South African Field Guides

Field Guides to South Africa's Wildlife and Plants

Whether you're heading to the Kruger, birding in your garden or walking a fynbos trail, a good field guide helps you identify what you're seeing and understand how it lives. Readers Warehouse stocks over 200 field guides to the birds, mammals, trees, snakes, insects, wild flowers, tracks and night skies of southern and East Africa – from pocket-sized beginners' guides to the complete reference books – at discounted prices with delivery across South Africa.

Field guides by subject

• Birds: Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, Sasol Birds of Southern Africa, Newman's Birds of Southern Africa and the Pocket Guide: Birds of Southern Africa. See all bird books and bird guides.
• Mammals and tracks: Stuarts' Field Guide to Mammals of Southern Africa, the Mammals of Southern Africa Pocket Guide, Stuarts' Field Guide to Tracks and Signs and Pocket Guide: Tracks and Tracking. See the Stuarts' field guide series.
• Trees, flowers and plants: Pocket Guide: Trees of Southern Africa, the Photographic Guide to the Wildflowers of South Africa, Sappi Tree Spotting and fynbos, succulent, aloe and grass guides. See more Braam van Wyk books.
• Snakes, reptiles and frogs: Pocket Guide: Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa, A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa and Frogs of Southern Africa.
• Insects and spiders: Pocket Guide: Insects of South Africa, Field Guide to the Spiders of South Africa and butterfly and moth guides.
• Stars, rocks and more: Sky Guide (published every year by the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa), and guides to rocks, minerals, gemstones, mushrooms and seashore life.

Sasol First Field Guides for beginners

The Sasol First Field Guides are slim, pocket-sized introductions with colour photographs and easy-to-read text. Choose from birds, birds of prey, mammals, snakes, insects, spiders, frogs, trees, wild flowers, aloes, succulents, sharks and whales, skywatching and more. Many titles are also available in Afrikaans as the Eerste Veldgids series.

Field guides for children

The My First Book series introduces young naturalists to southern African wildlife with colourful illustrations. Titles include mammals, birds, snakes and other reptiles, insects and animal tracks, making them great for school projects and holidays in the bush.

Field guide FAQs

What is the best field guide for a Kruger safari?
For mammals, take Stuarts' Field Guide to Mammals of Southern Africa or the Mammals of Southern Africa Pocket Guide. For birds, try the Roberts Bird Guide to the Greater Kruger National Park or Kruger Birds: A Safari Guide. Game Ranger in Your Backpack covers mammals, birds, reptiles and plants together.

Which field guide is best for beginners?
The Sasol First Field Guides and the Struik Pocket Guides are compact, photo-led and easy to use. They're a great first step before moving on to the larger complete guides.

Do you sell field guides in Afrikaans?
Yes. We stock Afrikaans editions such as Sasol Voëls van Suider-Afrika, Newman se Voëls, Veldgids tot Bome van Suider-Afrika and the Sasol Eerste Veldgids series.

Do you deliver field guides across South Africa?
Yes. We deliver nationwide, and in-stock books usually dispatch within 1–3 working days. See our shipping page.

Looking for wildlife stories, conservation and photography too? Browse all wildlife and nature books.