"The Birds of Africa" is also a 5-volume handbook by George Ernest Shelley

George Ernest Shelley

Captain George Ernest Shelley was an English geologist and ornithologist. He was a nephew of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley....

, published 1896-1912.

The Birds of Africa is a seven-volume ornithological handbook

Ornithological handbook

An ornithological handbook is a book giving summarised information either about the birds of a particular geographical area or a particular taxonomic group of birds...

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Its authors/editors were C. Hilary Fry, Stuart Keith

Stuart Keith

George Stuart Keith was an English ornithologist. He was a founder and first president of the American Birding Association, and a coeditor of The Birds of Africa series.-References:*...

 and Emil Urban, and each volume contained colour plates painted by Martin Woodcock. A Concise Edition is in preparation, with a planned publication date of 2010.

Content

It covers all breeding species in full, with details of range, status, description, voice, general habits and breeding; non-breeding visitors are treated more briefly, with emphasis on their status and behaviour whilst in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

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Volumes

The series contained the following volumes:

1. Ostriches to Falcons, published in 1982
2. Gamebirds to Pigeons, published in 1986
3. Parrots to Woodpeckers, published in 1988
4. Broadbills to Chats, published in 1992
5. Thrushes to Puffback Flycatchers, published in 1997
6. Picathartes to Oxpeckers, published in 2000
7. Sparrows to Buntings, published in 2004