Bertel Bruun (1937–2011)

This book holds a lot of memories for me growing up in southwestern Idaho. The memories of my mother helping me see birds as individual species at a bird feeder that she and I built. Memories of me coming in from the hay field to tell her I saw a bird that she had never seen such as the eastern kingbird and the horned lark. Memories of me riding through Malheur Wildlife Refuge with a cousin and my mom, adding more species of birds to my list which is a part of the index in the back of the show more book.

I pulled the book off of the shelf for the first time in years today so I could call my mom to tell her of the unusual varieties of birds that I saw outside in my yard today. The book is now ragged with pages falling out (my mom keeps her book with a rubber band around it), but it is special for all of the lessons that I have learned through it and the memories that I have from it.

Obviously, the guide is easy to use. The pictures are easy to use for identification. The descriptions are brief so that they can be quickly read, but also thorough so that they are useful. The maps, which are a trademark of Golden Press guide books, also aid in quick identification. This all adds up to a book that can be used by anyone to identify birds and maybe create a few memories along the way. show less

Very good for reference. This book has very good illustrations so you can clearly see what birds look like. It has labels and a description about each bird. Overall a very good book to look up birds in.

Basics: 1990, softcover, 54 pages, 14 color plates of 111 species, no range maps; English and Arabic

This small book is a guide to 111 (25%) of Egypt’s 430+ birds. As noted in the title, the book focuses on those birds that are more common or expected to be seen in the country. Not really a field guide, this book is an introduction to Egypt’s birds for the casual birder.

The 14 color plates do a nice job at illustrating the birds. The artistry by Sherif Baha el Din is good and is show more reminiscent of Mr. Bruun’s field guide “Birds of Europe” that is illustrated by Arthur Singer. Multiple illustrations are provided for many of the birds. Each plate displays 6-11 species.

The text for each bird is very, very brief. Typically just one sentence is offered, covering the status or habitat. For a small number of the birds, a tiny description is offered but nothing more than what is already apparent in the illustration (e.g., “Note large size and chestnut throat” is provided for the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater).

The 6-page introduction and full checklist are offered in English and Arabic. This is also true for the bird’s name and information provided across from each of the plates.

This book will be appreciated by a novice birder wanting to become acquainted with Egypt’s birds before moving on to a complete field guide.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Egypt and the Middle East by Porter
2) Birds of the Middle East and North Africa by Hollom et al.
3) The Birds of North Africa, from the Canary Islands to the Red Sea by Etchecopar
4) The Birds of Egypt by Goodman
5) Egyptian Birds by Brooksbank
6) Nicoll's Birds of Egypt by Nicoll show less

This is a good guide to the birds of Britain and Europe, and I believe it was the first comprehensive guide I bought, on my first visit there in 1996. There are better guides available, though, so I ended up not using this one very much during the years I lived in Scotland.