The Birds of Africa Volume VI

C. Hilary Fry, Stuart Keith and Emil K. Urban (Editors)
Illustrated by Martin Woodcock and Ian Willis

Academic Press, London. 2000. ISBN: 0121373061

Recognised as by far the most authoritative work ever published on the subject, The Birds of Africa is a superb multi-author reference with encyclopaedic species texts, stunning paintings, detailed line drawings and comprehensive bibliographies. This, the sixth volume in a set of seven, deals with songbirds from babblers to starlings and thus includes all of the continent's sunbirds, tits, shrikes, white-eyes, crows and oxpeckers. Also included are the two species of strange Picathartes - forest denizens of the tropical rainforest - and oddities such as the creepers, nicators, illadopsises and rockjumpers.

As with previous volumes, it is hard to praise this effort too highly. The astonishing amount of work involved is a tribute to the editors and their team of collaborators, as well as to the hundreds of researchers and observers (many of them amateur naturalists) whose published work has been incorporated. Work on the first volume of this series began in 1975 - a quarter of a century ago - and was published in 1979, so it is inevitable that the information is prone to go out of date. Whether the editors and publishers will consider issuing sporadic updates once the series is completed after Volume Seven, remains to be seen. Certainly, this would be a huge task in itself.

Once again, the vexing matter of common names is apparent, and it seems that the editors have more or less taken a middle path. As South Africans are aware, many common names are due to be changed with the revision of Roberts' Birds currently underway, with a move to standardise names throughout the continent, if not the world. This volume does not fall in line with these expected changes, however, so there remains no consistent reference at this point. The shrikes, sunbirds and starlings can lay claim to being the three most colourful bird families in Africa, and since all are contained in this present volume, the plates by Martin Woodcock are a visual feast. The fine line drawings by Ian Willis are a real treat, as they capture the fine nuances of the depicted birds perhaps even better than the colour plates.}

At a price of about R1200 (£100) per volume, this series is a significant investment on the part of the bird enthusiast and will unfortunately be out of reach for many. It would, however, be a very worthwhile purchase for regional birdclubs, whose members could then access the huge wealth of information.

Posted: Birds by CC Africa, Date: 22 November 2006