Its here!!! New Heather & Robertson field guide out now

[Nikki McArthur]

Spotted in Whitcoulls Lambton Quay today:

(25.42 KiB) Viewed 5767 times

'You can put your hand on this book and swear by it, because it's the bible. Every bird of town, bush, swamp, island, beach, river and the sea is here – accurately, intricately, and beautifully observed.'

— Steve Braunias: author of How to Watch a Bird

The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand is the modern classic of the genre – the tried and trusted reference for lovers of New Zealand birds.

Comprehensive, reliable and easy to use, this fourth revised edition features:
•374 species, including 35 new additions – the book's biggest revision since first publication
•85 stunning colour paintings of New Zealand birds, including rare and recently extinct species
•an introduction to key bird-watching sites
•distribution maps and an in-depth guide to field identification
•an additional handbook section that includes information on the distribution, habitat, population, conservation, breeding, behaviour and feeding habits of each species

The only field guide to New Zealand birds officially endorsed by the Ornithological Society of New Zealand, this is the most authoritative reference available – a wonderful celebration of our extraordinary and diverse birdlife.

'This new edition of The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand will become a much-loved companion of mine – and as well-thumbed as its predecessors.'

— Alison Ballance: natural history writer, wildlife film-maker and science broadcaster

[andrewcrossland]

rushed out first thing this morning and bought a copy.

Its definitely a compulsory acquisition for everyone, so don't get me wrong, you MUST buy it, but I feel something akin to having sold my old car for a new one, but all thats actually happened is the car dealer has given it a good spit and polish, and then sold my old car back to me. Thats what this new book feels like. But maybe my expectations were too high? I had really great hopes for this book (I needed some engrossing reading to get me through the next few weeks while my wife watches My Kitchen rules!) But, yeah, nah, bugger......

Interested in the thoughts of others - particularly those who made the transfer in 1996 from Falla, Sibson & Turbott to the 1st edition of Heather & Roberston, and can remember what a wonderful halcyon moment in NZ's ornithological history that was! Do they feel the same about this new book?

[Jan]

I'm looking forward to seeing all the new illustrations, something like 42 new paintings, by Derek Onley
and some new settings to the pics too.
There is an acknowledgement to Marj Davis who was a Canterbury birder, in the amble at the beginning.
Some of her bequest is being used to pay for the illustrations.

[Paul G]

rushed out first thing this morning and bought a copy. Its definitely a compulsory acquisition for everyone, so don't get me wrong, you MUST buy it.....but maybe my expectations were too high? But, yeah, nah, bugger...... Interested in the thoughts of others?

Well it couldn't be much worse than the old one, could it?
Inaccurate, incomplete, half a tale. And illustrations of birds that look like somebody shaved an Alsatian, stapled a plastic chip cone on it's nose for a beak, and glued hand-painted chook feathers all over it.
Considering that we all MUST own it as our national field guide and catalogue of our most representative avifauna, it's a real let-down. We deserve better.
It's mostly due to this publication that I don't read bird books any more. As a young fella, I spent hours every day burning the print off the pages with hungry-to-learn eyes. Not much to be garnered from this second-rate kid's book though.

The advantage of a BOOK about birds is that you start reading at page one, with no knowledge. By the end, you've been introduced to many things that you didn't know. That's how we all learned, isn't it?
But today's internet generation are utterly ignorant and uneducated- and it's not their fault. That's because you can SEARCH for anything you want on the internet. But if you don't already know about it's existence or characteristics, then you can't search for it. And that means that we remain unable to expand our knowledge beyond what we know already.
A book shows you stuff.

What we really need isn't another edition of 'Shaved Alsatians'. We need a pocket-sized concise New-Zealand-only handguide condensed from the definitive, accurate and superb HANZAB. If was under $250 per copy, we'd all have one in our pockets by now. I'll take six!

(and by the way, if anyone's thinking of dying any time soon, and has a full set of HANZAB on their bookshelf, please send me a message or Email. I might make a better offer than Cygna Funeral Plan!)

cheers
Paul

[Jan]

Good lord, Paul G. you are really off the planet here. The illustrations in HANZAB are awful, compared to Derek Onley's.
Which 'old one' of a book are you referring to anyway, the one with the 1970s bright orange cover? Yes those illustrations were a bit dodgy.
Go and have a lie down, dear.

[ledzep]

Does anyone know if there will be a hand guide edition also? That's what I use in the field.

[Amber Calman]

There is a hand guide version. http://www.penguin.co.nz/products/97801 ... ew-zealand
I don't know if its out yet.

[Bruce McKinlay]

The Handguide is in production and should be avialable in less than six months.

Hi Paul G: are you the Paul Gibson author of the book "Birds New Zealand" published in 2014?

[Paul G]

Hi Paul G: are you...Paul Gibson ?

Gidday Bruce, good to hear from you.
No sir, that's a different Paul, the wildlife photographer and author of high quality bird/wildlife photo composition books, based in Wanganui. I'm just a run-of-the-mill birdwatcher from the Waikato, and definitely not to be confused with such a top bloke!
Thanks for asking, anyhow
cheers Paul

[Bruce McKinlay]

The new edition of the Handguide will apparently be available in September.