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Birds of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan
by Raffael Ayé, Manuel Schweizer, and Tobias Roth

From Princeton University Press:

Central Asia–a vast and remote area of steppe, semi-desert, and mountains separating Europe from eastern Asia–is home to a diversity of birds. Birds of Central Asia is the first-ever field guide to the avian population of this fascinating part of the world. From ground jays, larks, and raptors to warblers, nuthatches, and snowfinches, this comprehensive guide covers 618 species–including all residents, migrants, and vagrants–and 143 superb plates depict every species and many distinct plumages and races. This portable book contains important introductory sections on the land and its birds, and up-to-date color maps. The concise, authoritative text on facing pages highlights key identification features, such as status, voice, and habitat. Birds of Central Asia is indispensable for anyone interested in the birds of this remarkable and little-known region.

• First-ever field guide to the birds of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan
• Covers 618 species, including all residents, migrants, and vagrants
• 143 superb plates depict every species and many distinct plumages and races
• Authoritative text on facing pages highlights key identification features, including status, voice, and habitat
• Up-to-date color maps for every species
• Important introductory sections introduce the land and its birds

The layout and quality are very similar to the other field guides Princeton has published recently. So you know it’s a must for anyone birding the area!

Birds of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan
by Raffael Ayé, Manuel Schweizer, and Tobias Roth
Paperback; 336 pages
Princeton University Press; October 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0691153377
$39.50

Check out this Spring 2013 Preview from Princeton University Press.

Of particular interest is a new entry in the Crossley ID Guide series on raptors, as well as The Warbler Guide. From the description, it appears that the latter’s title is intentionally evocative of the groundbreaking The Shorebird Guide, as it “Includes field exercises, flight shots, general identification strategies, and quizzes”. Sounds intriguing.

For a limited time (October 8-12, 2012), you can download A Murder of Crows: A Bob White Birder Murder Mystery for FREE from Amazon. This is the fifth book in Jan Dunlap’s Birder Murder series. (Here’s a review of the first entry, The Boreal Owl Murder.)

Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of New England
by Kenn Kaufman and Kimberly Kaufman

From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

Whether you’re walking in the woods or along the beach, camping, hiking, canoeing, or just enjoying your own backyard, this book will help identify all your nature discoveries. With authoritative and broad coverage, using nontechnical and lively language and more than 2,000 color photographs, this guide is an essential reference for nature lovers living in or visiting New England.

If you’ve ever used one of the other Kaufman field guides, then you know about what to expect here. In other words, an excellent field guide. I can only hope they’ll eventually do one for the Southeast!

Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of New England
by Kenn Kaufman and Kimberly Kaufman
Vinyl Bound; 416 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; October 16, 2012
ISBN 13: 978-0618456970
$20.00

Steve N.G. Howell is posting a series on how to write a bird book. Lots here for anyone who loves bird books, not just prospective authors. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series.

I love the smell of bird book reviews in the morning.

October 2012 is going to be an amazing month for bird books. I mean, we’re getting not one, but two books on…

Birds of Paradise

• Birds of Paradise: Revealing the World’s Most Extraordinary Birds
  Tim Laman and Edwin Scholes
  October 23, 2012

  Eight years. Eighteen expeditions. Fifty-one field sites. Thirty-nine unique species of birds-of-paradise, all photographed in the wild for the first time in history.

  If that’s not enough to interest you in this book from National Geographic, click through to the Amazon page and take a look at some photographs. Wow.

• Drawn from Paradise: The Discovery, Art and Natural History of the Birds of Paradise
  David Attenborough and Errol Fuller
  October 2, 2012

  Instead of photos, this book showcases “more than two-hundred hand-painted images and sketches”. It looks like the perfect compliment to the above book.

Field Guides

• Birds of the Masai Mara
  Adam Scott Kennedy
  October 28, 2012

  A photography-based field guide to the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. And if you’re planning on going, also make sure you get the companion guide Animals of the Masai Mara.

• Birds of Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan
  Raffael Ayé, Manuel Schweizer, and Tobias Roth
  October 28, 2012

  This guide is obviously very good news for anyone heading to Central Asia.

• The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia, Ninth edition
  Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight
  October 1, 2012

  This venerable field guide has been updated and expanded.

Other Books

• Audubon’s Aviary: The Original Watercolors for The Birds of America
  Roberta J.M. Olson
  October 16, 2012

  This is probably my most-looked-forward-to book of the month. I was fortunate to have been given the Audubon Baby Elephant book a long time ago. I haven’t seen the need to get any further Audubon collection. Until now. I’m anxious to see how much of a difference there is between the original watercolors and the engravings. And, since I’m a sucker for such things, I’m very tempted by the fancy and oh-so-expensive limited edition.

• National Geographic Bird-watcher’s Bible: A Complete Treasury
  Jonathan Alderfer
  October 2, 2012

  I’m curious how this will compare to other birding miscellanies. Be on the lookout for an initial review sometime soon.

• Rare Birds: The Extraordinary Tale of the Bermuda Petrel and the Man Who Brought It Back from Extinction
  Elizabeth Gehrman
  October 9, 2012

  I really enjoy books about endangered species, especially those that chronicle birds brought back from oblivion’s edge.