Field Guide to the Birds of Southern Africa [antikvár]

FOREWORD In the space of a short foreword I can do little more than briefly introduce the author and the subject of his book. 'Ian' Sinclair (only a few close friends are privy to the names represented by his initials J.C.) became a member of the staff of the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town in 1976. Six years later he left the Institute to get married and to take up his present post in Durban. This book had its genesis in 1979 while Ian was a member of the FitzPatrick Institute's team of researchers on Marion Island. Much of the text was first drafted during his stay on the island. I believe that lan's association with the FitzPatrick Institute helped him to develop the discipline necessary for translating his exceptional abilities for finding and identifying birds in the field into something more durable and of benefit to others. The prototype for modern field guides was developed in the 1930s. In those days a tweed sports-coat was de r/grtveurfor gentlemen bird-watchers. Hence, the size of a typical field guide came to be set by the capacity of the pocket of a standard sports-coat. Accommodating southern Africa's avifauna of some 900 species within a pocket-size book presents problems, and particularly so in this case in which photographs, rather than paintings, are used to illustrate the birds. Consequently, economies had to be made and, for example, the non-breeding plumages of some species are not illustrated. This is compensated for by the fact that the photographs chosen are those that most clearly show the important field characters of each species, and the guide will therefore be a significant aid to field identification, especially for novice birders. lan's guide is a welcome addition to the ornithological literature of southern Africa: a greater public awareness of the sub-continent's rich natural history is part of an advance towards realization of an optimal use of all the region's natural resources. PROFESSOR W.R. SIEGFRIED Director, Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology University of Cape Town