WorldTwitch Malaysia - Birds & Birding

Bird Reports

Birding Trip Reports (35)

Birding Tours

Bird Links

Bird Checklists

Mammals, Herps, Insects & Other Fauna & Flora

National and State Maps

Natural History Organizations

National Parks & Nature Reserves

Lodges & Other Accommodations

Conservation, Environment & Corruption

General Tourism Links

Some Recommended Books on Birds, Natural History & Travel:

iJET Weekly Travel Intelligence Report - Malaysia. (PDF download from Amazon.com.) US

Morten Strange & Dennis Yong. Birds of Taman Negara: An Illustrated Guide and Checklist. Draco Publishing 2006. 120 pages. ISBN: 9810544413. Details.

Allen Jeyarajasingam and Alan Pearson. A Field Guide to the Birds of West Malaysia and Singapore. Best of the available bird guides for use in Peninsular Malaysia. Oxford University Press, 1999. US | UK | DE | FR | CA | JP

John Bransbury. Birdwatcher's Guide to Malaysia. 282 pages. Paperback. Waymark Publishing, 1993. US | UK | FR | CA | JP

John MacKinnon & Karen Phillipps (illustrator), in collaboration with Paul Andrew & Frank Rozendaal. A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java & Bali. 491 pages. 88 colour plates. Oxford University Press, 1993. US | UK | DE | FR | CA | JP

Craig Robson, A Guide to the Birds of SouthEast Asia. Great new guide. My only regret is that no large paper edition is available, as the print is VERY small. New Holland & Princeton University Press, 2000. US | UK | DE | FR | CA | JP

Craig Robson. Birds of Southeast Asia. 304 pages. New Holland & Princeton University Press. Updated, field guide edition 2005. Illustrations now rearranged on 142 color plates facing text, depicting 28 additional species and with 140 improved or corrected illustrations. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Craig Robson. Birds of Thailand. 272 pages. New Holland & Princeton University Press 2002. Illustrations and abbreviated text from Robson's Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia. US | UK

Boonsong Lekagul & Philip D. Round. A Guide to the Birds of Thailand. Illustrated by Mongkol Wongkalasin & Kamol Komolphalin. 1991. 135 color plates. US | UK

David R. Wells, with contributions by Philip D. Round & Uthai Treesucon. The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1: Non-Passerines. 648 pages. 69 colour plates by Geoffrey Davison, Ian Lewington, Philip Burton, David Digby, Dana Gardner (view plates on Dana's website), Peter Hayman, David Quinn & Chris Rose. Woodcuts by Dana Gardner. Now the standard reference on the birds of the Malay peninsula. Should be studied thoroughly before a trip to Malaysia or southern Thailand. A&C Black and Princeton University Press, 1999. US | UK | DE | FR | CA | JP

Vol. 2: Passerines. 704 pages. (2006) US | UK | DE | FR | CA
Vol. 1 (New DJ to match Vol. 2): UK | DE | FR | CA
Two-volume set: UK | DE | FR | CA

Bertram E. Smythies. The Birds of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo). 4th edition 2000. WorldTwitch 2001 Best Bird Book Award winner. Revised by Geoffrey W.H. Davison. 853 pages. Restores the very interesting introductory chapters about Borneo and its people from the first two editions. Text completely revised and greatly improved. The now familiar and dated plates could have been omitted. Essential reference on Bornean ornithology. Poor quality binding by obviously incompetent Malaysian publisher. This book will have to be rebound as the cover eventually will tear off in normal use. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Frederick H. Sheldon, Robert G. Moyle & Jody Kennard. Ornithology of Sabah: History, Gazetteer, Annotated Checklist & Bibliography. AOU Monograph No. 52 (2001).

Morten Strange. Birds of Fraser's Hill: An Illustrated Guide and Checklist. 120 pages. Includes a site guide and annotated checklist. Nature's Niche 2004. ISBN: 9810499302. Details.

