A Guide to the Birds of Wallacea: Sulawesi, The Moluccas and Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia

Brian J Coates and K David Bishop, Dove Publications.

535 pages, 64 colour plates [697 species], colour photos, maps, illustrations.

A major guide to the birds of the region. The avifauna of this region is a fascinating mix of Asian and Australasian elements but, more importantly, it hosts an extraordinary high number of 249 endemic bird species. This book treats and illustrates all of the 697 species of birds reliably recorded in Wallacea up to July 1996. Intended to serve as both an identification guide and reference the book has two main sections: an identification section comprising the plates and a detailed plate caption text, and a family and species account section that provides detailed information on distribution, abundance, ecology, habits and voice. Key bird-watching sites are also listed.

It is one of my long waiting bird-watching guide books and I have finally got it today from NHBS at a discounted price despite after my trip to Sulawesi.  This is an essential guide for birding in the region of Wallacea, a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands considered to the transition zone of wildlife in between Asia and Australia.  Though Wallaca is a fascinating birding area, there are a few guidebooks available for birders in the market, at least as far as I know. Luckily and honorably, I had a chance of using this book during my trip to Sulawesi, which was borrowed from a bird guide from Birdtour Asia even though I haven't joined their tour. Like most of guidebooks for remote destinations, they are not available in the areas but may be only available from Amazon while this book may be an exception and a new copy is not even sold from Amazon (at the time of writing). This book was published in 1997 in Hong Kong (a historical year for Hong Kong and it is a little bit ridiculous for me to get it back from a book store in UK!)

It's worth noting about NHBS, Natural History Book Service, and its environment bookstore selling books and wildlife equipment specialized in science, conservation and wildlife though most of their offers tend to be not discounted while I guess probably it is still another good choice of an online book store.  A souvenir given with the book quoting what Mr. Edward O. Wilson, an American biologist and environmentalist, said before : 'When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all.' further enlightens me that 'There is no better high than discovery'. Wish for  visiting Wallacea soon with this book.