Kenneth Newman (1924–2006)

Basics: 1992, softcover, 110 pages, 14 color plates, 75 species, range maps

As noted in the subtitle, this a supplement and not a complete field guide for Malawi. Due to Malawi’s geographic positioning, some of its birds are not covered in any of the books created for the birds of southern Africa. This small book includes the 75 Malawi birds not found in other guides (as of 1992).

The 14 good-quality, color plates illustrate 75 species. Many of these birds have multiple illustrations. The artistry is very good and will be effective for identifying the birds in the field. You might recognize the artistry of these plates, which are painted by the author (Newman) who published another excellent field guide, “Birds of Southern Africa.” In fact, the author notes this supplement should be used in combination with his larger guide.

Each bird is given one paragraph, with most of the text being dedicated to identification. Just as in the larger guide, this information is accurate and effective. Additional notes are given for the voice and habitat.

Range maps of Malawi are shown for each bird. Just one color is used to denote the bird’s range.

The last 2/3 of the book consists of four Malawi maps plus a checklist to all 620 species in Malawi. These four maps display altitude, parks, localities, and habitats.

You won’t really be able to use this book by itself in Malawi since it contains only a fraction of its birds. As noted by the author, you’ll need one of the complete field guides for southern Africa for 88% of Malawi’s birds and this small supplement for the other 12%.

I don’t know if Newman’s more recent version (2002) of his southern guide now includes these Malawi extras.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Newman's Birds of Southern Africa by Newman
2) Larger Illustrated Guide to Birds of Southern Africa by Sinclair/Arlott
3) Southern African Birds: A Photographic Guide by Sinclair
4) Complete Book of Southern African Birds by BHB International
5) The Birds of Zambia by Benson
6) A Field Guide to Zambian Birds Not Found in Southern Africa by Aspinwall
7) Birds of Southern Mozambique by Clancey
8) Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Stevenson/Fanshawe
9) Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania by Zimmerman et al.
10) Birds of Africa South of the Sahara by Sinclair/Ryan… (altro)

Basics: 1994, softcover, 97 pages, 206 species, rough b&w drawings

Disappointment. The concept of this book is good but its quality is poor. The elementary black-and-white sketches and the sparse, generic descriptions surprise me that Kenneth Newman would associate his name with a book so uncharacteristic of his other works.

This booklet illustrates (crudely) 206 South African species grouped into 99 different pairings. Each pairing compares look-alike, or similarly plumaged birds that can frustrate the birder when attempting to distinguish between them in the field (e.g., Greater, Lesser, and Miombo Double-collared Sunbirds).

The drawings are cartoonish depictions of the birds’ plumage patterns. Much of the shading is done by a computer with broad wavy lines or crosshatching to quickly fill in large spaces such as wings, back, or, sometimes, the entire bird such as the eagles. This gives a very cheap and distracting appearance.

The text for each bird is limited to 2-3 lines, each consisting of 2-6 words. Some comparisons are too general to be useful. For the three sunbirds mentioned above, the first distinguishing notes offered are: Long bill vs. Medium length bill vs. Similarity to D.C. Sunbird. This is not very useful, especially when the drawings make all three bills look the same. Using a ruler, they even measured out to the same illustrated length.

This book gives the appearance that a great idea was borne and then passed off to someone else of small talent to hastily create. Perhaps the best use of this book would be to take the 99 pairings offered by the authors and to then create your own footnotes that you extract from other field guides. I doubt this book will be of much use to you otherwise. You can take this book as seriously as you do its cover.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds of Southern Africa by Sinclair
2) Field Guide to the Birds of Southern Africa by Sinclair
3) Illustrated Guide to the Birds of Southern Africa by Sinclair
4) Newman's Birds of Southern Africa by Newman
5) Birds of Africa South of the Sahara by Sinclair/Ryan
5) Newman's Birds of Southern Africa by Peacock… (altro)