A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawaii: The Main Islands and Offshore Waters (Latitude 20 Books (Paperback)) Paperback – Illustrated, October 27, 2009

Jim Denny's Photographic Guide to the Birds Of Hawaii is very handy and informative field guide. Unlike most field guides, this book utilizes photos instead of artwork of the birds. If you think you'd prefer artwork, then you should purchase another field guide, however, the photos are all exceptional and very helpful for identifying the birds in the field. But what I like most about the book is that it is organized not by taxonomy, but by habitat... "Urban" "Country" "Forest" Wetlands" and "Seabirds" I think this is a smart way of organizing the birds for these islands. In addition, each bird has a concise paragraph or two that says a bit about its history, its status and where the best places are to find the birds. The guide is only 200 pages and will fit easily in a jacket or backpack.

I’ve brought this book with me over the years on various trips to Hawaii. It is organized a bit differently than most birding books. Sections are divided by where you are likely to see the birds, and it works out great. The pictures are good, but what really put this on top for me is the hints on where to find some of the birds. If you are looking for one book for birding in Hawaii, this is the one I’d recommend.

Some of the best photographs of Hawai`ian birds are included in this little volume, along with accurate and easy-to-read text. This is a very worthwhile addition to the small number of good Hawai`ian bird books.The book's limitations include an absence of birds for which no photograph is available, including the enigmatic Nukupu`u and the inaccessible endemic birds of the Northwest Chain. Obviously, in a photographic guide there can be no pictures of birds which went extinct before good photographs were possible. But the quality of the photos given, and the excellent text, make this a valuable book both for the experience birder and the casual observer.

We could not find identification of what appeared to be an introduced species that we saw in upcountry Maui. We checked all websites and emailed the State of Hawaii natural resources people. No joy. But, we bought this book prior to our last trip and there it was, clearly photographed and identified (red billed Leiothrix). Also found this book very useful identifying indigenous birds at Hosmer Grove. Just a great read and with beautiful pictures.

The photographs are excellent, taken by a life-long lover of Hawaiian birds. The narratives are useful in a generic sense but not so much as a field guide -- good background information. There's not so much technical content as you might expect in a book like this but what is there is pleasant and accurate. It spends a lot less annoying time rhapsodizing about the lost species than other books so it's easier to read and more up to date than the others.

A BIG THANKS for excellent service, good price, and accurate description of product.

THE BASICS:softcover; 179 good color photos of 165 (63%) of Hawaii's species; includes 25 endemic species and 53 alien species; excludes extinct birds and the vagrants; a short paragraph gives a general description of the birds plus natural history notes; no range maps are includedTHE REVIEW:This new guide offers many good photos of the subset of birds expected to be found on the six main islands of Hawaii. In all, 165 (63%) of Hawaii's species are covered. The other 100 vagrant species and the several extinct birds known to occur on Hawaii are not addressed. Also not included are the four endemic birds for the outlying islands of Laysan (Laysan Duck and Laysan Finch) and of Nihoa (Nihoa Millerbird and Nihoa Finch).Most of the birds are shown with a single color photograph which is typically of good quality in both color and size. While the individual photos are good, the selection of photos seems a little odd or, perhaps, inconsistent. With only one photo per bird for most of the species, a decision had to be made as to which plumage would be displayed. There seems to be no set strategy or decision regarding this. As an example, some of the ducks are shown with only a photo of the female while others are shown only as a male. Some are shown in breeding plumage while others are in eclipse plumage. This same mixture of plumages is also true for the many shorebirds: Some are shown in breeding and others in non-breeding, even when the migrant bird is present in Hawaii in both plumages.The one-photo-per bird (for most of the species) creates a weakness with the gulls, terns, shearwaters, and boobies. There are a variety of plumages within these birds, but only the adult is shown. It would have been nice to show the very different immature plumage of the Red-footed Boobies that fly around in abundance, especially when these younger birds are often thought to be Brown Boobies by the less experienced birders.However, I must give credit to the selection of five different photos for the various plumages of the Elepaio that are found on several of the Hawaiian islands. These plumages can be notably different from island to island. An honorable mention should also be given for a small inset photo provided for the differently plumaged juveniles of the Apapane and Iiwi.Each bird receives a brief paragraph (7-14 lines) that provides a general description of the bird along with notes about the bird's natural history. This information consists of a mixture of habitat, population status, behavior, seasonal appearance, and introduction background. This information will provide the casual birder with a nice review of each bird.The book is organized into five sections based on a general categorization of the environments where the birds are found. These five sectors are Urban, Country, Forest, Wetland, and Seabirds. A checklist is provided in the appendix, which nearly matches the birds shown in the five categories. I say "nearly" because the checklist includes a few additional birds that are mentioned but not illustrated in the book. Each checklist has a column for each of the six main islands that outlines the status and frequency of each bird.There are no range maps for the birds, which I think is an oversight. Even though the checklist in the back shows the bird's presence on an island, the inclusion of even a small map with the appropriate island(s) colored in would have been very useful. One more map-related item that is missing is an introductory map to show the location or names of the islands mentioned in the book.This book will certainly appeal to many birders who want to learn more about the birds of the islands. Since there are relatively few species of birds expected to be seen on each island, the photos will certainly aid with identification most of the time. For the more ardent birder, this book might be viewed only as another nice source of photos that mimics other similar books that illustrate the Hawaiian birds. This book is not a field guide. Instead, it is a nice photo guide to help become acquainted with Hawaii's birds. -- (written by Jack at Avian Review with sample pages, November 2009)

Great field guide for identifying most of what you are likely to see in Hawaii. Book is easy to use in the way it is organized. Pictures are good but with only one picture for most birds, it is lacking for species that have significant sexual dimorphism, different juvenile plumage or look different in flight verses perched. Should be very helpful for beginners as s well as serious birders. Serious birders may want to use this book along with one or more of the other guides available since none are completely adequate individually.

ハワイで観られる鳥について一頁に付き一種類毎に紹介されてるので見易いです。写真1枚のみではなく雌雄や幼鳥等も載ってると尚良かったです。　ただ哀しいかな、ハワイ固有種よりも移入種の方が圧倒的に多いんですよ。（行動範囲が広い海鳥や渡り鳥を除く）　私はハワイに行った事は有りませんが、観光客が普段観られる鳥は殆どが移入種で、固有種は森の奥に行かないと基本的にお目にかかれないと聞きました。　ハワイの固有種は多くが絶滅したり絶滅の危機に在る事を思い知らされ、その分悲しみも覚えてしまう本でも有ります。

Book is very nice. Hoping to get a lot of use out of it in Hawaii this spring. Great photography and layout. Book was shipped promptly.

Great photos but some we got better shots of ourselves. Good book for identifying them though. A good purchase all the same.

If you are bird watcher and go to Hawaii you must have this book.

As a casual bird watcher this is just what I need. The photographs are taken by a variety of amateur photographers but you can tell clearly which bird it is and there is info. on where the species can be found and how common or rare sightings are. Just what I wanted and expected. Well worth the cost.