John Topp

Located in the Indian Ocean south of the Maldives, south of India, the Chagos Archipelago has a bird list of about 90 species with 24 known breeders. This brief booklet discusses and illustrates only 19 of the birds.

This 16-page (including the front and back covers) booklet is not an identification guide, but simply an introduction to some of the birds of the islands and their natural history. Nearly all of the text is dedicated to reviewing the birds’ nesting, feeding, populations, and show more conservation.

The 35 color photos are printed on glossy 8.5 x 11-inch paper and do a good job of illustrating 19 species and some of the eggs. Most of these photos are of decent size with a few taking up 1/3 to 1/2 of the page.

Considering the uniqueness of the geography covered – I know of no other book(let) dedicated to only these islands – it’s interesting to read. However, it is still quite limited in content. There is no listing of all the birds that have been found on the islands. Some additional species are mentioned in the brief sections on Visitors and Introductions, but not much else.

For a field guide, a couple of other books will cover nearly everything seen in the Chagos. These are the first two book listed below. It should be noted the book Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide by Rasmussen/Anderton intentionally covers all the birds of the Chagos Archipelago; however, this book of 1,400+ species would be a bit excessive, as well as expensive for just the Chagos.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands by Sinclair/Langrand
2) Birds of the Seychelles by Skerrett/Bullock
3) Beautiful Birds of Seychelles by Skerrett
4) Photographic Guide to the Birds of Indian Ocean Islands by Sinclair/Langrand
5) Birds of South Asia - Volume 1: Field Guide by Rassmussen/Anderton
6) Birds of Mauritius by Michel show less