Excellent service, amazing book
Its very complete. I Loved it.
At first, I do have to congratulate Jelmer Huisman with his book. It took years in the making, and he published it by himself. It contains as the title implies, data on all Estrildid Finches of the World. It is lavish illustrated with photographs of this fantastic birdgroup. In special the beaks of the Estrildids are unique. After a brief introduction of the species group, the author gets into the species texts.
The information supplied in the species text, is clear, and no less than six languages can be found for each species (as off course the scientific name). The distribution maps are splendid and in combination with the subspecies in the text give a clear view where these taxa can be found. The photographs are of the highest standard you could expect, it must be a monstrous project to get them all together! And the mouth markings of the juveniles are out of this world! Diet, reproduction, and behavior might fill a gap in knowledge for the avicultural sector.
Some remarks for a second addition would be.
• The taxonomy follows HBW 2019 but has some author’s additions (p. 14). One source would help to understand taxonomy better, then some exceptions.
• Also, it would be good to know how (source, for example e-bird) the author establishes the distribution maps in the books (p. 19).
• The subchapter in the species text ‘general’ varies within all taxa, sometimes the author dives into of the Latin name, sometimes the English name and sometimes discusses the author of the taxon discussed. A vast format in this subchapter would help very much to have a uniform discussion in each of the texts.
• Within distribution the author already explained on page 19 what abbreviations are used, but when reading the text under ‘Distribution’ we still find the whole names (see pages 26, 28 for example). For the description for ‘identification’ only male, female and juvenile exist, other plumage states are not discussed (for example post-juvenile / immature, 1st-autumn). Also, the general terminology used, doesn’t follow the terminology as discussed in for example Clement et al (Finches & Sparrow, pp 14-15).
Breathtaking photography, an absolute must for anyone interested in finches. The author is an extremely nice and helpful person. First class book and a first class buying experience
One of the best!!! And the top for estrilds!!!...Really useful and enjoyable...
B.Chris Vent
Justin Jansen –
At first, I do have to congratulate Jelmer Huisman with his book. It took years in the making, and he published it by himself. It contains as the title implies, data on all Estrildid Finches of the World. It is lavish illustrated with photographs of this fantastic birdgroup. In special the beaks of the Estrildids are unique. After a brief introduction of the species group, the author gets into the species texts.
The information supplied in the species text, is clear, and no less than six languages can be found for each species (as off course the scientific name). The distribution maps are splendid and in combination with the subspecies in the text give a clear view where these taxa can be found. The photographs are of the highest standard you could expect, it must be a monstrous project to get them all together! And the mouth markings of the juveniles are out of this world! Diet, reproduction, and behavior might fill a gap in knowledge for the avicultural sector.
Some remarks for a second addition would be.
• The taxonomy follows HBW 2019 but has some author’s additions (p. 14). One source would help to understand taxonomy better, then some exceptions.
• Also, it would be good to know how (source, for example e-bird) the author establishes the distribution maps in the books (p. 19).
• The subchapter in the species text ‘general’ varies within all taxa, sometimes the author dives into of the Latin name, sometimes the English name and sometimes discusses the author of the taxon discussed. A vast format in this subchapter would help very much to have a uniform discussion in each of the texts.
• Within distribution the author already explained on page 19 what abbreviations are used, but when reading the text under ‘Distribution’ we still find the whole names (see pages 26, 28 for example). For the description for ‘identification’ only male, female and juvenile exist, other plumage states are not discussed (for example post-juvenile / immature, 1st-autumn). Also, the general terminology used, doesn’t follow the terminology as discussed in for example Clement et al (Finches & Sparrow, pp 14-15).
VITOR MANUEL ANTUNES –
Min tun Teng –
Very good service.
Anonymous –
Anonymous –
A very comprehensive book with many excellent photographs and detailed descriptions. If you are not already a finch fan then you’ll more than likely become one after reading this book. So many beautiful birds in one book is just (amazing or quite exciting).
This rather large book could possibly be compacted into a field guide size using a smaller print and slightly decreasing the size of the wonderful photos.
Colin Rowe –
It’s probably an unfair rating only because it was a long wait from advertising it until receiving it
Anonymous –
Iets meer beschrijven van de eigenschappen van de vogels in volière
Carlos Sánchez Delicado –
Excellent, but I miss a much more complete information about the different subespecies on quite a few taxa.
Hidde Bruinsma –
Heel mooi boek met schitterende foto’s maar de info mocht van mij wat uitgebreider.