Commonly recognised bird families are colour coded and keyed to colour tags. It features over 830 species of birds and contains about 3500 bird paintings and 800 multicoloured maps showing ranges, density and subspecies. Its unique system of identification is unequalled in clarity. In 1965, he published a bird calendar, Wild Australia , and after that successful beginning, more than 40 natural history and landscape titles, some award winners, have been published, including the 1991 winner of the Whitley Award, Australian Birds in the Wilderness . Text on each species is arranged in a strictly adhered to, logical pattern, with cross-reference to separate breeding section.
Maps use light, medium and dark tints of colour to define variances in range.
Different colours are used for subspecies. Simple, clear design allows horizontal linking of information to painting. Descriptions of physical characteristics are arrowed to the relevant part of the paintings.