This guide is arranged by family groups and species of birds and includes detailed illustrations.

THE BASICS:
softcover; contains 3,400+ good color illustrations of all 850 species found in Australia and on the outlying islands; the text is the strongest part of the book giving very detailed identification material; the uniquely designed range maps create a very informative and easy to understand visual

THE REVIEW:
Of the three best field guides to cover all of Australia, this is no less than the second best book. It's a great field guide and does a thorough job of covering all Australia’s birds (plus many outlying islands) and of illustrating the various plumages. This book also contains a unique trait not found in the other guides, which is to include identification tips within the plate next to the bird. I really like this feature because it immediately draws my eye to the key features to be examined as I try to follow the bird moving through the trees. As a cautionary note, these notes are typed in a small font size, which might necessitate reading glasses for some people.

The plates contain 2-6 species in each with anywhere from 8-31 different illustrations. Most of the plates contain only 10-15 illustrations. For those with many illustrations, the plates can be very busy, especially with all the ID tips written next to the birds. Somehow, even with all the illustrations, the birds are still portrayed in a nice size in the plates. This is probably due to the somewhat larger size of this book. It will fit into only the largest of your vest pockets; and, you’ll feel its weight.

As for the artwork, it is good and does an excellent job at illustrating the many plumages and poses. The drawing style is unique and might be labeled as “textured”. This textured look comes from the visible lineation or pencil strokes. At times, this adds more patterning to the bird than what is truly present in the field; thus, this might be a distractor for some people.

The text provided on the left page is extremely helpful, detailed, and well written. Another unique feature is this text typically does not contain the identification material. Instead, nearly all of the identification tips are typed onto the plate itself with the bird while the additional material addresses the behavioral aspects of the bird that help to identify it. More notes are given for the variations within subspecies. Further notes address voice, habitat, status, and tips to help distinguish the bird from a similar species. For me, this information is slightly better than in the other field guides. The descriptions of the voices are also noteworthy and better than other guides.

The maps also employ a unique feature. Instead of merely coloring in the range of the bird with a single color, the author uses up to three different shades of blue to represent the concentration of sightings or the likelihood of presence. When distinct subspecies are present, a separate color is used in the maps. This technique effectively and quickly displays the contrasting ranges of the bird.

Lastly, two other unique elements are added to the back of the book. A 68-page section contains color illustrations of the nests and eggs of all the breeding birds along with a concise paragraph about the nest, material, eggs, brood size, and fledglings. This might not be appreciated by everyone since it adds more weight and thickness to the book (17% larger). Another 10-page section contains additional plates and text for species found on some outlying islands (e.g., Christmas, Lord Howe, Norfolk, Heard, and Cocos-Keeling Islands).

This book will serve you quite well in the field anywhere in Australia. It is also available in a compact format with 70 fewer pages that excludes the nesting section. This compact book is just a little shorter and about half as wide, making it very handy to carry in the field. Two other books by Simpson/Day and by Pizzey (the 7th editions for both) are at least equals to this book. Only as a matter of personal opinion, I think the Simpson/Day book has better plates while Morcombe has the better text. -- (written by Jack at Avian Review with sample pages, October 2008) ( )

I don't own this book, but I did read through a copy belonging to my friends in Australia. I would have liked to have had it to supplement the Pizzey/Knight, as this book has a lot of additional sub-species information that is missing from P/K. Next time I visit Australia, I'll pick up a copy of this book at the beginning of my trip. The illustrations aren't as good, IMO, as P/K, but it's still a useful book to have. ( )