Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands is a comprehensive guide to the bird life of Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Comoros, and the Mascarenes – an area that boasts high levels of endemism. This new, expanded edition is fully updated to reflect taxonomic changes, and now describes and illustrates 502 species. The species accounts cover the birds' appearance, basic behaviour, preferred habitats, geographical distribution and IUCN threat status. The text is complemented by newly designed plates with labels pinpointing key differentiating features. The introduction includes maps for each island, lists the region's 211 endemic species, and gives pointers on where to go bird-watching.
Ian Sinclair is recognized as one of Africa's foremost field birders. He is the most published author on the birds of Africa and its adjacent islands and has written over 20 bird books, best known of which are Sasol Birds of Southern Africa, Birds of Africa South of the Sahara and Complete Photographic Field Guide to Birds of Southern Africa.
Olivier Langrand was born and educated in France, and studied and worked in South Africa, Madagascar and Gabon. He has worked with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and for Conservation International, and travelled extensively throughout the southwestern Indian Ocean islands. Since 2012 he has been working for Island Conservation, an organization whose mission is to prevent extinctions of species on islands.