Brian J. Coates

Basics: 1997, hardcover, 535 pages, 64 color plates, 700 species, no range maps

Two things make this a good book to have. One, it has good color plates with decent accompanying text and, two, it is nearly the only book available for this region of Indonesia. Located south of the Philippines and between Borneo and New Guinea, the area of Wallacea is comprised of the island groups of Sulawesi, Moluccas, and Lesser Sundas. This is an exciting birding area with over 250 endemic species.

Not quite a field guide due to its larger size, this book will still need to accompany you on any birding trip to this region. The only other relevant book is authored by Strange, which covers less than half of the Indonesian birds.

The 64 color plates illustrate all 700 species in this area. Each plate has 7-16 species, illustrated with 10-35 different illustrations. Some of these plates are crowded (e.g., ducks, raptors). With so many illustrations, many of them are a little on the small side. As for artwork, these illustrations are good but not great. The selection of poses and plumages is typically limited to just a male and female. Subspecies are infrequently shown. Except for the seabirds, raptors, and swifts, nearly all the birds are shown in only a perched position. These limitations will definitely be noticeable when looking at any of the warblers or dark-eyes, which are usually shown with only one plumage.

A nice addition to the text that accompanies the plates is a set of codes designating the status of the birds. A capital “E” denotes the bird being endemic to Wallacea.

The text is split into two parts. Adjacent to the plates are the descriptions of the birds. This is typically brief (3-11 lines). To help with similar species, the author lists several birds along with the shortest of notes on what to examine to help differentiate them. The remainder of the text, composed of range, status, habits, and voice, takes up the last half of the book. For me, the best part of this test is the voice. Many of the passerines are given lengthy, detailed descriptions, which is necessary for the thicker canopies.

Four appendices in the back of the book offer lists to endemics of the various island groups within Wallacea.

A minor annoyance with the layout of the plates is the numbering system. It is often necessary to flip pages to match up the numbered bird with the like-numbered name and description. Additionally, the birds are not numbered in any order on the plate, forcing the reader to scan around the many illustrations trying to find bird #445.

Despite the limitations of the plates and identification text, this is still a book worth having if there is any thought of going to Indonesia.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Indonesia by Strange
2) The Birds of Borneo by Smythies
3) A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali by MacKinnon/Phillipps
4) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Borneo by Davison/Fook
5) The Birds of Sulawesi by Holmes
6) Birds of New Guinea by Beehler
7) Birds of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago by Coates… (mehr)

Basics: 2001, softcover, 272 pages, 650+ color photos of 444 species, no range maps

This photo guide offers a nice overview of some of the birds found in New Guinea and in the chain of islands off its ne coast. The format of the book is similar to a different series of small books titled “Photographic Guide to Birds of XYZ”. The three primary differences displayed in this book are the greater number of species, more photos per species, and slightly more and better text.

Of the 800 or so birds found in this region, 444 (55%) are photographed and discussed here. About half of the birds are shown with two photos. The quality of these photos is quite variable. There are many very good photos. I would estimate 80-85% of the photos as good. The remaining photos need improvement. These are often too small, distant, dark, or too obscured by vegetation for a good visual examination. Quite a few of the photos are of birds held in the hand after mist-netting, which deprives us of the true form of the bird in nature. The photo selection of the Cicadabird is interesting. It shows only an immature female.

The text for each bird is a medium-length paragraph that gives 1-2 sentences on description, habitat, habits, voice, and range. The descriptions are typically brief, but do give good bits of key ID points. Nice details are offered for some of the more difficult birds like the scrub-wrens. In contrast, many other birds have descriptions that are a bit sparse.

Although this is an incomplete photo guide (only half the birds covered), it will still be useful to prepare for your birding trip. It is also the best available book for photographs of this region’s birds. The book gets 3.5 stars instead of 4 because of its limitations. Using it with the complete illustrated field guide by Beehler will serve you well.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds in Papua New Guinea by Coates
2) The Birds of Papua New Guinea: Volumes 1 & 2 by Coates
3) Birds of New Guinea by Beehler/Pratt/Zimmerman/
4) Birds of New Guinea: Volumes I & II by Iredale
5) Upland Birds of Northeastern New Guinea by Beehler
6) Handbook of New Guinea Birds by Rand/Gilliard
7) Birds of Paradise and Bower Birds by Gilliard
8) The Birds of Paradise by Frith/Beehler… (mehr)