Cambodia is the last main refuge of a number of species of
birds that have been eliminated from neighbouring Thailand
or cling on by a thread in adjacent Laos and Vietnam and as
such attracts a lot of attention from birders wishing to see
these rare and range-restricted birds. Until now there has
not been an English-language field guide designated to this
interesting and avifauna-rich country with birders having
to struggle with the Birds of Southeast Asia guide without
the benefit of range maps but this latest in Lynx Edicions
series of field guides solves that problem at last.
Birds of Cambodia is available in two formats, a hard
back cover and a waterproof flexible cover, a dual format
that has been adopted for the last few books in this series
of field guides which allows birders to have a copy which
looks beautiful on a bookshelf as part of a collection as
well as a copy to take into the field that is not easily damaged.
Both formats of the book have the same stunning image of Red-headed
Vulture, one of Cambodia's speciality species, and contain
exactly the same contents. Beginning with an introduction
which includes details of thirty five birding hotspots within
Cambodia the bulk of this publication is, of course, the species
accounts which cover over six hundred species that have been
recorded within the country using almost 1400 illustrations
to do this. As with other books in this series the plates
are mostly well-presented in that the spacing between different
species is sufficient to make it clear which species belongs
to the range maps they are placed next to. A couple of exceptions
to this are the raptors and shorebirds which are rather squeezed
into the pages as well as a number of rarities which do not
have range maps and which make the pages upon which they appear
a little confusing to the eye. The range maps are extremely
helpful in predicting what may or may not be seen in various
parts of the country and they are sufficiently large to be
able to use them at a glance but, as the introduction mentions,
such is the lack of coverage throughout the country by ornithologists
that many of the range maps are predictive based upon habitat
and altitude preferences of species rather than actual confirmed
records. Some field guides employ the annoying tactic of placing
range maps at the back of the book, away from the actual birds
they represent but Birds of Cambodia sensibly places them
right next to the relevant species.
The artwork in Birds of Cambodia is of the standard that one
would expect from some of the top field guide artists in the
world and are mostly illustrations that have been used in
previous publications from Lynx Edicions although some new
illustrations were prepared to depict subspecies only occurring
in this region. The "recycling" of artwork is not
a problem, indeed it could be argued that this is a strength
as it creates a strong vein of consistency throughout the
series of field guides and allows the publishers to produce
further guides to the region in quick succession. Generally
the plates display birds in typical postures and poses that
can easily be compared between similar species. There are
a few disappointing exceptions including the Acrocephalus
warblers which are in uncharacteristically upright postures
for birds on their wintering grounds and some differences
between very similar taxons are somewhat overemphasized, but
with these few issues aside the plates are generally of a
very high standard.
One of the strengths of this series of field guides, which
is continued in Birds of Cambodia, is the excellent way that
it deals with the ever-changing taxonomy of birds and the
variance between taxonomic authorities. This is achieved by
listing potential splits with their own entries under the
umbrella title of the species they may be/are split by various
taxonomic lists. In this way the guide is relevant regardless
of which taxonomy a birder may be listing under as well as
pre or post-split. This brings me to the fact that all known
subspecies occurring in Cambodia are illustrated in this book
so that they can be dealt with in the way described above.
This philosophy is one that had been pioneered by Lynx Edicions
in this series of field guides and one that others should
follow if they do not wish to publish books that are immediately
out of date while these field guides remain relevant even
after further taxonomic advances.
The taxonomy used by the Handbook of the Birds of the
World is being followed increasingly by world birders and
that is the system that is used in Birds of Cambodia and in
all of the field guides that have already been published in
this series and the publishers tell me that it will be used
in all subsequent field guides they produce. As birders visit different countries over the course
of time it will mean that the standardized layout of these
guides becomes familiar and the problem of struggling to find
anything while using a book in the field due to every book
having a different formula will be eliminated. For those who
are not already familiar with this increasingly-used taxonomy
confusion is limited by including alternate names for each
species and potential split. It is also true to say, though,
that some name changes do not seem to be needed and new names
just goes to create confusion; fortunately examples of these
are limited in number.
The soft cover version of this book uses a type of
material that I have only seen used in this series of field
guides and although it is obviously very durable in wet conditions
it does feel slightly odd in the hand and the material seems
to slightly hold shape after bending it. It is one of those
small things that one will get used to over time and it is
obvious that it has been designed to stand up to the rigours
of being used in the field which it will do much better than
the hardback version, although this latter version feels nicer
in the hand and looks better on the shelf as part of a birding
book collection.
Birds of Cambodia continues the novel idea of including
QR codes which, when read by a mobile device, provides birders
with a collection of images and calls for the relevant species.
A voucher with password is also included for a free download
of the checklist for the birds of Cambodia.
There are very few mistakes to be found in this field guide
although some birders will object to some of the common names
imposed upon them by HBW taxonomy. However, the consistency
that is provided by this to those who already have this excellent
series of books is helpful and being the first field guide
dedicated to Cambodia there is no previous book to get names
confused with. Birds of Cambodia is a rather slimmer book
than previous guides in this series but this is determined
by the smaller bird list that this country has in comparison
to others and the cheaper price of 45 Euros reflects this.
Considering that there is no competition to this publication
other than the rather out of date and confusing Birds of Southeast
Asia any birder visiting Cambodia would be foolish not to
consider adding this book to their collection. Get your own
copy of Birds
of Cambodia.
Score: 9/10
I use this excellent field guide
on the birding tours I lead to Cambodia: Cambodia
Birding Tour. Take a look at the itinerary and dates for
the next trip.
Other Relevant Books
Birds
of Thailand - Published in 2018 this field guide
was based on the taxonomy used in Handbook of the Birds
of the World with several new plates created on consultation
with the authors. Inclusion of all subspecies know to
occur in Thailand makes this book excellent as it makes
it relevant to all taxonomies while antipating future
splits.
Birds
of Southeast Asia - This field guide covers birds
found in all countries of mainland Southeast Asia and this
is the ost up to date version of the book, published in
2011. Great for those traveling in several countries but
a little tricky to use in the field due to its layout. Still
the best guide to the whole region though.
Birds
of Thailand
Birds
of Southeast Asia
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a full 
Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan,
25th May - 7th June 2024
- Pallas's Sandgrouse, Ibisbill, Black Lark, White-browed
Tit Warbler, Saxaul Sparrow, Caspian Plover: £3850
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