This fully updated edition of the award-winning "A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia" includes more than 20 new species for the region which are recent discoveries, taxonomic 'splits' or have been recorded there for the first time. There are many new artworks and this edition has 16 more colour plates than the original, meaning fewer species per plate and therefore larger images of each species. The text has also been meticulously updated to take in the latest information on each species. The vast diversity of South-East Asian birdlife attracts increasing numbers of birdwatchers each year. This comprehensive field guide to the region covers all of the 1,300 species recorded there and each has been fully illustrated.Covering Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, this unique and indispensable guide covers in detail the identification, voice, breeding, status, habitat and distribution of all the species and distinctive subspecies of the region.
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About the Author
Craig Robson has visited South-East Asia many times in the past 25 years, and he has seen and studied more bird species of that region than anyone else in Europe. He helped launch the thriving Oriental Bird Club and served on the Council of the OBC for five years, writing numerous papers in their journal during that time. Craig is based in Norfolk, England. A selection of leading artists, including Richard Allen, Hilary Burn, Clive Byers, Daniel Cole, John Cox, Antony Disley, Martin Elliott, Mike Langman, Ian Lewington, Andrew Mackay, Stephen Message, Chris Schmidt, Jan Wilczur and Tim Worfolk, have been specially commissioned to provide the full-colour identification plates.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Between February and April 2006 I tested my copy in the field while birding in Laos: It is an excellent field guide! It is very practical: plastic cover, compact and light enough for field use, texts and illustrations facing each other, good descriptions of species, relevant sub-species, voices, habitats and ranges. In addition the illustrations by 14 different artists are generally good to very good. I recorded about 160 species in two months and was able to easily identify several species new to me thanks to the good quality of the illustrations and the text.
One day while birding around Vientiane my Robson's field guide fell into the mud by accident. It was instantly covered with mud but thanks to its plastic cover, I could easily clean it and continue to use it as before. Most field guides don't automatically come with such a plastic cover and would be permanently damaged in similar circumstances!
I have used some other top quality field guides in other regions of the world: Collins Bird Guide by Mullarney, Svensson, Zetterström and Grant (1999) in Europe, Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (2003) in USA, Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Stevenson and Fanshawe (2002) in Kenya and Pocket Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Grimmet, Inskipp and Inskipp (2001) in Nepal, among others. By comparison I find this new version of Birds of South-east Asia excellent! Describing 1270 species with so much text and so many good illustrations in such a compact field guide is a major achievement! However, some may complain that it uses the Sibley & Monroe taxonomic order and that species distributions are described only in the text without distribution maps.... Read more ›
One day while birding around Vientiane my Robson's field guide fell into the mud by accident. It was instantly covered with mud but thanks to its plastic cover, I could easily clean it and continue to use it as before. Most field guides don't automatically come with such a plastic cover and would be permanently damaged in similar circumstances!
I have used some other top quality field guides in other regions of the world: Collins Bird Guide by Mullarney, Svensson, Zetterström and Grant (1999) in Europe, Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (2003) in USA, Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Stevenson and Fanshawe (2002) in Kenya and Pocket Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Grimmet, Inskipp and Inskipp (2001) in Nepal, among others. By comparison I find this new version of Birds of South-east Asia excellent! Describing 1270 species with so much text and so many good illustrations in such a compact field guide is a major achievement! However, some may complain that it uses the Sibley & Monroe taxonomic order and that species distributions are described only in the text without distribution maps.... Read more ›
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Robson has taken on the monumentous task first tackled by Ben King thirty years ago; to produce a guide to all the birds of South- East Asia, and he's as good as pulled it off! I used this book on the standard Thai circuit during 4 weeks of early 1999. First of all I would say that the book fails to live up to it's title "A Field Guide......" It should have been designed with use in the field as its prime concern, disappointingly this aspect was not that successful. I left my Rounds Guide to the Birds of Thailand in someones car at Heathrow and that was a mistake. Secondly the lack of distribution maps at all, let alone next to the plates, made the successful identification of unfamiliar birds a slow process, it was my first time to South-East Asia so there were plenty of them! I found having to read distribution notes first very slow and frustrating. Thirdly Robson chose to follow Sibley and Monroe's taxonomy, the rights and wrongs of which are not for this review, however again this slowed down my task of identifing a bird quickly in the field and no one else on our trip was totally familiar with this classification. So why 4 stars? The plates are on the whole superb, particularly Christopher Schmidt's glorious Thrushes,Redstarts and Flycatchers, Stephen Message's Babblers and Scimitar and Wren Babblers and Clive Byers's brilliant Pittas and Laughingthrushes, just look at Spotted and Blue-winged. Hilary Burn's Owls are exquisite. Perhaps as skilfully completed is the scholarly text. Robson is a giant of the South-East Asian birding scene and it shows. The small text in the species accounts is a mine of information, 100% up-to-date and unbelievably detailed making identification of those female Ficedula's an eventual formality.... Read more ›
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By C. Walford
Format:Hardcover
An attractive looking book but is suited more as a reference book than a field guide due to it's weight. I'm afraid the lack of maps is a major omission - whether I'm in S.America, India or SE Asia one of the standard ways of eliminating birds for ID purpses is by checking its range on a map. I also prefer the Collins layout of placing relevant information opposite illustrations, rather than having to checking a plates number and referring to data in the second half of the book -its just easier to use. I've bought it to take to Vietnam and Cambodia and scanning through the sections describing bird's ranges have only found one reference to Vietnam so far. I'm sure it must be described in a different way - but it isn't obvious.
