A Photographic Guide to Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. G.W.H. Davison

An excellent book in terms of the text and photographic material, this book is small in size and makes it easy to carry around in the field. The text is written in simple English, making the information both precise and concise.Technical terms are kept to the minimum, making it user friendly for both beginners and experienced ornithologists. The description of the identificatory features are brief,focusing only on the important field characteristics. The bird calls and songs are also described fairly accurately, judging from my own personal experience as an experienced amateur field ornithologist here in Peninsular Malaysia. This book compliments the existing field guides in the region. The photographs are excellent in terms of quality and certainly help in the identification of birds since photographs show colour and jizz of the bird accurately, which in some cases may be difficult with line drawings and paintings. It is indeed comendable to note that the majority of the photographs were taken under natural conditions in the wild as the surrounding habitat is also shown. Though some of the birds were photographed in captivity (e.g. the hornbills,partridges and some pheasants), this still serves its purpose for accurate identification. It is a very handy book to have for visiting birdwatchers to Malaysia and Singapore who will find the descriptions and the photographs good. Some of your identification problems may be solved instantly.