Southern Hemisphere field guides

Nature Talk
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Just wondering what everyone’s favourite field guides and ID books are especially as those GSB observations will all need IDs.

I live in the Northern Territory of Australia in the Top End.

The books I find most useful are:

Field Guide to the Reptiles of the Northern Territory by Chris Jolly, Brendan Schembri and Stewart MacDonald. My other other is a hero lover so he has lots or reptile books but even he keeps pinching this. Really well set out with important details bolded, lots of photos and diagrams. Chris is on iNat and is very helpful. The only thing I would add to the next addition would be night photos as I see all my dragons at night and some features look different under torchlight.

Birds of the Darwin Region by Niven McCrie and Richard Noske.

Lots of info from local scientists and sample distribution maps. Good background stuff. Not a morphology guide but what it does mention is always useful.

A guide to Wildlife and protected areas of the Top End by Lindsey McKay. Lots of pictures with practical descriptions. The author also describes bird sounds in the way I hear them.

For more bird detail I go to Birds of the World.

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@thebeachcomber might have suggestions

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Australia is lucky to have a lot of great field guides across a broad range of taxa

a few new ones that I’ve recently bought, and that are comprehensive for the taxa treated, include

7th Edition of Wilson and Swan’s A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia

Copeland and Backhouse’s Guide to Native Orchids of NSW and ACT

Marsh and Fromont’s Field Guide to Shallow Water Seastars of Australia

Keeble’s Flora of the Wongan Hills Area

Mesaglio et al’s Sydney Harbour Fishes ;)

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You didn’t get a free copy of your own book? :wink:

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the author is too cutthroat…

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