by Craig Brelsford
Shanghai birders should use Birds of Japan and Birds of Bhutan and the Eastern Himalayas. I served as proofreader of both books, published by Helm Field Guides. Keep Japan on your bookshelf or in your car as you bird the coast of China, and use Bhutan as your first reference in western Yunnan.
Authored by Mark Brazil, Birds of Japan follows Brazil’s 2009 opus, Birds of East Asia, the best field guide for the coastal provinces of China. Birds of Japan sees Brazil returning to his first love, Japan, where Brazil has been active since the 1980s.
Birds of Bhutan and the Eastern Himalayas, by Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp, and Sherub, covers not just Bhutan but also the neighboring Indian states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. All border Tibet, and Arunachal Pradesh extends east to a point only 80 km (50 mi.) from the Dulong Gorge in Yunnan.
Japan and Bhutan each come with introductions to their regions, richly illustrated with maps and photographs. With its detailed “Where to Bird” section, Grimmett et al.’s 38-page opener is as thorough an introduction as a birder is likely to find to the eastern Himalayas. Brazil’s is less extensive but still does justice to a biogeographically complex archipelago that stretches 3000 km (1,900 mi.) from subarctic Hokkaido to the subtropical Ryukyus.
Japan and Bhutan repurpose much artwork from earlier Helm works, Japan drawing from Birds of East Asia and Bhutan from Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. There is, however, much that is new. In Japan no less than 18 new illustrations of White Wagtail are offered, 12 covering the three ssp. (leucopsis, ocularis, lugens) most common on the Chinese coast. