Which New Zealand Bird?

Forest and Bird, Issue 302, 1 November 2001, Page 44

Which New Zealand Bird?

by Andrew Crowe, illustrated by Dave Gunson, 96pp limpback, Penguin Books, Auckland 2001, RRP$34.95. As if there aren’t enough bird guides already, Andrew Crowe has extended his considerable talent for easy-to-use guides to the world of birds. His fresh approach makes the whole project well worthwhile. Having previously made it easy to identify trees, ferns, seashells and other wildlife, Andrew Crowe uses paintings by Dave Gunson to guide the eye to identify our more common birds, and those that can be seen in nature sanctuaries. The book is by no means comprehensive, but it is all the beginner needs to recognise the birds of home and park, the open countryside, forest and coast. Birds are presented by habitat. Each likely species is painted on to a habitat background which leads to pages with details about them. Alternatively, just flick through the excellent illustrations, checking out the distribution maps and extensive notes in tiny type. Andrew Crowe appends a chart of birds sorted by size, by colour, those ‘with very long bill, neck, legs or tail, and a descriptive tree of birds which is a simplified guide to the main New Zealand families. Conservationists may ponder

the wisdom of illustrating the more commonly found birds eggs, sorted by size, but the information is listed with a warning and is certainly interesting. Maori names for birds can differ through the country; Andrew Crowe here adds a list of all the variations he can track down.