Table Of Content

BookReviews The Complete Guide to Finding the Birds ofAustralia byRichard Thomas, SarahThomas, DavidAndrewandAlan McBride Publisher: CSIROPublishingAustralia, 2edn,2011. 463pages,paperback, blackandwhitemaps, colourandblackandwhiteplates. ISBN9780643079858. RRP$49.95 This new edition ofthe well known guide to knowledge. However, as most birdos would findingAustralianbirdshas been much antici- know, even ‘reliable birding places’ do not patedbybirdosinAustraliaandoverseas. guarantee success so one needs to have some The authors state (page x) that the book is knowledge ofpossible options other than the intended to help both resident and visiting onesgiveninthisguide. birders to find as wide a range ofbird species Appendix D provides additional informa- as possible in Australia and itsterritories.’ And tion ofa more general kind—for example trip wethinkitcertainlymeetsthisgoal. Oneofthe planning and travel advice etc. It was surpris- reviewers (MOB) hasnot travelledaswidelyin ingto find that the section on Field Guides (p. Australia but found the entries for unfamiliar 418) did not include Birds Australia’s The New locationssuccinctandinformative. AtlasofAustralianBirds(thisbookmaybemen- The authors would be familiar to most Aus- tionedelsewhereinthetexthoweverwedidnot tralian birdos and are eminently qualified to findit). Inourexperience theNewAtlas is the compilethisbook. mosthelpfulbookwe knowofforfindingbirds Thebookisreasonablywell designed andlaid inAustralia.OnecanusetheAtlasfirstbyfind- out with the contents page indicating the states ingareaswhereaspecieshasbeenrecordedand andterritoriesofAustraliaaswellasislandsand thencheckingonrecordedhabitatrequirements pelagicbirding,followedbya‘birdFinderGuide (viafieldguidesetc.)andanyothermorespecif- (section starting on page 199). This section is icinformationforaspecies,forexamplelocalor wellreferencedbacktothe‘Statesandterritories’ regionalguides,birdtrailmapsorbirdslistsfor locality sections so the two methods offinding alocality. Onecanthenworkoutwherealonga birdsarelinkedtogetherforthereader. planned route (or area) a subject species might The book appears to be up to date with cur- be found. Hence, for anyone wanting to find rent avian taxonomy. For example the White- birds in Australia we would be recommending linedHoneyeatersplittogiveus theKimberley theyalsoobtainacopyoftheAtlasorgoonline Honeyeater is there as are suggestions that the tochecktheBirdsAustraliaBird Datadatabase. Thick-billed Grasswren may be split in future Thenumerous‘mudmaps’ sprinkledthrough forthewesternandeasterngroups. The use of the text showing birding locations are simple mapsandphotographshelpsbreakuptheoth- but useful and help orient the reader and sup- erwiselongsectionsoftext. portthetext. However,goodlocalanddetailed Thoseconsideringpurchasingthebookmight maps would usually be required to find many like to check a section that is familiar to them bird locations as the maps in the book are not andseehowwellthebookaddressesthearea. detailed enough (the authors point this out in Based on our knowledge ofmany ofthe ar- thebook). eas covered, the book does a reasonablejob of The book may not be much help ifyou are helpingthereaderto findbirds. However,Aus- planning on visiting a specific area and are traliaisabigplaceandaparticularbirdspecies looking forlocal information, unless the book maybe found in manyplaces, sothebookonly just happens to coverthe areayou arevisiting. covers areaswhere birdsmaygenerallybe reli- Even then the book covers only target birds ably found or where the authors have specific and nottheotherspeciesyoumaycomeacross Vol 129 (1)2012 29 BookReviews riu-C'oniplrU’(niuk-to Kimlitigthi- is not designed as a comprehensive site guide ...’ and that they ‘... have madejudgements as Birds of to where to find as manyofAustralias birds as possible in the mostefficientway’ (pagex). In thesedaysofinternetaccessto the vari- Australia ous state 'BirdLine websites, birding chatlist (Birding-Aus),interactiveeBooks (e.g. Michael SKCONt)KDmON Morecombe’s Field Guide) and access to detailed topographic maps via hand-held GPS devices, birding guide books have plenty of competition in attracting the attention ofthe birdingfraternity,especiallythosevisitingAus- traliatofindbirds. However,thisisaveryusefulbooktoalllevels of interested naturalists and makes a valuable addition to ones ‘birding kit’ (along with the other resource tools and research mentioned above). In addition to a number ofrecent and excellentregionalguides(e.g. WheretoseeBirds in Victoria, Birds Australia 2009), this nation- widebookisworth purchasingbyallbirdos. The guide is awelcome and long-awaited ad- ditiontotheincreasinginformationavailableto Richard'I'homas.SarahTliomas, birdos in Australia and wecan heartilyrecom- DavidAndrewandAlanMcBride mend it as reference material for both visitors to Australia and to anyone heading to a new in the area. For example we purchased a copy location. thinkingitwouldhelp with atripto north-east NSW/south-east Qld. However, we found that John Hutchison this bird-rich area with alarge human popula- Bairnsdale tion and many visitors was not generally cov- andMartin 0*Brien ered. However, our target area (Bowra Station) ThreatenedSpeciesCommunitiesSection was coveredbutonlytoalimitedextent. Tobe DepartmentofSustainabilityandEnvironment fair, the authors do mention that ‘... this book East2M/e8lbNiocuhronleso3n00S2t Onehundred andtwenty-eightyearsago THEPROTECTIONOFOURNATIVEBIRDS ByA.J.Campbell (ReadbeforethefieldNaturalists’ClubofVictoria,9thFeb., 1885) ... Thereisacircumstancethatgreatlyinterfereswithourbirds,andtowhichtheydonotappear,likethe birdsofEuropeorAmerica, to be abletoadaptthemselves,viz., thealteration ofthe physical featuresof thecou—ntrybytheadvanceofcivilization andcultivation.Then thereisthe havocmadewith indigenous forests theirnaturalresorts.OurLandAdministratorsseemtoalienateourvaluabletimberlandswithout framing the slightest regulation against theirwanton waste. Another instance, the reclamation ofmany swamps cannot but seriously affect numerous members ofthe aquatic tribe, bydemolishingtheir native haunts. — Rabbits over-run large tracts ofour colony. Various modes are adapted for their destruction one ex- tensively used ispoisonedgrain, whichisoftentakenbysome ofourbeautifulbirds. Therefore, it would appear,takingallthingsintoconsideration,ourbirdshaveahardstruggleforexistence... From VictorianNaturalistI,p. 124,December 1884 30 TheVictorianNaturalist