Best bird guides by region...Asia (1 Viewer)

[Andy Adcock]

Digbert

Possibly the most up to date

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Birds-South...20059&sr=1-4&keywords=birds+of+the+indian+sub

For butterflies

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Butterflies...40620130&sr=1-1&keywords=butterflies+of+india

reptiles

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photographi...=1440620175&sr=1-1&keywords=Reptiles+of+india


Andy

 

[Chlidonias]

There's a Mongolia guide in the pipeline, sadly too late for your trip.
.
http://www.wildsounds.com/products/2689-Helm-Field-Guide-Birds-of-Mongolia.shtml

Andy

yes, but how many years has that already been in the pipeline....?

 

[temmie]

Any ideas for Mongolia folks. My wife is heading there in September for a riding holiday and always keeps an eye out for birds.

Thanks

this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...of mongolia&qid=1440665852&ref_=sr_1_5&sr=8-5

if you can still find it!

If not: birds of E-Asia. Avoid the birds of China guide until something better comes out!

 

[Chlidonias]

this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...of mongolia&qid=1440665852&ref_=sr_1_5&sr=8-5

if you can still find it!

isn't that the same book which is now "due 2017" though? I thought it never came out despite being repeatedly "coming soon".

 

[Andy Adcock]

If you look it's not actually available, it is the same book.

Has anything been more delayed than Tits, and what happened to Cranes and Bustards!!!


Andy

 

[temmie]

I didn't realize it never came out. I really thought I had seen it somewhere on FB or the internet...? So it never was printed...? And Axel Braunlich withdrew from the author's list?

 

[Gretchen]

For South China

Well, I'm thinking about a new book for south China (Jiangxi province to be specific). I've seen both Birding South-East China (Woodward) and The Birds of Hong Kong and South China (Viney et al). Would anyone be able to compare them? Or possibly suggest a better alternative? I already have the East Asia -Brazil- and Birds of China -MacKinnon- books. I'm looking for something which would be a helpful supplement to those two general books - would either of the south China books add more do you think?

 

[dalat]

I saw that there is a new version of Robson's concise edition (short text, together with plates) of his Birds of SE Asia guide. https://www.nhbs.com/title/205520/birds-of-south-east-asia-concise-edition

However, it looks like just a reprint, without any changes to the content.

Please note, this is a reissue of New Holland Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia, formerly on the natural history list of New Holland publishers.

Pretty confusing these Robson guides, with 2 versions (large and concise), 2 editions (2000/2008) of the larger one, three different publishers (Priceton, New Holland, Bloomsbury) and a number of reprints, each with new cover...

As far as I understand, the content of the currently available prints still corresponds to the status of 2008 for the large version and 2005 for the concise one. Correct?

 

[Jim M.]

As far as I understand, the content of the currently available prints still corresponds to the status of 2008 for the large version and 2005 for the concise one. Correct?

That is my understanding as well.

 

[Gretchen]

Well, I'm thinking about a new book for south China (Jiangxi province to be specific). I've seen both Birding South-East China (Woodward) and The Birds of Hong Kong and South China (Viney et al). Would anyone be able to compare them? Or possibly suggest a better alternative? I already have the East Asia -Brazil- and Birds of China -MacKinnon- books. I'm looking for something which would be a helpful supplement to those two general books - would either of the south China books add more do you think?

And just found another choice: A Naturalist's Guide to the Birds of China (Southeast) (Yong, Yu, and Yang?). It was just printed in May it says, and authors are from Singapore, Guangzhou and HK. I wonder if it is more general in its approach (says it has "280 most representative" species of the region). Anyone heard of it? It seems to be part of a series....

 

[StarBurst6]

And just found another choice: A Naturalist's Guide to the Birds of China (Southeast) (Yong, Yu, and Yang?). It was just printed in May it says, and authors are from Singapore, Guangzhou and HK. I wonder if it is more general in its approach (says it has "280 most representative" species of the region). Anyone heard of it? It seems to be part of a series....