Its strengths lie in the area it covers and the number of birds it describes. If you are travelling through the whole area this guide covers and had to take a separate guide for each country, this guide would seem light and easy to use.
So is it worth getting? Well it might sound like I'm suggesting it isn't but it's the most up to date guide of the area and I haven't yet found a guide that can beat it. I'm sure that in the future as more interest is taken in the area guides will emerge for individual countries with the information in a more accessible form. However for the time being it is the best guide I've come across for the area so I'm happy to have it.
Its strengths lie in the area it covers and the number of birds it describes. If you are travelling through the whole area this guide covers and had to take a separate guide for each country, this guide would seem light and easy to use.
So is it worth getting? Well it might sound like I'm suggesting it isn't but it's the most up to date guide of the area and I haven't yet found a guide that can beat it. I'm sure that in the future as more interest is taken in the area guides will emerge for individual countries with the information in a more accessible form. However for the time being it is the best guide I've come across for the area so I'm happy to have it.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I wanted one field guide that would cover Thailand and Cambodia, and this is the only choice. The plates are just big enough for clarity and to show differential details between species; the information on distribution by area and season was again enough to work from - and better than using more space for maps that would have been far too generalised. To get this much into so small a book and make it so useful is a job well done. Recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Invaluable as a guide on hilidays
Have taken this book on last three trips to Malaysia and found it a wonderful and accurate aid in recognising the local birds.
Published 28 days ago by J M Foster
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very useful
A little heavy to carry around and would be much improved with maps as per the excellent Collins Bird Guide
Published 3 months ago by Mr. David J. Hodgson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic guide for the price
There are not many guides for the region. I am travelling to Malaysia and wanted a nice, handy bird guide that I can learn the birds. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Frantisek Bednar
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best birding book for Thailand
This is "The Book" to get for birding in Thailand. For the customer who complains that its not as well designed as the Collins Bird Guide. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Jason R. Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant guide and better without maps
Many reviewers complain of the lack of maps in this excellent guide. I disagree entirely (and I do a great deal of birding around the world, using regional guides) This is one of... Read more
Published 18 months ago by mrs andrea h lowe
5.0 out of 5 stars
A field guide to the birds of South East Asia
A field guide to a birds of South-East Asia is a excellent product. It provides all informations for a clear bird identification. Read more
Published 20 months ago by ambrogio lamesta
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good identification field guide but somewhat lacking in maps and...
I classify myself as a "bad" birdwatcher rather than a twitcher but enjoy viewing birds in my travels round the world. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Dr. I. Cox
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good pics, but needs maps
On the plus side, I would say that the pictures are good and it's nice to get all the birds from this large and varied region into a guide that is perfectly useable in the field. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2011 by Stephen Vaughan
4.0 out of 5 stars
ticks all the boxes
Still to use this field guide in the field as my holiday was cancelled, but I can say this about the book the artwork is very good perhapes not up to the standard of the new... Read more
Published on 24 April 2010 by Stephen
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fits the bill !
The art work is good, and the book fits the pocket and appears well bound.
The shear number of bird species and the need for portability - it is a field guide - means there is... Read more
The shear number of bird species and the need for portability - it is a field guide - means there is... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2009 by J. Donaldson
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