Enjoying Birds in Hawaii: A Birdfinding Guide to the Fiftieth State

This was my first trip to Hawaii, and went to several islands, the birds are just beautiful and I took several pictures of the birds, and nowhere could I find what the birds were. This book had every single bird that we had seen there, as well as information on the birds. I recommend this book to everyone that goes to Hawaii, as a matter of fact, purchase it before they go. You'll enjoy it very much! Charmayne

I found this book to be indespensible in identifying where to go and how to get there. A section on each of the major islands, and then regions on a per island basis makes it easy to use. Pratt identifies which birds you can expect to see in each of the birding spots identified. Although color plates of many of the species are included, this is not a species classification guide per-se. You'll need a separate guide for that. But you can't see them if you don't know where to go or how to get there, and that's where this book shines. I shutter to think of the time we would have wasted without it.

Pratt takes the reader island by island, site by site, through all the best spots to find birds in the islands. Illustrated with excellent color photographs, the guide tells you what to expect in terms of species to see, directions on getting there, and possible hazards (mud, rough roads, irritable hunters, etc.). Following the site descriptions, Pratt adds a section on each species to be found in the islands, listing the places it is most likely to be found. The emphasis is on clear information, but Pratt's lucid interesting writing style makes the book a pleasure to read as well. I have used it on Kaua'i and Hawai'i and would not think of birding the other islands without it. Indispensible!