Parrots of the World

by Joseph M. Forshaw

1978, PP.584, Beautiful Color Illustrations By William T. Cooper, Distribution Maps

Genres: Birds, Nonfiction, Nature, Natural History, Animals

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing visuals

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Double Yellow-Head Amazon is 35 years old. I got this book when he was a baby and started reading it in 1985. I finished it this week. Not one you flip through in a few days. It is so comprehensive, there is probably nothing about parrots not in this book. If you have a bird-buddy, you need this book. It is nearly $150 NEW ON Amazon and worth it. This is probably the longest I have ever taken to read a book, which is hilarious to me as an avid reader. I almost didn't list it here, but then I decided to review what is the encyclopedia of parrots. Oddly enough, I'm ready to start reading it again for the information. I've forgotten over the years. The illustrations are really beautiful and very instructive. Sadly, with deforestration and encroaching human populations, many of these species have gone extinct or soon will Books like this may be the only place one will see them.

[Mathew White · Rating 5 out of 5]

William T Cooper's illustrations really do take the early editions of this book to another level, as all of his collaborations with Forshaw have. Ever since i was enabled limited minutes with my local library's copy of the first edition at the age of 9, the book had me (already gripped by parrot mania) under a spell which more than 10 years later has yet to subside. I felt almost unworthy of owning a copy, but as of 2017 that has been the case (a second printing of the first edition at that). The beauty of parrots is at times indescribable in human terms but Cooper's brush and Forshaw's text have come the closest to achieving that feat in my eyes. It will always be as influential as Audubon's "Birds Of America" to me and deserves the highest praise a book can achieve.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to review a book like this, especially when you're not an expert. It's a bird guide. It's about parrots. If you've ever seen a parrot of any kind, ranging from the smallest parrotlet to the giant Hyacinth Macaw, it's in here.

I love the pictures, and I frequently look at this book if I'm depressed. Parrots always look happy. I know that's just the way their beaks and faces are built, but there it is. Like dolphins, they have a built-in smile.

Unlike most bird books, it's organized by region. That's useful--maybe even essential. At the macro scale, parrot territories don't overlap. You won't find a New World parrot in Africa or Australia, or vice versa (unless it's an escaped pet).

My one complaint is that this book says way too often that such-and-such a bird is "unmistakable." That's birder for "this bird looks so different from anything else, you're an idiot if you can't figure it out." And, yeah, if you're in Costa Rica and see a big bird (roughly 3 feet long) with lots of red (and blue, and green, and yellow), it's sorta probably a Scarlet Macaw. But have some more respect for the readers, please. Lots of things aren't "unmistakable" until you've seen them a few dozen times.

Parrots are extraordinarily intelligent, and a distressing number of species are endangered. They tend to live in areas that are subject to deforestation; they're also frequently the victims of unethical animal traders. Parrots of the World shows you what we're losing.

As far as the edition: Goodreads shows several books with the same titles, but different publishers and dates, by the same author. I don't know to what extent they differ. (I believe several of them are completely different books happen to have the same titles and authors.) While I'm usually cavalier about editions, my review is of the 2010 Princeton University Press print edition, although Goodreads only lists an ebook.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must if you love parrots, like I do. Each species is given a beautiful plate illustration, as well as a map of known locations, samples of calls and status. The last section is dedicated to extinct (or thought to be) parrots - the Carolina Parakeet could have lived as far west as my state, Illinois. Highly recommended.

[Allisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book in roughly three days, several hours each day. I did not get around to it for a while though, after I started it. Although many of the information in the book is outdated, it was a wonderful scientific read several decades ago. The pictures are very pretty, the general descriptions of the parrots are valuable, and most of the book is still true today.