Phillipps' Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan - Fully Revised Third Edition (Princeton Field Guides)

THE BAD: The raison d'être of a field guide is supposed to be to enable you to identify the birds you see. Unfortunately, this book treats that as an afterthought. As it states in the introduction, "No attempt is made to describe each bird in detail as the illustrations opposite the text fulfill this purpose. Only the important features necessary to distinguish one species from another apparently similar species are described." But even the goal of describing important features is often unfulfilled. A great many of the species accounts do not describe the bird at all or even mention any field marks, and neither do the plates highlight important field marks with arrows or other indicators, except in very rare instances. (When there is mention of a field mark, it is not highlighted in any way; it is buried at the end of the account, so you essentially have to read the entire account to see if there is any discussion of ID features). Thus, this book takes field guides back to the pre-Roger Tory Peterson days where birders were left to compare the bird with the image in the guide and hope that they got the ID correct, rather than make a rigorous ID by ticking off diagnostic field marks.I compared the descriptions in this book to another guide, Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago, by Eaton et al., which also covers Borneo. The amount of ID information present in that book but missing from Phillips is considerable. (Unfortunately that book covers many many species not found in Borneo and is heavier than the Phillipps guide; so not a great choice for field identification in Borneo alone).THE GOOD: That said, the amount of non-ID information present in this book that is not found in your typical field guide is impressive, valuable, and welcome. There is much information about ecology, Borneo's natural history, and bird behavior. There is even information about mammals and invertebrates that are of special significance to birds. And there is information about birding sites, though it could be argued that it would have been better to exclude that to make the book lighter.ALTERNATIVE: If you want an actual identification guide, I recommend the second edition of the Susan Myers' guide to the birds of Borneo, which came out in 2016 (though Amazon erroneously lists it as 2012). Much more ID info and I think better plates overall. The Phillips guide would make a good supplement to it though, since Myers' is rather dry and lacks the natural history info.I have no connection to any of these authors.

I have taken the second edition of this guide on several field trips to Sabah and Sarawak. I have had something of a love-hate relationship with it. Like so many others users of this book, I found the text boxes on ecology and other topics to be interesting and informative bonuses in a field guide, but the numerous failures of proofreading and occasional bizarre illustrations (among so many good ones) alloyed my pleasure in the guide.You expect a new edition to follow an overhaul, especially when this third edition, like its predecessor, includes the words "fully revised" on the front cover. I was therefore disappointed to find so many of the old misprints unaltered. Some of the illustrations have changed, such as that of the Bornean Ibon (Pygmy White-eye), which makes the species much easier to identify. Not all the changes are quite so happy: the strange depiction of the Chestnut-backed Scimitar-babbler in the second edition has been replaced by one that correctly removes the gold colour from the wing and tail but has the wing feathers in a dishevelled and white-edged state, with (in my copy, at any rate) the chestnut on the back now almost the colour of a traffic light.For anyone contemplating a purchase, I advise comparing this book with Birds of Borneo by Susan Myers  Birds of Borneo: Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, and Kalimantan (Princeton Field Guides) . Take your pick!

I recently purchased this book for an upcoming trip to Borneo. I had an older guide but this one was strongly suggested by a friend and fellow tour leader. The recommendation was based upon several points: the book is newer, the taxonomy has been updated, a few more species have been added to the text, a smaller geographic area is covered (making it easier to use than my older guide), and much additional information not usually found in bird guides has been included in the form of side bars. The later includes illustrations of food plants and their fruits, paintings of a few mammals that associate with birds, as well as brief discussions concerning all sorts of topics ranging from zoogeography to animal behavior to organizations that support bird research. There are some very good regional maps with notes on places to bird and what species might be expected. The illustrations are excellent, and the book is reasonably priced. It fits the bill and then some. Highly recommended.

We agree with all the other (100%) 5-star reviews. This is without a doubt the finest bird guide we have ever used. Besides superb avian drawings and great maps, this book also tells the complete natural history of Borneo from Wallace to palm oil and even climate to detailed travel recommendations, etc. and how it all relates. We have used 40-50 other bird and natural-world guides and been birding to 99 countries (3800+ sp.) and we're still very very impressed on finding and using this very handy-sized and sturdy Princeton series field guide.

I purchased both this Field Guide and the Susan Myers field guide. The illustrations in Meyers are marginally better but the Phillipps guide has species we saw that the Meyers guide is missing. Also the Phillipps guide is laid out much better and has additional information that is really useful and interesting. The Meyers guide is about 20% smaller and lighter but has less content. If you want a comprehensive guide, but this one.

wow - one of the best field guides i’ve ever seen - a ton of information and maps along with great photos - top quality

Illustrations, range maps, information on different birding regions in Borneo, conservation and natural history information.

Excellent Field Guide. Not only does it have good identification pictures, but it is packed with additional information, such as reasons for mimicry, symbiosis, predatory schemes, etc. Top of the line book. Can't wait to receive the one on Mammals in the same set. Very truly yours, Kurt

This is an excellent book which has gone the extra mile to include a wealth of other information over and above the standard bird id notes. There is a lot of useful information on the different botanical regions (coastal areas, lowland forest and mountains) and how Borneo relates to nearby islands such as Sumatra and Java. I am by no means a serious birder but I really appreciated the book in helping to narrow down quickly the possible id of various species seen especially in the Danum Valley. Of interest was to see that all the serious birders at BRL also had this book so it must be good!

I haven't road-tested this book yet but the illustrations of birds I am familiar with are accurate and realistic. There's lots of useful information about each species & its distribution and there is additional detail in 'information boxes' on many pages relating to environmental factors and how some species are affected by human activities (e.g. harvesting of swiftlet nests).

Having used this guide for more than a month, I appreciate the layout, it is easy to find your way around in nearly 400 pages. The illustrations are good without being excellent. I particularly like the long list of ecological and text notes, including a good listing/description of the endemic species and the coloured distribution maps. There is also a good section of the different Bornean birding sites.Highly Recommended.

Excellent field guide that covers more than just basic field identification. Other contents include ecology, conservation,,migration,climate, vegetation, etc, all in respect of the birds, and a comprehensive site guide. All in a guide that, despite its comprehensive coverage, is not oversized and is of practical use in the field.

Great book for a beginner and the more experienced bird spotter. I live in Borneo and have started to learn how to photograph birds so wanted to be able to identify them too.