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A Guide to the Birds of Thailand
by Boonsong Lekagul and Philip D. Round

A Guide to the Birds of ThailandTitle: A Guide to the Birds of Thailand

Publisher:
Saha Karn Bhaert, January 1991

ISBN: 978-9748567365

Authors: Boonsong Lekagul & Philip D. Round

This classic book was the first guide to the region featuring all species in 135 colour plates and published in 1991 it is still a useful tool when birding in Thailand. Several features of this book were excellent innovations; the key to bird groups on the opening page being one with the inclusion of the Thai names for each species being another, something which has created an interest in the local population and ultimately has contributed to the rise of bird watching and conservation amongst Thais.

A very interesting feature of this book is that the first 34 pages are devoted to providing information on habitat types, regional highlights and gives some indication to the key birding sites within the country and some of the tips given in this section are very useful indeed.

The illustrations in this guide are adequate for their purpose, usually capture the correct pose of the birds and attempt to point out some of the diagnostic features of most species. Some of the illustrations seem a little "cartoonish" but in actuality are extremely useful for identification, more so than many more detailed illustrations in other books; the picture of Bay Owl is a good example of this. Some bird families could have been dealt with better though, particularly the Hornbills; the size and magnificence of these birds doesn't come across at all, although they are always adequate for identification. The only group of birds that aren't illustrated comprehensively enough to always identify birds seen in the field is the raptors, which don't show enough plumage variations for those not already competant with these difficult species to confidently make an identification.

The text for each species is not particularly extensive, probably due to neccessity considering the number of species involved, but is very selective in the information it gives; only giving call descriptions where sensible and describing behaviour that is helpful in identification. An indication of the abundance of the species is given, which can be very useful, but can often be slightly out of date. Another helpful inclusion is that of describing the habitat and altitudes where the species can typically be found.

The main weakness of this pioneering book is the fact that it has never been updated, so that much of the information is out of date; particularly the distribution maps and abundance. Since publication a large number of species have been added to the Thai list and a number of others have been split; obviously these are not included in this book and some species are referred to by their old, pre-split, names which may sometimes prevent correct identification.

Overall this is a good book which I still consider useful to any birders in Thailand despite the fact that it is out of date and does not now contain a full set of Thailand's birds. There are still copies of this classic book available online - Birds of Thailand

Score: 7/10

 
Other Relevant Books

Birds of ThailandBirds of Thailand - Published in 2018 this field guide was based on the taxonomy used in Handbook of the Birds of the World with several new plates created on consultation with the authors. Inclusion of all subspecies know to occur in Thailand makes this book excellent as it makes it relevant to all taxonomies while antipating future splits.

Birds of Southeast AsiaBirds of Southeast Asia - This field guide covers the entire range of known species 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 traveling in several countries but a little tricky to use in the field due to its layout, although it is still the best guide to the whole region.

Bird Guide of ThailandBird Guide of Thailand - This pioneering field guide, first published in 1974, covers the species known in Thailand at that time, making it far from complete from the avifauna currently known. However, this is still a nice book and certainly one that Thailand birders will want to add to their collection, containing useful species accounts.

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