Birds of the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Socotra

A much-needed field guide to an area with a high incidence of endemism and 136 Important Bird Areas. Previously under-visited, mainly due to political instability, (now only Somalia remains off-limits to visitors) the publication of this guide is timely to take forward knowledge about the birdlife of this little known area. The maps are clear, and the guide well laid-out, with adequate information to help identification of the species but, as always with a book covering this size of area, entries are brief but mean that the book is perfect in size for use in the field. The illustrations by Brian Small and John Gale are excellent but as there is huge overlap with East Africa’s bird fauna, many of the illustrations are taken from the guide to that region published in 2002.

Book reviewed by Su Gough