Richard Grimmett (1) (1960–)

Basics: 2004, softcover, 192 pages, 70 color plates of 600 species, no range maps

Like several other books by these authors, this book is a select, reduced version of their original work “A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives” of 1999. This Bhutan book is a true field guide sized option that illustrates all 600 species found in the country.

The plates illustrate the birds quite well and are usually shown with multiple plumages when significant differences exist between genders, age, or subspecies. These illustrations are good enough to identify most species. Each plate contains 3-14 species, made up of 8-25 illustrations. The plates for the raptors are somewhat crammed with many smaller illustrations, but they are still decent enough to work for identification.

Like the Southern, Northern, and Nepal counterparts to this book, the text is the weaker element. Each bird receives 3-15 lines describing it. This text may not always be sufficient to differentiate between many of the more similar birds. Sometimes a line or two is offered about the habitat or distribution. The raptors receive the most coverage while the passerines receive the least (i.e., 3-5 lines). There is only the sparsest of information given for vocalizations. Many of the birds have none. There are also no range maps.

Unfortunately, missing from this book are the several appendix-tables found in the three other sister books. Those tables helped to supplement the relatively thin text on identification. They provided a comparison list of the more difficult bird groups such as nightjars, warblers, rosefinches, and the Yellow and the White Wagtail.

For Bhutan, this book is probably your second best option, aside from the author’s combined Birds of India that use the same plates. A superior, but more expensive book is the “Birds of South Asia” by Rasmussen.

If you’re looking at other titles by these authors, Inskipp/Grimmett, keep in mind this Bhutan guide comes from the combined (but still condensed) Birds of India, which includes range maps. Basically, if you own Birds of India, you already own everything in this book. And, these two books all come from the aforementioned larger work that has everything along with extensive, in-depth text.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds in Bhutan: Status and Distribution by Spierenburg
2) Birds of Bhutan by Ali/Biswas/Ripley
3) Birds of Nepal by Fleming
4) A Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas by Grewal/Pfister
5) Birds of India by Grimmett/Inskipp
6) Birds of Nepal by Grimmett/Inskipp
7) A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives by Grimmett/Inskipp
8) Photographic Guide to the Birds of India by Grewal/Harvey/Pfister
9) Tibet and Its Birds by Vaurie… (més)

Basics: 2005, softcover, 240 pages, 87 color plates, 600+ species, no range maps

This southern guide is a trimmed down offshoot of the author’s previous and much larger work: A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. This reduced version is a true field guide-sized book that focuses on just those birds found in India’s southern most six states; in other words, India south of Mumbai (aka, Bombay).

The 600+ birds found in the south are illustrated quite well and are usually shown with multiple plumages when significant differences exist between genders, age, or subspecies. These illustrations are good enough to identify most species. Each plate contains 4-10 species, made up of 9-30 illustrations. Some of the plates, especially the raptors and shorebirds, are notably crammed with 25-30 illustrations of perched and flying birds. This causes many of the plumages to be a bit small.

The text is the weaker part of this book. Each bird receives 3-15 lines describing it. This text may not always be sufficient to differentiate between many of the more similar birds. Sometimes a line or two is offered about the habitat or distribution. The raptors receive the most coverage while the passerines receive the least (i.e., 3-4 lines). There is only the sparsest of information given for vocalizations on some of the birds. There are also no range maps.

To help supplement the relatively thin text on identification, seven tables are included as appendices. These provide a comparison list of the more difficult bird groups such as nightjars, warblers, and the Yellow Wagtail subspecies.

This guide will serve you well in southern India and is probably the second-best option, aside from the author’s combined Birds of India. A superior, but more expensive, book is the Birds of South Asia by Rasmussen.

If you’re looking at other titles by the author, Grimmett, keep in mind this southern guide is a sister-work of the northern guide, which each come from the combined (but still condensed) Birds of India. These three books share many of the same plates and text. The combined version includes range maps. Basically, if you own Birds of India, you already own everything in this book. And, these three books all come from the aforementioned larger work that has everything along with extensive, in-depth text.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka by Kotagama
2) Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives by Grimmett
3) Birds of India by Grimmett
4) Birds of South Asia – Volumes 1& 2 by Rasmussen
5) Birds of Western Ghats, Kokan, and Malabar by Pande
6) A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Kazmierczak
7) Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka by Harrison
8) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Sri Lanka by Wijeyeratne et al.
9) Photographic Guide to the Birds of India by Grewal… (més)

Basics: 2000, softcover, 288 pages, 110 color plates, 760 species, no range maps

This Nepal guide is a reduced version of the author’s previous and much larger work: A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. This smaller version is a true field guide-sized book that focuses on all the birds of Nepal.

