This is really the definitive book for novice birdwatchers in India, and remains very useful even as you grow more experienced. Its small size makes it much more portable and thus useful for field trips. The illustrations in the new edition are simply lovely and improve tremendously over those in the earlier editions. A must buy.

Beautiful hand drawn illustrations, detailed characteristics, habitat, calls and everything else you need to know to identify a bird. A real work of art.

Another edition of this famous book. The original was wonderful and this edition continues in the same vein. The keys are well done and easy to follow as are the illustrations. This book makes birding in the Indian hills a pleasure. If one can't make the trip this book is enjoyable just for reading and dreaming of such a birding adventure.

I used this book for three years while living in India. While its illustrations are not as robust or detailed as those of western field guides, they are usually adequate. First, and foremost, though, is that this volume is currently the ONLY book that contains all the species. Others contain a mere fraction. For that reason alone, this is the one book you should get for IDing birds in India. The rest lead only to disappointment, unless used in conjunction with this one.

This book is the illustration subset of the much larger Handbook, which comes in a 10-volume set (or in one tiny-print "compact" volume). The two work well together: one for your field forays, and one for the bookshelf back home. Be warned, though: the compact Handbook, while an exhaustive study of each species (including migration maps and exhumed stomach contents, etc.) is expensive when you can find it.