Hi Laurie and all,
I'm currently living in Kuala Lumpur, and I use both Robson and "A Field
Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore" by Allen
Jeyarajasingam (illustrations by Alan Pearson).
I concur with your opinions of Robson, but unfortunately the other guide
is no improvement. It has many of the same faults - no distribution
maps, plates separate from descriptions, species listed in inconsistent
order. I suspect that this last issue is because both books are second
editions, and so much has changed both taxonomically and with species
new to Malaysia.
Furthermore, I find the illustrations in Jeyarajasingam to be too
brightly-coloured and simplistic, for lack of a better word, compared
with Robson. I find myself frequently just doing Google searches for
photos to confirm IDs. There are a couple of photographic guides that
show the "common" birds, but generally much better photos are available
online.
I just wish that someone would publish a "Where to find birds in
Malaysia" book or web site. As you found on your trip, the practice of
putting out food at particular spots to attract birds seems to be quite
common here, but unless you know local birders or hire a guide, you will
never find out exactly where these spots are. I tried to find a
"well-known" spot where Mountain Peacock-Pheasants and Ferruginous
Partridges come for food, but I didn't know the key information, which
is that you need to pay the guards to let you drive up the road early in
the morning. Another "well-known" spot, where a water dish with little
fish placed under a convenient perch attracts rufous-backed kingfishers,
I found out about by running into some local birders/photographers
nearby, who kindly took me there (and told me about paying the guards at
the other place).
I'm not sure why birders here are so protective of their "special spots"
- possibly partly because of the widespread illegal bird trade.
For anyone who is planning to come to Malaysia in the future and wants
to do any birding around KL, I'm happy to show you a few nice spots.
Regards, Koren
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