"An illustrated Field Guide to the Birds of Singapore". by Lim Kim Seng and Dana Gardner.

Sunrise Publishing Ltd 1997. ISBN 981-3066-00-8.

AN ILLUSTRATED FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF SINGAPORE.
Kim Seng is one of the foremost birders in Singapore and since early childhood has been recording the status, occurrence and activities of wild birds on the island. His depth of knowledge and detailed observations has at long last been committed to book format. As the Bird Recorder for the Nature Society he has provided us with an accurate up to date record of the wild birds of Singapore.

Adapted from Amazon.ca. Accessed on 2nd July 2007.

This well illustrated book provides the most comprehensive coverage of Singapore birds so far and meets the needs of all active local and visiting birdwatchers. With most species accurately portrayed in colour and an associated text succinctly written with carefully worded descriptions and useful data on status, range and habitats. Of particular importance and value are the appendices that provide listings of extinct, threatened and escape species and also suggest possible additions to the list.

For the more ancient birders including myself the Sibley and Moore taxonomy and nomenclature will take some acceptance and getting use to and finding the right place for families may initially be a chore. Despite cross references being given a few of these are incorrect (see Magpie Robin and White-rumped Shama) and I would have preferred the format used in the Birds of Thailand by Philip Round which has text opposite or at least closer to the plates.

There are useful sections on birdwatching techniques, places to visit and habitats locations but these need associated maps and more information on the generous sized island map would have improved the format. The coloured illustrations have a rather smooth appearance possibly due to printing effects and such things as feather marginations which I suspect wee on the original paintings have somehow got lost. Standards in associated bird guides tend to be fairly high these days and one does get fussy I suppose. Despite this, the general jizz of the birds is good and separation of similar species should not prove too difficult using the plates.

I personally found the front cover and inside photographs rather glarey in colour contrast but this is rather subjective. Using the photographs with a small map might have been a better way to present individual site locations on separate pages. he copy I obtained had a spine problem and within a few days of purchase the cover became detached. As this book is designed for use in the field a better quality binding should have been used.

In the text a few points worthy of mention are that the House Crow has now been added to with five other bird species that are no longer protected in Singapore and one of these the migrant Purple-backed Starling which is not a common bird (Wild Animals and Birds Act amendment 1991) (see page 21). I also note the comment that some protected areas have little significance for conservation and are therefore not listed (see page 17). These include a number of parks some of which are very significant as demonstrated by the recent account in this journal by Angus Lamont on Kent Ridge Park (see Raffles Bull. Zool. 46:113) where at least 151 species were recorded and this location has no tidal mudflats. We should not underrate parks and corridor systems through urban areas as they can in total contribute to supporting good numbers of bird species even if the diversity is less than nature reserves.

As the writer rightly points out the losses suffered to Singapore birds have been quite disastrous. It is hoped that this well written and illustrated local guide will serve to educate future generations sufficiently to save what is left and ensure that no further species join the extinct list in appendix 1!!

Clive Briffett
School of Building and Real Estate
National University of Singapore

First Published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Vol. 46(2): 662-663 on 30 Dec 1998.

"A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Malaysia and Singapore" by Strange, M. (2000)

Periplus. Singapore. 398 pp. ISBN 962-593-963-6.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE.
There are numerous field guides available n the market on the birds of Southeast Asia. The question arises in my mind: do we need another bird guide for Southeast Asia? The answer in my mind is yes but only if such a guide is illustrated with excellent photographs. Well this book fills the bill. The author who is famous for his breathtaking bird pictures writes this photographic guide.


Adapted from Princeton University Press on 27 Jun 2007.

The book provides succinct introduction to the bird watching techniques. The introduction also contains beside other aspects, brief notes on Southeast Asian bird fauna, its habitats, and conservation.

Over six hundred bird species are covered in this book. Each species account includes a photograph (sometimes two) of the species. Most photographs contain diagnostic features of the bird. Included in the species description is a brief write-up of the diagnostic morphological features of the species of all the species is indicated and so is the worldwide range. However, only the distribution within Southeast Asia is illustrated with a map.

With few exceptions, most of the photographs are of exceptional high quality. Somehow, the guide feels much better to use in the field and different than the previous other guides in the market. The glossy production of the book is of high quality.

I recommend this book to amateur and professional bird watchers alike. I know that I will be bringing it along for my future birding trips within Southeast Asia.

Navjot S. Sodhi
Department of Biological Sciences
The National University of Singapore
Blk S2. 14 Science Drive 4
Singapore 117543, Republic of Singapore

First published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Vol. 49(2): 382 on 31 Dec 2001.

"A Guide to Gobies of Singapore" by Larson, H. K. & K. K. P. Lim (2005)

A Guide to Gobies of Singapore. By Larson, H. K. & K. K.P. Lim, 2005. Singapore Science Centre, 164 pages. ISBN: 981-05-3407-8.



































This is a small pocketsized volume richly filled with colour plates, covering the freshwater, brackish water and marine gobies of Singapore. This is the 40th book in the series of guides to Singapore sponsored by BP.

This book covers the 3 families from the sub-order Gobioidei found in Singapore – Eleotridae, Gobiidae and Microdesmidae. The family Gobiidae is the largest in the sub-order and most gobies are typified by having two dorsal fins and fused pelvic fins. The authors had provided a comprehensive taxonomic key to the 60 genera located from Singapore. This book is a cumulative effort of 10 years between the two authors, one based in Darwin, Australia, and the other in Singapore.

The habitats of the gobies in general and a fold-out map of Singapore are provided, giving readers an idea of the diversity of habitats gobies are found in. Another fold-out of the general morphology of gobies is included to give readers an idea of the variable body forms of gobies.

A total of 106 species is covered with one species per page, most with life coloration or preserved specimens depicted, along with numerous line drawings. Each species is listed with both vernacular and scientific names; followed by a brief diagnosis, description and distribution.

This is a most compact and comprehensive volume to peruse for the layperson, hobbyist and gobiologist.

Tan Heok Hui
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
Kent Ridge 119260
Republic of Singapore

First published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Vol 54(1): 200 on 28 Feb 2006.