Book Review – A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand and South East Asia – Fully Updated
By Craig Robson – (2008)
546 pages; gloss art paper, with 120 plates containing some 3600 colour illustrations, 3 monochrome technical drawings & 2 maps.
Soft Cover: 24cm x 15.5cm.
ISBN: 978-1-78009-495-3
Asia Books, Bangkok Thailand
Among the numerous books available on Thailand’s birds and South East Asia generally, none that I am aware of cater for Thailand and neighboring countries as this book does. It beautifully covers 1,327 species, an update of an extra 76 species from the previous (2000) edition, with an additional 16 colour plates of 172 new drawings with many of the previously published drawings elaborated and enriched. Among the 3600 individual colour illustrations of the species, variation of the adult male and females including juveniles are artistically and expertly depicted.
After a brief introduction and explanation of recent (at the time) taxonomic changes based on molecular studies and a fairly comprehensive list of references, the book launches into the excellent colour plates. Opposite each plate is a brief, helpful description of the species concerned. Further detailed physical description and notes on habitat, distribution (both global and local), breeding, behavior, voice calls, nest construction and data on egg clutches are provided in a separate section of the book.
This is an excellent book and no doubt of those currently available, the only comprehensive and reliable treatment of Thailand’s 925 odd species of birds. In fact, it would be pretty hard to improve on this book, assuming no new species were to be discovered in Thailand. However, with the Thai western forest belt so poorly surveyed both floristically and faunistically, new national records or possibly even new species may certainly lie in wait of discovery. That aside, this is a great book and anyone interested in the Birds of Thailand or neighboring countries should most definitely possess this essential reference.
Rod Rice
Principal Reviewer
Nature & Travel Books