The Ultimate Companion For Birding In Southern Africa
Publisher: The Unlimited company
Compilation and Editing: Peter Ginn & Geoff McIlleron
Price: R1 476 30 (Includes VAT, free delivery in South Africa and free e-book plus apps)
Collector’s edition: R5 698 86 (Includes as above)
By Mike Hawkins and Lyneve Cook
This is one of the few publications that actually lives up to the hyperbole of its title. It is not only the ultimate, double-volume, large-format bird book, but is also a very effective birding companion by virtue of the digital e-book that allows enthusiasts to take the entire contents – stunning photographs and informative text – of the printed version into the field on a smart phone or tablet. And ultimately, all profits are being used to educate underprivileged pre-school children in rural areas.
The incredible quality of the photographs and the impact of the generous format and layouts certainly make The Ultimate Companion one of the best coffee table book sets ever, but it is much more than that as well.
The individual species articles – written by 17 experts in their respective fields – contain a wealth of interesting and authoritative information, all presented in easy reading style and understandable to birders and non-birders alike. Many of these articles are enriched by their authors’ personal experiences.
The compilers/editors, Peter Ginn and Geoff McIlleron, collaborated in the 1980’s on the best-selling The Complete Book of Southern African Birds, which pioneered the use of photographs in bird books. They have now again combined their years of experience and passion for birds and birding to set a new standard for books of this genre.
The book focuses on southern Africa – from the Kunene to the Zambezi and southwards – and covers the 960 bird species that were recognised as occurring in this region on July 1, 2013.
The species were divided into major species and minor species, in some cases rather arbitrarily due to space constraints. (Yes, there are space limitations even in a large-format, double volume publication like this one!)
Most of the major species have a full page with half text and half photographs, while the minor species are grouped two, three, or occasionally four to a page. Each species has a useful short summary about the bird under the headings – status, habitat, food, voice and breeding.
The distribution maps (provided for major species only) are most up-to-date and represent the current knowledge of the distribution of each of these species in southern Africa. Distinguishing between resident species, breeding migrants and non-breeding migrants, they were specially prepared for this publication by the Animal Demography Unit at Cape Town University.
Determined to get the best photographs possible, the authors advertised for pictures showing “birds in action, birds doing things, birds feeding, birds fighting and birds interacting”. They received around 30000 images and began the mammoth task of selecting the top 1400 photos – taken by some 145 photographers – for publication. The results speak for themselves, with additional impact provided by some striking full page – and larger – pictures spread through the volumes.
A special, leather-bound collector’s edition of 50 copies, personalised and autographed by the authors, has also been published.
l Hawkins and Cook are extreme birders living in the Pafuri area of Limpopo.
Books are available online at www.birdbook.co.za
Channels to suit all needs
The Ultimate Companion For Birding In Southern Africa is one of the very first local publications that is a true multi-channel publication.
These channels are:
l Two hardcover books in a slipcase
l Limited edition leather bound set
l E-pub publication, viewable on all tablets and smart phones
l Custom App for iPhone
l Custom App for iPad
l Custom App for Android tablets
l Customised App shell for iStore and Google Play store
l Official website
l Entitlement website, allowing purchasers of the book to enter a unique voucher code that allows them to download the e-pub and app.
The digital offering was designed to be viewed across smart phone and tablet platforms.
The app was developed to maximize user experience, providing the most visual impact and ease of navigation.
Once downloaded onto a device, the app and e-pub publications can be viewed offline, which makes it perfect for use by birders in the field.
The content stretches over 25 chapters and comprehensively covers the 960 Southern African bird species.
These digital publications push technological boundaries by including all the rich content and breath taking visuals of the two-volume printed book.
Using the latest innovative techniques in digital publishing, the iPad, iPhone and Android apps also offer a unique, easy to use, expandable menu that allows users to – at a glance – navigate or download all the chapters.
Educating pre-schoolers to improve their potential
All the profits from the sale of The Ultimate Companion for Birding in Southern Africa will be used by The Unlimited Child (the flagship project of The Unlimited Opportunities, a Section 21 Not for Profit company) to get educational toys into underprivileged crèches throughout South Africa.
In the words of Iain Buchan, chairman of The Unlimited company (publisher of The Ultimate Companion and founder of the Unlimited Child):
“She was nine years old, had failed grade 1 and been promoted to grade 2. She failed grade 2 and was promoted to grade 3. She was her grandmother’s pride and joy and I had committed to educating her. And I was angry. Very angry. How does a little mite fail grade 1 and 2? At that age children don’t fail, the system fails … or so I thought.
“Welcome to ECD – Early Childhood Development. In a nutshell, if children do not get the correct brain stimulation from birth to the age of about six years, their potential in life is limited to, say, 2 out of 10. From age six onwards, the best teachers in the world cannot improve that potential much beyond 3 out of 10. These children, and their children, are doomed to a life of manual labour and not fulfilling their potential. And South Africa has millions of these children!”
So The Unlimited Child was born, with the express purpose of enabling caregivers in underprivileged crèches to give children the stimulation they need by providing training, educational toys and on-going support. At the beginning of September 2014, the organisation had already reached 358 crèches, 1100 caregivers and 28300 children.
Pretoria News