Birds of Singapore
by the Bird Society of Singapore
Field guides are not necessarily cheap, and purchasing one can be a huge commitment. Here are some tips on how to pick the optimal field guide that gives you the most bang for your buck.
Summary Various resources are available on our Birds of Singapore page (this website!). Information on our pages are curated via both our own birding experiences and through checking various references including field guides. Things to consider when choosing field guides include Geographical coverage Quality of identification details Presence/absence of range map Quality of species details Quality of plates/photos Accuracy of information Layout of field guide We frequently refer to the following references for BirdSoc SG work: Field Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia (2nd edition), by Craig Robson Birds of Malaysia, Covering Peninsular Malaysia, Malaysian Borneo and Singapore, by Chong Leong Puan, Geoffrey Davison, Kim Chye Lim. Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago, Greater Sundas and Wallacea (2nd edition), by James A. Eaton, Bas van Balen, Nick W. Brickle, Frank E. Rheindt. At the Bird Society of Singapore, we are committed to providing the best online resource for birders from all levels of interest. Our Birds of Singapore page has tons of information: A detailed write-up for every single species of bird on our species checklist Multiple blog posts detailing how to distinguish difficult-to-identify species such as raptors, flycatchers, and more. Articles from different genres ranging from science, conservation, to birdwatching tips. Our carefully curated Singapore Bird Database that contains information on a select group of important species in the nation that we believe require proper documentation and archival. Recordings from some of our past talks! While a large proportion of the information that we include in our website come from our own birding adventures, many of them are also from resources prepared by others; we stand on the shoulders of giants. We scour through peer-reviewed literature, grey literature (such as online checklists and blogs), as well as many books and field guides to ensure that the particulars we share are correct. While much literature can be found online today, the same cannot be said for field guides. Oftentimes they cost quite a fair bit of money, and purchasing one can be a huge commitment, especially for new birders and students. So here are some tips on how to pick the optimal field guide that gives you the most bang for your buck. Geographical coverage: Some field guides are written for a specific site (such as a national park) or country, while others cover a set of regions that are biogeographically related. Biogeography refers to the distribution of plants and animals across the world. For example, a hypothetical field guide on the birds of the country Indonesia will span across the biogeographic regions Sundaland, Lesser Sundas, and parts of New Guinea. On the flip side, another hypothetical field guide on the birds of the biogeographic region Greater Sundas will cover birds from the countries Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, and Thailand. In short, different field guides deal with different geographic scopes. If you foresee yourself repeatedly birding at that specific location only, then getting one with narrower scope might be sufficient. However, take note that such field guides typically will not include birds that might potentially arrive at the site as vagrants, and could be obsolete once you start birding just outside of the region. On the other hand, a regional field guide might contain many species and information that might be unnecessary in the specific location you are birding at, but will certainly be more useful if you foresee yourself travelling across the location for birdwatching. In Singapore’s context, we are located in Southeast Asia, and in the Sundaland region. Field guides that focus on this broad area will contain information on the rare birds that are here, and those that might potentially arrive in Singapore in the future. Regional field guides are also responsible for many birdwatchers’ wanderlust! Quality of identification details: Certain field guides provide excellent pointers on distinguishing features, while others simply describe the bird in a very general manner. Although both books definitely serve their purpose as a general guiding document for most species, the former will definitely trump the latter when dealing with the many similar looking birds you will encounter when birdwatching. Many times, these seemingly difficult birds are also the most exciting ones, so make sure you purchase the book that will give you what you need! A good way to assess the reliability of a field guide is by flipping through difficult to identify species such as raptors (sparrowhawks in particular), terns, waders, bitterns, flycatchers, and Phylloscopus and Acrocephalus warblers. These are the groups of birds that often throw off even experienced birdwatchers. If you only have enough budget to purchase one book, we recommend that you get the one that really puts in the effort to discuss the key identification pointers for such birds. For...