Basics: 2003, softcover, 175 pages, color illustrations of 260+ species, no range maps

This little guide is formatted in the same many as many of its contemporary photographic guides but, with one key difference. This book has no photos. Instead of small photos, it has small color illustrations.

The 260+ illustrations are of fair quality and will help the novice to identify many birds of the area. But, the abilities of this book stop there. Each bird is shown with just one illustration, infrequently two. The illustrations are small (1.5 x 2 inch) and lack important details to confidently different similar species.

Each bird receives 4-6 short lines about its physical description. Another 4-6 short lines offer notes on the habitat and the calls of the bird. These notes are true but generalized.

This book is arranged into four sections based on habitat. These are wetlands, forests, grass and scrub, and urban areas. The arrangement of birds in this guide might cause the novice some frustration if a bird is seen out of the habitat type in which the book labels it.

This is a field guide best suited for the casual or beginning birder in the Mumbai (aka, Bombay) area of coastal nw India. This book might be appreciated by someone that occassionally sits at a Mumbai park to watch the birds. An avid birder will avoid this book and get one of the complete and higher quality guides available.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds of South Asia - Volumes 1 & 2 by Rassmussen
2) A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives by Grimmett/Inskipp
3) Birds of India by Grimmett/Inskipp
4) Birds of the Western Ghats, Kokan, and Malabar by Pande
5) Birds of Northern India by Grimmett/Inskipp
6) Birds of Southern India by Grimmett/Inskipp
7) Photographic Guide to the Birds of India by Grewal/Harvey/Pfister
8) Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Grewal
9) Birds of India and Nepal by Grewal
10) A Field Guide to Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Kazmierczak ( )