As a keen birder with an interest in bird photography, I have been looking forward to this book since I first heard about it a year ago. Well, the wait has certainly been worthwhile.
This book sets a new standard in photographic field guides as it presents at least nine images for each species. Multiple angles in flight are depicted such as flying directly towards the observer, directly away from, gliding and banking left and right.
This book’s design is also ground-breaking. All images of birds have been clipped to the edge of the image and superimposed on an appropriate habitat background or on blue sky. The resulting collage enables the reader to easily compare our native of birds of prey and quickly conveys a sense of habitat for each species.
At the back of the book are greyscale images of birds in flight with labels pointing to key identification features such as rounded tail, slender wings and V-shape flight.
Nearly 50 photographers contributed images to this book – a feat that would have been impossible only a decade ago. The authors successfully tapped into Australia’s rich birding community of eBirders and photographers. Together, they have bought to life the images and distribution maps.
Impressively, all proceeds from sales go to the BirdLife Australia Raptor Group.
By Richard Seaton, Mat Gilfedder, Stephen Debus
Review by Deborah Metters
Paperback | Feb 2019 | $39.99
144 pages | Colour photos
CSIRO Publishing