Birds of
Greater Southern Africa
The seminal ‘Birds of Greater Southern Africa’ was published in Feb 2024. A comprehensive modern fieldguide covering 1198 species in nine African countries and their adjacent marine territories, including eight oceanic island groups. Magnificently illustrated by John Gale, Brian Small and Faansie Peacock (larks), and describing every single subspecies in the region authored by Keith Barnes, Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe, this book is the new ‘gold standard’ for any of the territories it covers.
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A stand-alone field guide to Angola is expected to be published in Jan 2026 by Bloomsbury, which is why it does not feature in the ‘Birds of Greater Southern Africa’. Future spin-off guides with Bloomsbury are envisaged, the first being a guide to ‘Zambia & Malawi’.
It is available in South Africa, the UK, and USA at the following major outlets:
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South Africa: https://www.jonathanball.co.za/component/virtuemart/birds-of-greater-southern-africa
Online retailer Loot: https://www.loot.co.za/product/birds-of-greater-southern-africa/gkgw-8102-g620
United Kingdom: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/field-guide-to-birds-of-greater-southern-africa-9781472912374/
United States: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691263267/birds-of-greater-southern-africa
Book Reviews:
"Amazing Field Guide!" by John K. - 17 May 2024
Barnes and his team of talented illustrators have created an exceptional publication which has, simply put, become a “bar raiser” for all local field guides on the region’s avifauna. Highly recommended.
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"New benchmark for SA field guides" by Matthew A. - 17 May 2024
This book is the new benchmark for southern African field guides. The illustrations are brilliant and the write ups with extra taxonomical information are great. Having Zambia, Malawi and northern Mozambique included takes this book to the next level and introduces southern African birders to a whole host of species they wouldn’t have seen in their other southern African field guides. The section at the back of possible vagrants to the region to look out for is also an amazing addition. Overall, an amazing field guide that sets the new standard for southern African bird books.
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*For a more comprehensive review by near-legendary birder Frank Lambert, check out: https://www.franklambertbirding.com/review-birds-greater-southern-africa
