Field Guide to the Wildlife of New Zealand Paperback – July 24, 2018

I am planning a trip that will include New Zealand in it and was looking for a wildlife guide that would be pretty comprehensive without being too bulky. This book really hits the mark. What I like about it is that is fairly comprehensive, at least in some areas. The number of birds actually exceeds my photographic "Birds of New Zealand". The photographs are good and a decent attempt is made to id birds.The mammal, amphibian, Reptile, and especially botanical sections are also quite good as are the land invertebrates.. Decent locality information to help locate target species, but would recommend other resources for really nailing down things for you 'must see' list.The marine snails are very limited and I see at least one error right off; the 'Triton' is not a triton, but rather a shell known as the Ostrich foot (related to a conch) '. The author clearly is not emphasizing marine organisms and there is no attempt to include fish (save the Mottled Triplefin)and that's the only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars Still that would add a lot more weight to this book which is a nice sized field guide and I suspect not all that many travelers worry about fish, mollusks, and the like.Oh, heck, I'm being too picky. Fitter's earned five stars.

I am heading to the South Island to study abroad for a semester, and since I'm pretty into photography, I thought I'd try my hand at some wildlife photography while I'm in such an exotic and wild environment for one of the first times. I wanted a small field guide to have with me while tramping and hiking so I'll be able identify the species of plant and animal I encounter. I have several older field guides for the region of North America in which I live, but never found them particularly appealing to take on hikes since they were usually either too bulky or not really concise enough for quick identifications. This field guide is perfect. It's very small, but quite detailed, and is going to be perfect for me on my trip. Can't wait to see some of the incredible flora and fauna listed in the field guide. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a flora and fauna identification book.

I found the book very useful when it came to determining which species were introduced and which were native. It's good for plants and mammals but needed an additional guide for birds.

My son LOVES this book. I ordered it for him to take with him for a study abroad class in NZ and wanted him to have it before Xmas. It was scheduled to arrive After Xmas, but we got it two days before! He carried it around with him everywhere and said it was well written, easy to use and great photos!

I carried this with me across the north and south islands and quickly found it to be an essential part of my luggage. I was initially looking for a bird ID book, but took a gamble with this more inclusive text and am happy I did -- the info on plants and other animals was equally useful and interesting. I especially appreciated the bits of background info, invasive status, and natural history facts.

Excellent guide! Not only includes the most common birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, trees, and wildflowers, but also many of the several 100 ferns. Lots of additional information on New Zealand's natural characteristics as well. Highly recommended for any traveler to NZ who has any interest in the natural world.

Seems like a great compact guide. We can’t wait to use it in October!

Very wonderful book

Seems to have detail on anything that lives or grows in new Zealand. Really compact for the volume of information in there. Very nice photos of everything. Pocket sized as well.

Acheté en tant que cadeau, j'ai pu le regarder et le feuilleter. Parfait pour partir en voyage, livre solide et facile à naviguer.

Viel muss ich eigentlich nicht hinzu fügen! Ich bin so froh, dass wir uns dieses Büchlein für unseren Neuseelandurlaub besorgt haben! Wenn man Interesse daran hat, die ungewöhnlichen Arten dieser tollen Inseln kennen zu lernen, sollte dieses Buch unbedingt im Reisegepäck landen! Hätten wir diesen tollen Natureguide nicht dabei gehabt, würden wir uns wahrscheinlich noch immer fragen, was das alles für komische Vögel waren, die wir dort gesehen haben. Wir fanden jede einzelne Art, die wir hier drin suchten! Sehr schön finde ich auch, dass jeweils die Bedrohungsstati und Vermerke bzgl. einheimisch, endemisch usw., ebenso wie die Maori-Namen bei den Arten dabei stehen!

I bought this book on my return from a trip to New Zealand so that I could look back over the wildlife that I encountered there. It is a good, little book for that purpose, although if you want a specific bird or plant guide to aid with spotting, this may not be for you. I would have preferred to buy a guide in NZ itself but they were so expensive over there that this was a better option. Good quality images provided with a nice, clear paragraph for each item and including their origin and geographical spread.

Respektive die Natur von Neuseeland ist umfassend fotografiert, gut aufgeteilte Gruppen. Noch war ich nicht im Lande und konnte den Naturführer durch Nord- und Südinsel testen, finde aber jetzt schon, dass der Band sehr hilfreich sein wird. Denn da ist alles drin: Pflanzen und Tiere. Wer sein Wissen zu bestimmten Tiergruppen oder einzelnen Pflanzenvorkommen vertiefen will, findet in diesem Buch schon mal gute Grundlagen und einen ausgezeichneten Einstieg. Okay - alles auf Englisch, aber da auch die lateinischen Namen angegeben sind, ist im Notfall ja einen deutsche Entsprechung übers Internet schnell zu finden. Und es gibt einen solch umfassenden Band nun mal nicht in deutscher Sprache.