Basics: 2000, softcover, 288 pages, 110 color plates, 760 species, no range maps

This Nepal guide is a reduced version of the author’s previous and much larger work: A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. This smaller version is a true field guide-sized book that focuses on all the birds of Nepal.

All the birds found in Nepal are illustrated quite well and are usually shown with multiple plumages when significant differences exist between genders, age, or subspecies. These illustrations are good enough to identify most species. Each plate contains 3-11 species, made up of 8-29 illustrations. Some of the plates, especially the raptors and shorebirds, are notably crammed with 25-30 illustrations of perched and flying birds. This causes many of the plumages to be a bit small.

Like the book’s Northern counterpart, the text is the weaker part of this book. Each bird receives 3-15 lines describing it. This text may not always be sufficient to differentiate between many of the more similar birds. Sometimes a line or two is offered about the habitat or distribution. The raptors receive the most coverage while the passerines receive the least (i.e., 3-5 lines). There is only the sparsest of information given for vocalizations on some of the birds. There are also no range maps.

To help supplement the relatively thin text on identification, eleven tables are included in the back of the book. These provide a comparison list of the more difficult bird groups such as nightjars, warblers, rosefinches, and the Yellow and the White Wagtail subspecies.

This guide will serve you well in Nepal and is probably the second-best option, aside from the author’s combined Birds of India. A superior, but more expensive, book is the Birds of South Asia by Rasmussen.

If you’re looking at other titles by the author, Grimmett, keep in mind this Nepal guide is a sister-work of the northern and southern guides, which each come from the combined (but still condensed) Birds of India. These four books share many of the same plates and text. The combined India version includes range maps. Basically, if you own Birds of India, you already own everything in this book. And, these four books all come from the aforementioned larger work that has everything along with extensive, in-depth text.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives by Grimmett
2) Birds of India by Grimmett
3) Birds of South Asia – Volumes 1& 2 by Rasmussen
4) Birds of Nepal by Fleming
5) A Photographic Guide to Birds of the Himalayas by Grewal/Pfister
6) Guide to the Birds of Nepal by Inskipp
7) Field Guide to the Birds of Bhutan by Inskipp/Grimmett
8) Birds in Bhutan: Status and Distribution by Spierenburg
9) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of India by Grewal ( )