Hawaii

by Les Beletsky

Travellers to Hawaii go for sun, sand, and surf, but increasingly leave the beach for part of their stay to explore the islands' incredible natural attractions: stunning mountain scenery, wonderful hiking trails, glimpses of birds—many of them highly endangered—that occur nowhere else on Earth. In this book is all the information you need to find, identify, and learn about Hawaii's unique land animals and magnificent sea life. o Identification and location information on the most frequently seen animals, including essentially every bird species that occurs in the main Hawaiian Islands (and on Midway Atoll). o Color illustrations of nearly 400 of Hawaii's most common insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. o Up-to-date information on the ecology, behavior, and conservation of profiled animals. o Information on Hawaiian habitats and on the most common plants visitors encounter. o A section on Hawaii's famous coral reefs and on the underwater animals most snorkelers and divers actually see. o Brief descriptions of Hawaii's most frequently visited parks and reserves. Easy-to-carry, entertainingly written, beautifully illustrated—you will want to have this book as constant companion on your journey.

Genres: Field Guides, Birds, Nonfiction

520 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2000

Reviews

[John Isles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The full title is "Travellers' Wildlife Guides: Hawaii." There are many books about different aspects of Hawaii's wildlife, but this book has it all in a single volume, so it was the one we took along with us during recent visits to Oahu and to the Big Island of Hawaii. It can be read as a complete textbook of natural history as represented by the habitats and species found in Hawaii, while almost half the volume is an identification guide to the most common plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, underwater life, insects, and other arthropods to be seen there. We found that Hawaii's wildlife is so varied, and for the most part so different from what we're familiar with from Europe and the US Midwest, that we couldn't actually identify many things from the book during our all-too-short stay in the islands. That means we'll have to go back, and when we do we'll certainly take this book along.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for environmentally conscious and curious travelers. Hawaii has so many endemic species, habitats and environmental issues, that I found this book most helpful in being aware of the uniqueness of the different islands I was on (even at resorts!) The second half of the book is a field guide, with detailed pictures or photos of different animals and plants you may encounter in addition to their islands and habitats, where they came from and endangered status.

This book is a must have for all venturing to this islands!

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful book for planning a trip. Great background information on the islands. The identification plates were very helpful. I used the bird section quite a bit. We were able to identify some coral and sea slugs from the plates too.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used this for a homeschool study of Hawaii.