All the birds found in Nepal are illustrated quite well and are usually shown with multiple plumages when significant differences exist between genders, age, or subspecies. These illustrations are good enough to identify most species. Each plate contains 3-11 species, made up of 8-29 illustrations. Some of the plates, especially the raptors and shorebirds, are notably crammed with 25-30 illustrations of perched and flying birds. This causes many of the plumages to be a bit small.

Like the book’s Northern counterpart, the text is the weaker part of this book. Each bird receives 3-15 lines describing it. This text may not always be sufficient to differentiate between many of the more similar birds. Sometimes a line or two is offered about the habitat or distribution. The raptors receive the most coverage while the passerines receive the least (i.e., 3-5 lines). There is only the sparsest of information given for vocalizations on some of the birds. There are also no range maps.

To help supplement the relatively thin text on identification, eleven tables are included in the back of the book. These provide a comparison list of the more difficult bird groups such as nightjars, warblers, rosefinches, and the Yellow and the White Wagtail subspecies.

This guide will serve you well in Nepal and is probably the second-best option, aside from the author’s combined Birds of India. A superior, but more expensive, book is the Birds of South Asia by Rasmussen.

If you’re looking at other titles by the author, Grimmett, keep in mind this Nepal guide is a sister-work of the northern and southern guides, which each come from the combined (but still condensed) Birds of India. These four books share many of the same plates and text. The combined India version includes range maps. Basically, if you own Birds of India, you already own everything in this book. And, these four books all come from the aforementioned larger work that has everything along with extensive, in-depth text.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives by Grimmett
2) Birds of India by Grimmett
3) Birds of South Asia – Volumes 1& 2 by Rasmussen
4) Birds of Nepal by Fleming
5) A Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas by Grewal/Pfister
6) Guide to the Birds of Nepal by Inskipp
7) Field Guide to the Birds of Bhutan by Inskipp/Grimmett
8) Birds in Bhutan: Status and Distribution by Spierenburg
9) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of India by Grewal… (més)

Basics: 2003, softcover, 304 pages, 120 color plates, 800+ species, no range maps

This northern guide is a reduced version of the author’s previous and much larger work: A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. This lighter version is a true field guide-sized book that focuses on just those birds found in India’s north and northwest states. Generally, this area is north of Mumbai (aka, Bombay) and west of Lucknow.

The 800+ birds found in this northern region are illustrated quite well and are usually shown with multiple plumages when significant differences exist between genders, age, or subspecies. These illustrations are good enough to identify most species. Each plate contains 3-11 birds, made up of 9-32 illustrations. Some of the plates, especially the raptors and shorebirds, are notably crammed with 25-30 illustrations of perched and flying birds. This causes many of the plumages to be a bit small. The shrikes are also illustrated rather small.

Like the book’s southern counterpart, the text is the weaker part of this book. Each bird receives 3-15 lines describing it. This text may not always be sufficient to differentiate between many of the more similar birds. Sometimes a line or two is offered about the habitat or distribution. The raptors receive the most coverage while the passerines receive the least (i.e., 3-4 lines). There is only the sparsest of information given for vocalizations on some of the birds. There are also no range maps.

To help supplement the relatively thin text on identification, nine tables are included as appendices. These provide a comparison list of the more difficult bird groups such as nightjars, warblers, rosefinches, and the Yellow Wagtail subspecies.

This guide will serve you well in northern India and is probably the second-best option, aside from the author’s combined Birds of India. A superior, but more expensive, book is the Birds of South Asia by Rasmussen.

If you’re looking at other titles by the author, Grimmett, keep in mind this northern guide is a sister-work of the southern guide, which each come from the combined (but still condensed) Birds of India. These three books share many of the same plates and text. The combined version includes range maps. Basically, if you own Birds of India, you already own everything in this book. And, these three books all come from the aforementioned larger work that has everything along with extensive, in-depth text.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives by Grimmett
2) Birds of India by Grimmett
3) Birds of South Asia – Volumes 1& 2 by Rasmussen
4) A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Kazmierczak
5) A Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas by Grewal/Pfister
6) Birds of Nepal by Grimmett
7) Photographic Guide to the Birds of India by Grewal… (més)