Birds of Sri Lanka by Warakagoda, Inskipp, Inskipp and Grimmett
From the initial flick-through, first impressions were that Helm has done a great job on the design: as with many of their other recent publications, it is modern and professional, yet delightfully simple and airy. The text is clear and easy to read, and the book is wonderfully straightforward to use — ideal for finding the desired page(s) quickly when confronted by an unfamiliar bird in the field. If, like me, you enjoy your bird books looking pretty on your bookshelf, the consistent appearance of Helm's publications is also a plus.
I found the general introduction to Sri Lanka, its birdlife and the guide itself to be of great quality: the attention to detail in the introduction is impressive, outlining climate and the associated habitats (both more diverse on the island than I had anticipated) and avian diversity (including a list of the island's important species). Over 35 of the top birdwatching sites in the country are described, with colour photographs illustrating typical habitat found at around a third of them. Although I found the inclusion of this feature both a thoughtful and pragmatic gesture, I felt the space dedicated (18 pages) could have been used more efficiently. For me, too much space is given to lists of species that can be found at each site. While this is a useful feature for some of the scarcer or harder-to-find species, listing the commoner and more widespread species seems a little unnecessary. Perhaps the space taken up by these lists might have been better used for more detailed directions to each of the sites? Perhaps I'm just being picky.
The species accounts are preceded by family summaries. This feature will be redundant for many readers, although first-time visitors to the region will find the overview of the more exotic families that they may not have encountered previously to be a great help in the identification process. The species accounts themselves are almost faultless: the text is just about the perfect length, being sufficiently detailed to include status in Sri Lanka, a concise-yet-accurate plumage description which complements the illustrations opposite, and descriptions of voice and also behavioural traits. Although detailed, the descriptions are sufficiently concise that the publication is light and compact enough to be pocketed in the field without any weight- or space-related discomforts. The accompanying range maps are also small, yet large enough to ascertain an accurate impression of each species' range across the island.
The illustrations themselves are of excellent quality. The 72 colour plates portray Sri Lanka's residents, migrants and winter visitors with a fantastic variety of appropriate plumage variations. This ensures that just about any bird likely to be encountered across the island is illustrated somewhere in the plates, making the guide a concise-yet-complete production. I found very few issues with the quality of the illustrations, although one particular example that left me confused was the portrayal of Hume's, Lesser and Desert Whitethroats: plate 63 suggests they are three altogether different-looking beasts when, in reality, the situation is a bit more complex than that! But then again, perhaps my pickiness is shining through — I'm sure most birders don't go to Sri Lanka to study Lesser Whitethroats...
The species accounts are concluded by a short section detailing some of the vagrants that have occurred on the island. I found this to be pleasingly detailed, with each species represented by a colour illustration — something that many field guides don't do. This attention to detail reflects the guide as a whole: Warakagoda et al. have done such a fine job in the production of the title that it is fair to say this is a new 'must' for anyone visiting the country, whether the interest in birds is passing, fanatical or anywhere in between. I know which guide I'll be taking to Sri Lanka if (when) I go.
