Claude Michel

Basics: 1998, 3rd edition, softcover, 62 pages, color photos of 19 species, 45 species described, no range maps

There are few books that cover the birds of this island; former home of the Dodo located 600 miles east of Madagascar. This small guide covers the birds of only the one island of Mauritius and not all four major islands (St. Brandon, Rodriques, Agalega) that make up the entire island nation. This is too bad since few additional birds would need to have been added; and, this was a missed opportunity to include the two endemics of Rodrigues Island.

This book covers 45 species, organizing them into four sections. These categories are Endemics (all 9), Indigenous (11), Exotics (17), and Migrants (8). A unique and important section is missing from the book, which is of the 12 extinct birds of Mauritius. The tragedy of losing such a high percentage of the island’s birds plus the well-known story of the Dodo deserve at least some mention in this book.

The 19 color photos are pretty good, except for a ventral, obscured view of the Olive White-eye. All nine endemics are photographed. Considering the small number of birds on the island, these photos will work adequately for identification. For most of the birds without a color photo, a single black-and-white illustration is supplied that comes from the prior editions of this book. These illustrations are, bluntly, poor and useless. The Yellow-fronted Canary is utterly unrecognizable, even as a canary. They serve only to give a very rough impression of the bird to the reader. A simple silhouette would have been just as effective.

Except for the migrants, most birds receive their own page of text for habitat, food, reproduction, and remarks. This information is fairly basic and general, focusing on the natural history of the birds. There is very limited, if any, description given for the birds.

Until the addition of the two books covering all the main islands in the Indian Ocean, this book by Michel was your best option as a field guide for Mauritius. Now, this book is effectively obsolete; although, it is nice to have additional color photographs of the endemics. The other two books by Sinclair et al. are superior and are recommended due to their high quality.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands by Sinclair
2) A Photographic Guide to Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands by Sinclair
3) Birds of the Mascarenes and Saint Brandon by Staub
4) Oiseaux de la Réunion by Barre… (mais)