African Wildlife & Environment Issue 77 FINAL ISSUE

GOOD READS

A new bird book Sinclair, Ian, Phil Hockey, Warwick Tarboton, Niall Perrins, Dominic Rollinson & Peter Ryan (2020). Sasol Birds of Southern Africa. Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. Soft cover, 15x21 cm, 488 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with illustrations, photographs and maps. ISBN 978-1-77584 -668.45. R390.

Sasol Checklist of Birds in Southern Africa As a companion to the Sasol Birds of South Africa, the publishers have produced this handy little checklist, whichiscross-referenced to the fifth edition of this iconic publication.

It lists all the birds to be seen in the region and provides a simple way of recording where and when you have spotted them. Pocket-

bars to show monthly occurrence and breeding records, and the distribution maps have been updated to reflect the latest records. We have a vast army of 'citizen scientist' birders, who contribute to the avian database, and the records painstaking collected by these unpaid troops are incorporated into this new book. Because birds fly, and because they are so interesting and fascinating to so many people, and because we are so rapidly and drastically changing the world, there will always be new editions of this book to be compiled and published. With our expanding human settlements, our anti- inflammatory livestock drugs and lead bullets that kill vultures, our bird-killing wind turbines and the new powerlines that we build in remote areas to get the intermittent power from the wind farms, we keep making life more difficult and dangerous for birds. Hopefully our citizen scientists will keep on documenting the harm we do with these damaging activities, that we pursue in the name of 'saving the world', when in fact we are doing exactly the opposite. This is a fantastic new book and I do not know anyone who reads African Wildlife & Environment who would not be thrilled to find a copy in their 2020 Christmas Stocking. sized for ease of use, it offers six columns for multiple recordings at six different localities, up- to-date names for all southernAfrican birds, and the endemic and threat status for all birds. ISBN: 9781775847571 Format: Paperback, 11 x 18 cm, 38 pp Recommended Price: R50.00

Unlike 'old soldiers', 'old bird books' don't fade away. They get revised, spruced up, filled with new information and their authors become more numerous. This is certainly the case with the fifth edition of this wonderful book, which now features a delightful front cover illustration of a group of South African endemic Ground Woodpeckers.The book has been brought fully up to date by its expert author panel, with additional contributions from another two birding experts. This new edition offers its readers the most comprehensive and feature-rich guide to the birds of southern Africa ever published. It is a front- runner of natural history publishing with some special highlights. There is now a new 'bird-call' feature, which I found absolutely astonishing (and remember that my first bird book was Leonard Gill's First Guide …, a present from my uncle and aunt in 1951!). Beneath each distribution map is a barcode. You get hold of the free app and load it on your smart- phone. Then you scan the barcode with your phone and you can play the call/s of that particular species. How about that, grandpa? There are more than 800 new illustrations including all-new plates for raptors and seabirds, while most of the plates have been redesigned to show diagnostic features. There are calendar

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