Customer Reviews

A Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia

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

 

 

For a long time there was only one bird guide for the region, King and Dickinson's Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. This well written book did not illustrate all the species, and many of the illustrations were in black and white. Also in the version I own at least, the plates are scattered throughout the text, making things a little hard to find at times.

In 1991 Lekagul and Round's Birds of Thailand came out, and more recently Jeyarajasingam and Pearson's Birds of West Malaysia and Singapore appeared. These last two cover only Thailand and the Malaysian part of the Malay peninsula, respectively. They are both good books and certainly a traveler to these areas will find them useful.

Now we have this new book by Robson. Here is proof that an "international" guide, one that covers over 1200 species, doesn't need to be a doorstop. This volume is slim and weighs less than some guides that cover fewer species. But it doesn't skimp on information. The well written species entries all are numbered sequentially, that same number appears along with a brief description opposite the bird's image on the plate. For me at least, this makes the book easy to use.

The text includes voice descriptions, detailed habitat information (generally more than the region's other guides), descriptions of all distinctive plumages, and nesting information, etc. For the more serious student, there is some mention of subspecies and their ranges. There are no range maps, a defect for some people, but the succinct range descriptions are coupled to a map at the front of the book, and are easy to comprehend.

Finally the plates. These are generally excellent, and fairly even in quality, in spite of having been produced by 14 artists! They are clumped together near the front of the book and are crowded as one would expect with over 1200 species to cover. That said, these are in general, easily the best illustrations for birds of this region to date. There may be a species here or there that is better represented in one of the other guides, but here the artists more reliably capture the look of the birds.

In my copy the printing is sharp, and the images are clear. To close, this book picks up where King and Dickinson's left off. We have an expanded species list and more information generally, than that work. And a set of really nice color plates. If packing light means taking only one guide with you, then this is the one to get.

This is a very well done book on birds of SE ASIA .Long over due,considering the high intrest in the area,among Birders,Ornithologists,and ecotravelers.Most books of this Type sell out fast.It is very easy to use.The plates are very well done.It would be better if it had a Country list along with range maps ,and bird sizes in inches.A high quality book well worth the money.

This guide has been raved about in the birding press, but to me a feild guide needs to be easier to use. No range maps, no sizes and pictures away from the text results in a guide that is not as good as Kings. The best book for this area is still Lekagul and Round's Birds of Thailand.

Good book with excellent illustrations and descriptions. Birders comming to SE Asia will find it very helpful if not indispensible. Only one problem though there are no distribution maps which would have come in handy

I bought this book on a last-minute trip notice to Indonesia and boy what a mistake it was. Perhaps I was the only one, but Craig Robson's Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia refers to part of SEA north of Singapore (He does list the countries on the cover). This is just a reminder to those who might, as I thought, assume Indonesia would be included in his guide to SEA birds.

Otherwise, Robson's guide to birds of SEA was useful for identifying birds in Singapore and East and West Malaysia so far. With nicely illustrated Plates for clear and clean identification, except for the tailor birds which had the colours right but were not illustrated too professionally.

Other downsides is that it is a little bulky for long trips into the field and that there are no size guides or range diagrams. Otherwise, if you're planning a trip to the part of SEA (that excludes Indonesia) this is a worthy book to have with you. Though if you're planning trips to specific territories, I'd suggest you buy the relevent country's guide.

For bird watching in any area, a good field guide is as important as a good set of binoculars. Seeing the bird is only the first, allbeit a critical step in identification. A field guide that gives the distinguishing features, the habitat and the most similar birds allows a positive identification. Robson's Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia fills the need for the identification for birds in this important birding area extending from Viet Nam to Borneo.
If there was to be an improvement it would be to make it more into a field tolerant guide with a slightly smaller, perhaps lighter format to fit into the pack. With such a wide area being covered, maps of areas where the birds have been seen would help for those of us who can be geographically challenged in a new area. That aside, his descriptions of the birds is excellent and complete. If you go birding in SE Asia, this guide is a necessary part of your field equipment.

In Taiwan, I compared to those books which guide to migratory birds.
I found Craig Robson's book is more precise than others.
Although hes never been there, Taiwan.