Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide, Second Edition

Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide is one of my favourite and most regularly used bird guides, both at home and in the field. First published in 2005, this two volume guide to the birds of the Indian Subcontinent covers all the birds from Afghanistan through Pakistan, India, Sikkim, Nepal and Bhutan to Sri Lanka as well as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Maldives and Chagos archipelago. It is also an extremely useful guide to have in adjacent countries such as China, for which there is no good field guide. This second edition (2012) has been updated to correct minor errors in the first edition, as well as to incorporate the newest findings on taxonomy, distribution, and vocalizations. It features several new species to the region, including newly discovered species such as “Great Nicobar Crake” which was only discovered and photographed in 2012 and has yet to be described to science.

The new edition is a paperback, making it a bit lighter, but not as robust as the first edition. Volume 1 is the field guide and includes the same maps and plates (3,400 illustrations on 180 plates) as in the first edition, with minor modifications, such as the inclusion of six new species to the region. All known regional species and most distinctive subspecies and plumages are illustrated, whilst the 1,450 colour maps (opposite the colour plates) show winter and resident ranges as well as migratory routes and are annotated according to geographic variation, status, and habitat. A major change from the first edition, however, is that the species accounts facing the plates in Volume 1 now contain information on voice, something that was sadly lacking in the first edition. My only real complaint about Volume 1 is that it does not contain a proper map of the region – to see a map with the geographic and political names mentioned in the text or the topography of the region you will need to refer to Volume 2 (which also includes a Gazetteer).

For those who have not seen the first edition, it is worth pointing out that twelve artists have contributed to the plates, so the styles and detail vary considerably between plates. Overall I like the great majority of the plates, though some reviewers of the first edition noted that they did not like the style of the principal artist, John Anderton. Some plates are superb, in particular Bill Zetterström’s larks and the warbler plates that were done by Ian Lewington (including Phylloscopus leaf warblers and Acrocephalus warblers, which is pleasing because these particular bird groups can cause a lot of identification headaches).

A quick comparison between the two editions shows that the plates are largely unchanged. One of the only changes to an original painting that I noticed was that the weigoldi race of Dusky Warbler Phylloscopus fuscatus was depicted to be about as dark as Smoky Leaf Warbler P. fuligiventer in the first edition, but in the second edition is notably paler than the latter.

Reviewers of the first edition pointed out various technical mistakes in the plates, most notably relating to scale, but these do not seem to have been modified. However, those scale-related problems – such as the fact that images of White-throated Bushchat Saxicola insignis appears as almost the same size as those of Common Stonechats Saxicola torquatus, even though it is significantly bigger – are, for me at least, minor points. Overall, I would rate the plates in this book as being excellent.

The taxonomy followed in the first edition of this guide was considered controversial by many at the time since many taxa were split for the first time in that edition and many hypothetical species were included. However, six species that were then considered to be hypothetical have now been proven to occur in the region, whilst many of the controversial splits have been adopted elsewhere – which to me vindicates the approach taken in the first edition.

Six entirely new species for the region have been included in Volume 2 whilst five taxa formerly considered to be full species are now lumped. Of the 1,441 species included in the first edition, 1,298 species have now been proven to occur regularly in the region, and an additional 85 species are considered to be vagrants (with less than three records). However, the exact number of species included in the second edition is not stated, but since that total includes many hypothetical and possible species (those occurring within a short distance of the region, such as in southern Tibet and western Myanmar) it is not particularly relevant.

The many differences in nomenclature and taxonomy between the two editions are outlined in the second edition in several appendices in Volume 2. For quite a significant number of species these changes involve both the English name and scientific name, as for example with Manchurian Bush-warbler Cettia canturians (1st edition), which has now become Korean Bush-warbler Horornis canturians. Other species have been split, such as Spotted Bush-warbler Locustella thoracica for which the western population is now West Himalayan Bush-warbler L. kashmirensis, or the east-Himalayan and more southerly/easterly populations of what was Coral-billed Scimitar-babbler Pomatorhinus ferruginosus, now treated as Black-crownded Scimitar-babbler P. ferruginosus and Phayre’s Scimitar-babbler P. phayrei respectively. Another example from this part of the region is that of Brown-throated Treecreeper which has been split into Sikkim Treecreeper Certhia discolor and Manipur Treecreeper C. manipurensis. On the other hand there are some taxa that have been lumped since the publication of the first edition, including for example Yellow-breasted Azure Tit and Azure Tit which are now lumped as Cyanistes cyanus.

Most maps are the same in the first and second edition of Volume 1, but I noticed minor changes in a number of maps, particularly with regard to northeast India, where data from field observations had evidently been incorporated (e.g. for Red Crossbill Loxia curvirostra, Bank Myna Acridotheres ginginianus, Himalayan Beautiful Rosefinch Carpodacus pulcherrimus, Himalayan Greenfinch Carduelis spinoides, Red-browed Finch Callacanthis burtoni and others). Black-browed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus bistrigiceps, a hypothetical species in the first edition, and Oriental Reed Warbler A. orientalis have now been shown to winter in Bangladesh and West Bengal, and therefore have quite different maps. One species that did not have a mapped range when the first edition was written was Long-billed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orinus. Now, however, this species is known to breed in the far northwest of the region and wintering birds reach Thailand – it therefore now has a map, but the exact range of this difficult-to-identify species remains uncertain. The range of another of the region’s more enigmatic species, Large Blue Flycatcher Cyornis magnirostis, is reduced in the second edition to exclude Bhutan.

The bulk of Volume 2 comprises comprehensive species accounts, all of which start with plumage descriptions in which the most diagnostic identification features are italicized. Plumage descriptions are followed by information on geographic and altitudinal range and habits. Individual species accounts are concise but thorough, and more easily identified species such as herons tend to receive much shorter summaries than some of the more difficult taxa that require careful scrutiny for identification. Species accounts also include measurements where appropriate, such as body, head, and tail length but, surprisingly, no wing measurements or wing formulae are included, even where this is indispensable for the separation of some closely related species, such as various Acrocephalus warblers. The last section in each species account is one on “Voice”, and contains thorough but concise descriptions that are rarely found in a work of this kind. The transcriptions are (presumably) based upon English pronunciations, although this isn’t mentioned in the text, and this could confuse non-native English speakers. But the book also includes sonograms for the majority of species which should help in understanding the voice descriptions – though some may find it necessary to reference the introductory chapters of Volume 2 to understand the sonograms.

The one drawback of this fantastic piece of work is probably the relatively high price. This is not the only guide to the birds of the Indian Subcontinent, and some birders may prefer to spend less and invest in its closest competitor, the second edition of Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Overall, Birds of South Asia is a much more comprehensive piece of work, with its two volumes, and the field guide (Volume 1) compares very favorably with Birds of India. Personally, I try to take both on my trips to India, but if I had to choose I would probably take Volume 1 of Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide.

– Reviewed by Frank Lambert