Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania

Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti Plains, tropical beaches, coral reefs, and such wildlife as elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, and rhinos. With all this, Kenya and northern Tanzania are the ultimate destination for safaris, adventure travel, and ecotourism. They also form one of the world's most spectacular regions for birdwatching, with a variety of species unmatched almost anywhere else--from the tiny Amani Sunbird to the eight-foot-tall Somali Ostrich, from the elegant flamingos of the Rift Valley lakes to carcass-eating vultures and snake-hunting eagles. This book is the definitive field guide for the thousands of birdwatchers and travelers who visit this breathtaking area every year.

The guide features 124 color plates, depicting all 1,114 species in the area, including variations by subspecies, age, and sex. It contains over 800 range maps and succinct text that covers identification, voice, and distribution. Specially designed for use in the field, it is a compact version of the widely acclaimed Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania, hailed on its publication in 1996 as the most comprehensive, accurate, and beautiful guide ever produced for the region. With its modest price, small trim size and sturdy, weather-resistant binding, this field guide is the one volume that every adventurous traveler to Kenya and northern Tanzania must have.

This book was not around when I was a youngster living in Kenya but thumbing through it as an adult has brought back some fond memories of days out in the bush in Amboseli and Masai Mara or at lakes Nakura, Naivasha, and Victoria. Kenya is a birders paradise whatever your interest. There are fairly familiar Eurasian visiting seabirds and shorebirds and unique and beautiful East African sunbirds, weavers, rollers and bee-eaters. There are multitude birds of prey including the unmistakable tiny-tailed Bateleur Eagle and the most impressive hunting bird i've ever seen - the African Crowned Eagle. I can recall like it was yesterday watching one pluck a male colobus monkey right out of the tree tops. All of the birds are here in splendid color with the most appropriate profile presented to assist in making identification easy. You'll find the underside views of the birds of prey very useful.

While you probably won't see a Crowned Eagle on a casual birding visit to Kenya, any guided trip into the game parks will guarantee you at least 100 different species - probably in a single day! In the right locations, prepare to have your head on a swivel as the variety of birdlife you will behold has to be seen to be believed. You will find yourself regularly flipping through the pages of this book. This book is absolutely essential for your Kenyan trip.


Currently, the most authoratative reference; excellent!   October 12, 1998
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Used by the most knowledgeable safari guides as well as avid birding tourists, this book is large; nonetheless, a copy should be in every safari vehicle harboring serious birders. The more compulsive 'counter' will want his (or her) own copy to mark up. This is a great big-brother companion to Dave Richards' small, inexpensive Photographic Guide to the Birds of East Africa; the latter book should suffice for the less serious birder (and fits in a shirt pocket). Each book is superior to the Audubon Guide to African Wildlife - if interest is limited to East Africa.


From an 8 to a 10   January 20, 2000
victor c wykoff jr (Stockton, California)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Seeing the animals in Kenya and Tanzania via safari is fabulous. When you add in birding it gets up to or beyond a 10. Thumb through the book a few times on the airplane. Then count the species you see. Even a medium effort will get you 150 - 180 species. I liked the book so well that I have purchased two copies to send gratis to local guides who were good "finders."


A Companion for All Kenya Safaris   November 17, 2003
Vinnedge M. Lawrence (West Baldwin, ME United States)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

The greatest field guide advance in my nearly 20 years of organizing East African safaris, this book is to birders what Amazon.com is to shoppers. If illustrations are the backbone of a field guide, this is the "vertebral" archetype. It features better illustrations of more species than do any of its rivals. Although this and its major competitor, "Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi", are somewhat hefty volumes, take both on safari as the latter is better organized with key descriptions and range maps appearing opposite its illustrations. To effectively use "Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania," you must turn to the back half of the book to find range maps as well as much of its key diagnostic text. Keeping your fingers wedged in two different parts of the book while focusing binoculars on a bird in the field requires great concentration and dexterity. I use both books, but consider the Zimmerman team's illustrations unparalleled.