Kim Seng Lim. An Illustrated Field Guide to the Birds of Singapore. Illustrated by Dana Gardner. View plates on Dana's website. 226 pages. Sun Tree Publishing 1997. US | UK | DE | FR | CA | JP

Morten Strange. Birds of South-East Asia: A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia. 112 pages. Almost 300 color photos. Includes some rare photos, such as a female Black Partridge on a nest, two Actenoides kingfishers, Dusky Oriole, and a Flyeater attending a juvenile Malayan Bronze-Cuckoo. New Holland, 1998. US | UK

Martin Woodcock. Collins Illustrated Checklist: Birds of South-East Asia. 112 colour plates. Collins. Forthcoming. UK

Junaidi Payne, Charles M. Francis, Karen Phillipps (illustrator). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo. 332 pages. 60 colour plates. Paperback. The best field guide to southeast Asian mammals. The Sabah Society, 1998 (1985). US | UK | FR | CA

J.W.K. Parr. Guide to the Large Mammals of Thailand. 206 pages. Nature's Niche 2003. ISBN: 9744840404. Details.

Boonsong Lekagul & Jeffrey McNeely. Mammals of Thailand. 758 pages. 2d ed. 1998. Available from Nature's Niche, Singapore.

Louise H. Emmons. Tupai: A Field Study of Bornean Treeshrews. University of California Press. December 2000. 287 pages. US | UK

Robert B. Stuebing & Robert F. Inger. A Field Guide to the Snakes of Borneo. 254 pages. Color plates. Natural History Publications, 1999. UK

Robert F. Inger & Robert B. Stuebing. A Field Guide to the Frogs of Borneo. 205 pages. Natural History Publications, 1997. US | UK

B.L. Lim & I. Das. Turtles of Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. 151 pages. Natural History Publications, 1999.

Robert F. Inger & F.L. Tan. The Natural History of Amphibians & Reptiles in Sabah. 101 pages. Natural History Publications, 1996.

Robert F. Inger. The Systematics and Zoogeography of the Amphibia of Borneo. 402 pages. Lun Hing Trading Co. 1990 reprint (1966). UK

Catherine M. Yule and Yong Hoi Sen. Freshwater Invertebrates of the Malaysian Region. Details. 861 pages. Academy of Sciences Malaysia, 2005.

Junaidi Payne & Gerald Cubitt (photographer). Wild Malaysia. 208 pages. New Holland, 2d ed. 1999. UK

G.W.H. Davison (ed.), Gerald Cubitt (photographer). The National Parks & Other Wild Places of Malaysia. World Wildlife Fund. 176 pages. New Holland, 1999. US | UK

Earl of Cranbrook (ed.) Wonders of Nature in Southeast Asia. Excellent compilation of excerpts from famous and obscure works by the great explorers, with comments by Cranbrook throughout. Oxford University Press, 1997. Highly recommended and a good value! UK

Earl of Cranbrook (ed.). Malaysia. Pergamon Press Key Environments series, 1988. Concise yet sophisticated survey of the natural history of peninsular Malaysia, written by experts in each discipline. Authors include David Wells, T.C. Whitmore, Marius Jacobs, John & Soejatmi Dransfield, H.S. Barlow & Cranbrook. The best volume in the series, which the new owners of Pergamon have been allowing to go out of print. 318 pages. US

Earl of Cranbrook & David S. Edwards. A Tropical Rainforest: Nature of Biodiversity in Borneo at Belalong, Brunei. 408 pages. Paperback. Heian International, 1995. US | UK

K.M. Wong & Anthea Phillipps. Kinabalu, Summit of Borneo. "This Sabah Society monograph updates the original 1978 account on the environment, geology, flora and fauna, folklore, cultural significance and conservation of this great massif, wonderfully illustrated with a wealth of magnificent photographs and informative text." 544 pages. Colour plates. The Sabah Society, 2d ed. 1996. UK

