New Books

For an island as important faunistically as Borneo it has been somewhat of an enigma that there has never been a comprehensive dedicated bird field guide available. Previously, avaiable references for the avian fauna of Borneo were rather few, the main field guide in use by birdwatchers being A Field Guide to the Birds of Boreo, Sumatra, Java and Bali by Mackinnon and Phillipps, first published in 1993 which, though excellent, was badly in need of revision nor was it specific for Borneo. The hefty and encylopaedic Birds of Borneo by B. E. Smythies, revised recently in 1999, has and will probably always be the standard reference for this island, but it is unfortunately too large to be practical for field use.

Recently (late 2009), not one but two field guides (detailed below) have been published treating the birds of Borneo. Both of these are excellent portable references for birdwatchers and naturalists, and make readily available all the latest information, updated taxonomic changes, and Bornean species additions. Being released so closely together, many people will naturally want to compare them and decide which is more suitable for their field use. However I find that the information contained in each book is quite complementary and any serious Bornean naturalist will probably find it useful to have both books on hand.

Both books are available for mail-order purchase from Nature's Niche in Singapore.

A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo
By Susan Myers

Released in August 2009, this is the first field guide to comprehesively cover the entire 631 species of birds in Borneo. Following a brief introductory chapter on Borneo and its avifauna, the guide treats each species complete with a detailed description and a color distribution map. This book recognizes quite a few recent nomenclatural changes to Borneo's birds, notably numerous splits of species from their Southeast-Asian counterparts, thereby effectively giving the island more endemics. These include: Bornean Frogmouth (Batrachostomus mixtus), Bornean Leafbird (Chloropsis kinabaluensis), Bornean Bulbul (Pycnonotis montis), Pale-faced Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucops), Cinereous Bulbul (Hemixos cinereus), Bornean Whistling-thrush (Myophonus borneensis), Bornean Forktail (Enicurus borneensis), Bare-headed Laughingthrush (Melanocichla calva), and the Chestnut-hooded Laughingthrush (Rhinocichla treacheri),

The layout of the book differs from most typical bird field guides in having each bird's illustration accompanied next to its descriptive text and range map. This negates the need to look anything up and prevents possible confusion with multiple bird illustrations on a single color plate, although it obviously limits the number of species presented on each page. In practice this is a very easy to use format and is a welcome change.

The description for each bird is well detailed, providing identification features for variations within the species (males, females, juveniles, and subspecies) as well as comparison with similar birds. General behavior, habitat, and breeding cycle are covered, as well as a description of the voice. The range maps are also remarkably useful; Borneo is a very large after all and it is surprising how many birds have restricted regional distributions on the island.

The excellent illustrations are a compilation of the efforts of sixteen different artists. Many of these have been borrowed directly from the excellent book A Field Guide to the Birds of South-east Asia by Craig Robson (2000), but many redrawings were of course necessary for the island's endemic species and races. Although the quality and style of the illustrations is not consistent, and some are rather small, most of them are expertly drawn with a great amount of detail and are a pleasure to use.

At 22.5 cm x 15.5 cm, the book is slightly larger than most standard field-guide sizes, but it is still easy to carry. Although I usually prefer softback covers for my field guides, I find that the hard cover of this book gives it great durability in the field, allowing it to easily be inserted into a protective journal case if necessary.

Phillipps' Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo
By Quentin Phillipps & Karen Phillipps

Hot on the heels of the above field guide, this book was first released at Sabah's Borneo Bird Festival 2009 in October. It is also a comprehensive guide for Borneo, yet it treats a surprising total of 664 species of birds (vs. 631). Though many of these additions are recorded vagrants or escapees, several additional species are recognized such as the Mulu Short-tailed Babbler (Trichastoma feriatum) and two possible new estrildid finches, the Cream-bellied Munia (Lonchura pallidventer) and Spot-sided Munia (Lonchura sp.). It also includes and illustrates 62 species which have not yet been recorded from Borneo though are considered possible vagrants. Not all of the recent name changes and splits seen in Myers' book are used, and the taxonomy more closely follows The Birds of Borneo: An Annotated Checklist by Clive Mann (2009).

This field guide follows a more typical layout in having the illustrations on the right-hand side of the page accompanied by text on the left. Like Myers' book, range maps are also provided for each bird species. The text covers the bird's habitat, behavior, and range, but lacks a description of physical features of the species (except for size and where there could be confusion with a similar bird), therefore leaving only the illustrations for identification, occasionally a problem when only the adult plumage is pictured.

Most of the 2000+ illustrations have been reused from Karen Phillipps' earlier work in A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali but there have also been a great many which were redrawn. In addition to the standard illustrations for each species, scattered among the color plates are images of birds in habit, illustrating typical feeding or nesting behavior.

One feature which sets this book apart is the accompanying information on natural history, which is found both in the introductory chapters as well as throughout the book in boxed sections. Topics covered include bird ecology, migration, feeding strategies, mimicry, etc. Although unusual for a typical identification-oriented field guide, and perhaps distracting for some readers, this does provide a wealth of interesting information which is otherwise difficult to find in such a book.

Graphic indexes of birds, geared toward the beginning birdwatcher, are provied on pages 2-15, and illustate a selection of common or noteworthy species according to various habitats.