Authors: Chong Leong Puan, Geoffrey Davison & Kim
Chye Lim
Peninsula Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak have long been favoured
destinations for birders in Southeast Asia but somehow there
a quality field guide that covers the birds of the whole of
this bird-rich country has been slow in coming. Although Malaysia
has suffered much deforestation there are still large tracts
of quality habitat remaining that host a wide range of birds
that have become extinct in surrounding countries or have
become extremely scarce as well as a high number of endemic
species. With Birds of Malaysia Lynx Edicions have not only
brought together all of the birds found in this country while
bringing the taxonomy in line with other guides in this series.
The cover of this field guide is very visually appealing with
a high quality illustration of one of Malaysia's most iconic
birds; Helmeted Hornbill. This not only sets the tone for
the vibrancy of the plates in the book but fits in with the
colour code used in previous books in the series so that they
form a colour coded set of volumes on the shelf with the deep
yellow/light orange being for Asian countries and other colours
used for other continents. It can be seen that in this way
the publishers have given some thought to those who enjoy
collecting birding books and having them form part of the
decor of the room on the shelf. Indeed, the hard back version
of this field guide is very nice for browsing through while
sitting in a favourite armchair while the flexible, water-resistant
covered version is lightweight and not so easily damaged in
the field. The two versions of this field guide only differ
in the material used as the cover and in price, with the soft,
water-resistant version being cheaper; the entire contents
of this publication are reproduced in exactly the same format
and scale in both formats.
The plates are what ultimately makes or breaks a birding field
guide, along with accurate range maps and useful accompanying
text and all three of these aspects have been well dealt with
in previous publications in this series. This continues in
the Birds of Malaysia with high quality plates that are consistent
throughout the series of books presented alongside their range
maps to reduce confusion when referring to them. That national
rarities are included without range maps can be a little confusing
at times and for consistency I would have liked to have seen
them included, but this is a small thing. However, the strength
of the plates is that all distinctive subspecies are included,
some of which were commission especially for this book resulting
in a total of 1825 illustrations. Although the quality of
these are generally very good some species of Phylloscopus
warblers look like they have been coloured from exactly the
same outline while others are in different poses, making it
hard to compare these very similar birds. Many field guides
end up very cluttered as the publisher saves money by cutting
down the number of pages but through most of the Birds of
Malaysia this is not a problem with well-spaced plates and
range maps, although a few, including some of the raptors,
could have benefitted from better spacing for clarity. The
text that accompanies the plates and range maps is succinct
but contains useful information such as habitat preference,
short call descriptions that avoid rambling on meaninglessly
as some guides do, reference to each species status in Malaysia
as well as the names of the birds in Malay.
As with other guides published by Lynx Edicions the Birds
of Malaysia tackles the rapidly-changing taxonomy of birds
by dealing with distinct subspecies, that may be split in
the future, as separate taxons while including them under
the umbrella title of the species that they are generally
dealt with. This system is easy to understand as each potential
split is just deal with as a sub heading from the main species
and are listed next to each other, each with their own text.
In this way the book can remain relevant for many years whether
or not species are split or lumped. However, it must be remembered
that as with most field guides there will be new additions
to the Malaysian list which will render the book slightly
out of date, but in the fast moving world of birding this
is inevitable. QR codes are included as part of the species
accounts which lead birders who are online to further information
on each species including photographs, calls and text. The
taxonomy used in this field guide is the same as in others
in the series but may be novel to many birders who are not
familiar with the Handbook of the Birds of the World but as
these publications become more popular and cover more countries
this taxonomy is likely to become more well-known and ground-breaking.
The introduction to Birds of Malaysia is short, covering
the main habitats within the country, notes on the taxonomy
used and a useful section which gives brief details on Malaysia's
prime birding sites alongside an annotated map. I don't think
anything else is needed.
A lot of thought and expertise has clearly gone into the publication
of this field guide and my only small criticisms are that
the soft cover feels a little unfamiliar, although it seems
durable, while a few very similar species that need to be
compared are illustrated in different poses; swiftlets, Phylloscopus
warblers and some raptors fall into this category but for
most species they are presented in similar poses. Some birders
may not immediately take to the taxonomy they feel is being
forced upon them but the way the book is ordered it is relevant
to whichever taxonomy you use for listing. This up-to-date
book is highly recommended for birding trips to Malaysia and
a nice addition to the ever-growing collection of field guides
from this publisher. Get your own copy from the publisher
- Birds
of Malaysia.
Score: 9/10
Other Relevant Field Guides
Birds
of Borneo - Published in 2016 this field guide is
another in the series of user-friendly field guides by Helm.
A huge improvement on older guides and although the taxonomy
has already become a little dated it is still a decent option
for birders not travelling outside of Borneo.
Birds
of Southeast Asia - This field guide covers the
birds found in all countries of mainland Southeast Asia
and this is the most up to date version of the book, published
in 2011. Great for those birders traveling in several countries
in SE Asia but a little tricky to use in the field due to
its layout. This book is still the best guide to the whole
region though.
Birds
of Borneo
Birds
of Southeast Asia
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