Junidai Payne, Gerald Cubitt, Dennis Lau. This is Borneo. 176 pages. Paperback. New Holland, 2000. US | UK

David Bowden. Globetrotter Visitor's Guide: Taman Negara. 128 pages. Paperback. New Holland, 2000. US | UK
2006 edition: US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Anthea Phillipps, Francis Liew. Globetrotter Visitor's Guide: Kinabalu Park. 128 pages. Paperback. New Holland, 2000. US | UK

Wendy Moore. Globetrotter Road Atlas of Malaysia. 72 pages. Paperback. New Holland, 2d edition 2002. US | UK

Globetrotter Travel Map: Malaysia. New Holland. 4th ed. 2001. US | UK

Rudolf E. Lampe. Malayan Saturnidae from the Cameron and Genting Highlands. E.W. Classey, 1985. UK

L.B. Segerbäck. Orchids of Malaya. 190 pages. 229 b/w and 26 color photos. Covers 51 genera and 133 species. A.A. Balkema, 1992. US | UK

T.C. Whitmore. Palms of Malaya. 152 pages. White Lotus, 2d ed 1998. US | UK

T.C. Whitmore. An Introduction to Tropical Rain Forests. 296 pages. Oxford University Press. 2nd edition, 1998. US | UK

D.M. Newbery, T.H. Clutton-Brock & G.T. Prance (eds.) Changes and Disturbance in Tropical Rainforest in South-East Asia. Imperial College Press, September 2000. 184 pages. US | UK

Isamu Yamada, translated by Peter Hawkes. Tropical Rainforests of Southeast Asia: A Forest Ecologist's View. University of Hawaii Press, 1998. 360 pages. US | UK

William W. Bevis. Borneo Log: The Battle for Sarawak's Forests. University of Washington Press, 1995. 245 pages. US | UK

Sam Lightner. All Elevations Unknown: An adventure in the heart of Borneo. 288 pages. Broadway Books. June, 2001. US | UK

Jeffrey A. McNeely & Paul S. Sochaczewski. Soul of the Tiger: Searching for Nature's Answers in Southeast Asia. 416 pages. U. of Hawaii Press reprint. 1995 (1988). US | UK

John Whitehead. The Exploration of Mount Kina Balu, North Borneo. Revised edition of the classic work published in 1893. Whitehead was the first European to reach the summit of Kinabalu, in 1888. The first edition included hand-colored plates and is now rare and valuable. Graham Brash, 1993. 400 pages. Color plates. UK

R. Tucker Abbott. Seashells of Southeast Asia. 52 color plates. Graham Brash, 1991. 152 pages. UK

Wendy Hutton, Heinz Von Holzen (photographer). Tropical Fruits of Asia. [First choice: a used copy of A Guide to Market Fruits of Southeast Asia by Karen Phillipps & Martha Dahlen, 1985.] 64 pages. 90 color plates. Periplus, 1997. US | UK

Karen Phillipps & Martha Dahlen. A Cook's Guide to Chinese Vegetables. Recommended. 138 pages. Odyssey, 1997. US | UK

Cecilia Tan. Penang Nyonya Cooking: Foods of my childhood. 144 pages. Times Ed. 1991. UK

Leong Yee Soo. The Best of Singapore Cooking. 254 pages. Times Ed. 1998. US

Fuchsia Dunlop. Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking. Norton 2003. 256 pages. Excellent book, though authentic Sichuan food is hard to find outside of China. (With a few exceptions, "Sichuan" restaurants in the US serve unappealing American Chinese food.) US | UK

Fuchsia Dunlop. The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. Ebury Press & Norton 2006. 256 pages. Fuchsia Dunlop is the best writer in English on Chinese food. Her new volume is about Hunan food -- not the American Chinese food served at nearly all American Hunan restaurants. US | UK | DE | FR | CA