Customer Reviews

Birds of the Philippines (A Photographic Guide)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Basics: 2000, softcover, 144 pages, color photos of 214 species, no range maps

Like others of its kind, this compact guide provides color photos for 214 species found on the islands of The Philippines. This represents about 1/3 of the nearly 570 birds found here. A fair sampling of species from the various families is given.

These photos are pretty good for 85% of the birds, despite all of them being somewhat small as necessitated by the size of the book. Just one photo is given for each bird. For the other 15% of the birds, these photos show a pose from behind or below that is not helpful or, a pose that does not show the necessary field marks well enough. Some of the photos are too dark, too distant, or too grainy. A couple of birds are slightly obscured by foliage.

The text is a brief paragraph that focuses primarily on the description of the bird to aid in identification. This will be helpful some of the time. For some birds, a comparison is made to a similar species. Some additional short notes are offered on behavior, habitat, or voice.

Use this guide like you should all its similar congeners - only as a practice tool in conjunction with a complete field guide.

I've listed several related books below...
1) A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines by Kennedy et al.
2) Birds of the Philippines by Gonzales/Rees
3) Philippine Birds by du Pont
4) Birds of New Guinea et al.
5) Birds of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago by Coates
6) A Field Guide to the Birds of West Malaysia and Singapore by Jeyarajasingam/Pearson
7) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Indonesia by Strange
8) A Guide to the Birds of Wallacea by Coates/Bishop

This book was exactly what I needed for casual birding during a two week trip to the Philippines. It was inexpensive but had great color photos and good written descriptions that enabled me to easily identify birds sighted. It includes 214 of the 570 known species. It was even the perfect size - a little narrower than the average paperback book so that it could easily slide into my pants pocket.

I'm very happy I purchased this book. It includes the most commonly seen bird species(but not all the species)in the Philippines. The pictures are of real birds and not drawings. Good descriptions of the birds and field markings, and an idea where to find them. Also, an overview of the best birding areas in the country. This pocket guide will be with me on my next trip over.