Birds of the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, and Socotra (Princeton Field Guides) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Basics: 2009, softcover, 496pp, field/identification guide, 213 color plates of all 1,000+ species in the region; range maps

This is another top quality book produced by the authors for the eastern region of Africa. Upon opening this book, you'll recognize many of the plates from their earlier work, "Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa" (see #6 below). You'll also see many new plates along with modifications of prior ones.

The artistry is very good, easily making this book equal to or better than any other field guide on African birds. The 213 color plates illustrate all 1,000+ species found in the four "Horn" countries of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia (plus the island of Socotra, which belongs to Yemen). Nearly every bird is shown with multiple (2-5) drawings that display excellent detail. The Yellow Wagtail has 13 different illustrations that compare the wide variation of this species. The plates do a great job at showing variations between genders, ages, and subspecies. I especially appreciated the extra effort that went into separating out the many subspecies. Additional focus seems to have been given to in-flight poses for many of the non-passerines.

A brief paragraph is given for each bird across from its illustration. Although the amount of text may seem light, the information is very informative, to the point, and precise. About 80% of the information is on identification. A couple more lines are dedicated to habitat, distribution notes, and voice. You may want to take note of the font size, which is small and thin; consequently, you might want to have your reading glasses handy.

The range maps - one for each bird - shows the resident, breeding, and non-breeding ranges in three different colors. These maps reflect the bird's range within only the four countries and artificially stop at the political borders. The maps show very good detail; however, this is sometimes difficult to make out due to the shaded highland regions in the background and to the rather faint gray boundaries that separate the countries. Ranges of birds with a very restricted distribution (e.g., Sidamo Lark, Ash's Lark, Djibouti Francolin, Black-backed Cisticola) can be difficult to see with just a small dot representing the range. Inserting an arrow would have been helpful. Making a more prominent note of the 70+ endemics would also have been appreciated, versus simply burying the word "endemic" within the text.

In case you're wondering if you would need this book over the authors' prior book for East Africa, the answer is "Yes, if you are visiting any of these four countries." Twenty percent of the birds found in the Horn are not in the other book. Also, when there is overlap of the species between the two regions, the authors' have modified the plates to reflect the plumages of the local subspecies.

This is a superb guide that will be essential for birding in these countries. Being the only complete book for this region makes it even more indispensible.

1) Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea by Atkins/Ash
2) Ethiopia's Endemic Birds by Urban
3) A Guide to Endemic Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea by Pol
4) Ethiopia: In Search of Endemic Birds by Francis
5) Birds of Somalia by Ash
6) Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Stevenson
7) Birds of Africa South of the Sahara by Sinclair/Ryan
8) Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania by Zimmerman
9) A Checklist of the Birds of Ethiopia by Urban
(written by Soleglad at Avian Review or Avian Books, May 2009)

This is another excellent bird guide by the authors. On a recent trip to Ethiopia, I found this book to be an indispensable companion. The drawings are outstanding as is the text on each bird. The range maps and in particular the elevation guides were very helpful in this geographically variable country. The details of this guide are well covered in previous reviews and this book would be a welcome addition to the library of those who love to travel in Africa. I left this guide with our local semi-bird guide to encourage his growth in birding. He was both emotional and appreciative to receive this book. I bought a new one on my arrival home.
Ted Peterson
Lynnwood WA USA

Like an idiot, I didn't buy a bird book BEFORE my trip to Ethiopia. Upon returning home I bought this book and I'm successfully using it to ID the birds I saw on my trip, based on my photographs and notes. A very user friendly layout with intuitively displayed range information.