Kas Dumrose expressed a need India field guides. Knowing a birder on the
CompuServe Birding forum who birds India frequently, I asked him for
recommendations, which follow:

Jerry Blinn
Silverdale

(**************)

>From Jim Bangma, 73444.1166 at compuserve.com

Ali & Ripley - _A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent_ 100
plates with paintings of all the birds and limited range info - no descriptions
- these are the plates from their 10 volume work - indispensable.

Salim Ali - _The Book of Indian Birds_ the 1996 12th (centenary) edition is well
worth it, older versions are of limited usefulness.

Both the above still are available from the Bombay Natural History Society, if
not available locally.

Bikram Grewal's _Birds of India_ is useful as a field guide, unfortunately, the
newer 1995 version (currently available from ABA) is somewhat abridged and not
as good as the 1993 one.

Woodcock's _Collin's Guide_ is fair for the commoner species - sort of a
"beginners guide"

Using the _Pictorial Guide_ as a reference to common names, most of the birds of
the subcontinent can be identified using either (first choice) Lekagul and
Round's _A Guide to the Birds of Thailand_ or (2nd choice) King (et al) _A Field
Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia_

Hope this helps - be sure to check bookstores in New Delhi, many may carry these
books. Additionally, if you make a side trip to Bharatpur, check the small gift
shop there for these books.


E-mail from: Jerry Blinn, 31-Mar-1997