Basics: 1990, softcover, 180 pages, 101 color photos, 280 b&w drawings, 360 species, range maps, seasonal charts

This book is a hybrid between an atlas and a minimal photo guide. All the birds of the United Arab Emirates are discussed here. The seasonal status and distribution of each bird is covered in 3 – 16 lines, depending on its frequency in the country. This is not an identification guide but a reference book describing the presence of the birds in the country.

Most (280) of the birds are depicted with a good black-and-white drawing. The 20 plates contain 95 species, which are shown in 101 color photographs. These represent the resident and expected visitors to the country. While some of the photos are a bit small, they are generally good. These photos were meant to showcase some of the UAE birds and not to act as a field guide. There are other books for that.

All of the birds have a seasonal status chart which is made up of a horizontal bar with all twelve months. The varying darkness of the shading represents the abundance of the bird during the year. Range maps represent the breeding ranges for about 75 species.

Lastly, 26 pages are dedicated to birding locations in the UAE. These locations are shown with maps along with notes on the area’s habitat along with a list of expected birds.

This is book is a good data reference for those people wishing to get an overview of the UAE's birds, at least as of 1990 when this book was written. I'm glad to have added it to my library. ( )