I have it and find it to be pretty good, though of course there are some species it doesn't cover.

 

[jimthom]

Indonesia: Bali, Komodo, Flores

How about Indonesia?

I'm hoping to go to Bali, Komodo, and Flores. Any field guides more up to date than MacKinnon and Phillips 1993 guide and more comprehensive than Strange's "A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Indonesia: Second Edition" (2012)?

Barring those two, I've got the Phillipp's field guide to the birds of borneo, 3rd ed. (2014). Not sure how much overlap there is there... Worth bringing? In addition to one of the other two? Instead?

 

[Papuan birder]

There is a second edition of Birds of Borneo by Susan Myers.

http://www.nhbs.com/title/207100/birds-of-borneo?bkfno=225725

 

[jimthom]

There is a second edition of Birds of Borneo by Susan Myers.

http://www.nhbs.com/title/207100/birds-of-borneo?bkfno=225725

Is the new Myers new enough and good enough to warrant replacing the 2014 3rd edition of Phillipps Birds of Borneo? And is there enough overlap with the birds of the Lesser Sundas to make a Borneo guide a better one to take in the absence of a more geographically specific one, like the two not so great ones I mentioned before?

 

[Papuan birder]

Is the new Myers new enough and good enough to warrant replacing the 2014 3rd edition of Phillipps Birds of Borneo? And is there enough overlap with the birds of the Lesser Sundas to make a Borneo guide a better one to take in the absence of a more geographically specific one, like the two not so great ones I mentioned before?

I very much doubt that you will find either Myers or Phillipps Borneo guides useful for the Lesser Sundas as apart from migrants they share very few species.

 

[jimthom]

I very much doubt that you will find either Myers or Phillipps Borneo guides useful for the Lesser Sundas as apart from migrants they share very few species.

Thanks. That's what I was thinking.

So I'm stuck with either the 2012 Strange http://www.amazon.com/Photographic-Guide-Birds-Indonesia-Edition/dp/0804842000 or the 1993 MacKinnon and Phillipps http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Birds-Borneo-Sumatra/dp/0198540345 ?

 

[Papuan birder]

Thanks. That's what I was thinking.

So I'm stuck with either the 2012 Strange http://www.amazon.com/Photographic-Guide-Birds-Indonesia-Edition/dp/0804842000 or the 1993 MacKinnon and Phillipps http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Birds-Borneo-Sumatra/dp/0198540345 ?

I would say your best alternative would be to borrow or trying to find a reasonably cheap copy of "A Guide to the Birds of Wallacea: Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia" by Coates and Bishop (1997).
http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Birds-Wallacea-Sulawesi-Indonesia/dp/0959025731

There is a new field guide for Indonesia in preparation but it is not due for publication until October at the earliest http://www.nhbs.com/title/207077/birds-of-the-indonesian-archipelago

 

[jimthom]

I would say your best alternative would be to borrow or trying to find a reasonably cheap copy of "A Guide to the Birds of Wallacea: Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia" by Coates and Bishop (1997).
http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Birds-Wallacea-Sulawesi-Indonesia/dp/0959025731

There is a new field guide for Indonesia in preparation but it is not due for publication until October at the earliest http://www.nhbs.com/title/207077/birds-of-the-indonesian-archipelago

Thanks. That sounds like about the best option. Too bad it looks like I'm going to miss the new guide by a hair. But that's the way things go. Thanks again so much.

 

[Bryon Wright]

Hi,
from the era of sensible shoes and putees, the Birds of Burma by Smythies can be downloaded freely now, from Wikipedia. This work should not be underestimated even though it is very dated.

 

[MJB]

Hi,
from the era of sensible shoes and putees, the Birds of Burma by Smythies can be downloaded freely now, from Wikipedia. This work should not be underestimated even though it is very dated.

I agree. I've used it in the field, and the keys to separating species are probably still invaluable.
MJB