size of the book, and of course, cost. The more biodiverse an area is, the heavier a guide will be if it's to be of use. In my opinion, Stevenson's book is one of the best guides I've seen primarily because he has chosen to organize the book to be most useful in the field. Other reference books can be used to find out more about the species present in an area, preferably prior to an outing, but sometimes the organization of a guide can make the difference between spending a lot of time identifying the bird, and actually enjoying watching it. What I find particularly useful about Stevenson's guide is that he groups similar species together (sometimes not necessarily by taxonomy) both in the plates and species accounts, with a very useful phrase discussing the group's special features. This goes beyond the typical family description somewhat resembling a biology lesson ('phalarope males take on parental duties' or the like), which again in my opinion belongs in the birder's study of the avifauna prior to the outing. An example of Stevenson's group characteristics, picked at random by opening the book, is the account above Black Flycatchers, noting what viewers should concentrate on (overall color, eye color, etc) and giving page numbers for three other all black birds. Other great examples are the groups of sunbirds ('Large sunbirds with blue-green heads'; 'Sunbirds with maroon or violet breast bands' etc), where the group names greatly help to narrow the focus to key field marks. More field guides should attempt Stevenson's style!Although I bought both Zimmerman et al's Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania, and Stevenson's Birds of East Africa, I prefer Stevenson's book by far for its usefulness. Zimmerman's guide has plates that are far too crowded (and he notes that they do not apologize for the crowded plates), which makes it almost overwhelming to find distinctive marks, especially since the birds are numbered instead of named and the maps are far separate from the plates. Both guides have quality illustrations (acknowledging that some features may be inaccurate--see first disclaimer in this review!). Each treats flying birds somewhat differently. For example, Zimmerman places all flying raptors together, which while super crowded does allow for many to be seen at once, whereas Stevenson places flying raptors next to the perched illustration, and then usefully separates the species with a line. I tend to bring all the guides I have for an area with me to the field (regardless of the weight), and both of these are useful for their respective features. However, if I had to choose one, it would be Stevenson's.

I used this guide on a birding trip to Uganda. This is an excellent guide. When you order the guide though be sure to order the soft back edition rather than the hard back if you are going to use it as a field guide. The hard back weighs more and if you happen to drop it the back is liable to rip off. If you do order the hard back be sure to reinforce the binding with shipping tape. Unlike some guides this one has a well though out index. The common names are indexed separately from the scientific names. The family name are in bold so they stand out and the font is a large size for we old time birders who have a difficult time reading small print. In the back is a map of the area with all the important bird sites noted and listed. Certain of the drawings are not accurate, the Mountain Greenbul being a prime example. The description says the underparts are yellow and they are in Uganda, but the drawing is not. The descriptions and range maps are opposite the drawings of the birds. This is the 2nd copy of this guide I have owned. I gave the first copy to my Uganda driver when he asked if I would sell it to him. Folks in Uganda have a difficult time getting birding equipment. If you do go there, take a couple of extra laser pointers, and an extra birding guide with you if you have room. They make great gratuity items if you do not wish to sell them instead. Also an extra pair of inexpensive binoculars.

"Birds of East Africa" by Stevenson and Fanshawe is generally a good field guide. The layout is fairly standard, typical of most good field guides for birds.Some of the colours seemed a little off to me. The yellow wagtails I saw in Uganda were not as yellow as the plates in the guide, although I may have been seeing juveniles (not shown in the guide).The poses of the birds were mostly a little static and did not show the birds in typical habitats. The illustrations seemed mostly dead, lacking a sense of the live bird in its habitat.Usability in the field is an important design consideration, and the design of this guide could be improved. To find a bird quickly, you have to flick through a 6-page table of contents, or refer to the comprehensive (but longer) indices of both scientific and common names. Then you have to locate the right page, but the page numbers are quite small.Newman's "Birds of Southern Africa" uses a much better system. The major bird groups with reference pages are on the inside of the front cover, making for rapid location. Major groups are colour-coded, as are the corresponding pages. Page numbers are large. All these design features make Newman's mush faster and easier to use than "Birds of East Africa".Stevenson and Fanshawe have written a good guide, but it could have been so much better with more attention to usability and more vivid illustrations.

We went on safari in Uganda and this book was recommended to me by a friend, so I bought it before our trip. I am more of a beginner in identifiying birds but it was easy for me to find the birds in the book. The drawings of the birds are nice, and also not too small. On the opposite page is a short description of what to look out for and most importantly also a map (which rules out many options, as there are so many birds!). The index is also very good. We had two serious bird watchers in our group and they also found all the birds in the book and approved of the book. I would recommend it to anybody who goes on safari in East Africa.

I purchased the book to identify some birds which I had seen and photographed, whilst on holiday observing Mountain Gorillas in Uganda. This is my second copy, as I sent my first copy to the Lodge where I stayed as the young man who took me on the bird walk had to borrow a copy from a friend. I should have identified these earlier when I had my first copy.

This is THE bird guide for East Africa. It has not dated despite being 15 years old. This is because it is thoroughly modern in layout and very user-friendly. The species descriptions and distributions are placed opposite the illustrations. All the regions182 important bird areas are shown. There is an introductory section on vegetation, topography, and seasonality. The 1388 species are well illustrated. Thankfully Princeton resisted the temptation to condense too many on a single page. Other publishers, please note.

Es perfecto, trae muchas especies, lo único malo es que este en inglés.... Pero como no hay otro.... Pues perfecto.

Amazing book, really concise and distribution is well marked which is the main thing.The plates are user friendly and description is great as well.

Wir hatten für unsere Uganda/Ruanda Reise keinen Field Guide dabei, aber unsere Reiseleiter waren mit diesem Exemplar ausgestattet.Er war permanent in Gebrauch und sah natürlich entsprechend aus. Er hat uns für die Bestimmung vor Ort sehr geholfen und jetzt zu Hause natürlich auch, weil die Fotos müssen beschriftet werden.