Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies

Every bird that ever flew in a James Bond film, meticulously recorded by artist Taryn Simon.

In the book Field Guide to Birds of the West Indies (2015), artist Taryn Simon casts herself as James Bond (1900-1989) the ornithologist, and identifies, photographs and classifies all the birds that appear within the 24 films of the James Bond franchise.

As you might know, Ian Fleming, an active bird-watcher living in Jamaica, took the name "James Bond" from an American ornithologist who published the definitive taxonomy Birds of the West Indies. Fleming found the name "flat and colourless", a fitting choice for a character intended to be "anonymous ... a blunt instrument in the hands of the government." A Birds of the West Indies book can briefly be seen in Die Another Day, as a nod to this trivia fact.

The book is available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

About the author
Taryn Simon (born 1975) is a multidisciplinary artist who has worked in photography, text, sculpture and performance. Simon lives and works in New York.

Birds of the West Indies (2013)
In 2013, Taryn Simon released Birds of the West Indies, a photography art project with photos of Bond girls. Taryn photographed every actress who appeared as a Bond Girl, starting with Ursula Andress of Dr. No.

In October 2013 the project Birds of the West Indies was displayed at Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA. The art book is also still available on Amazon.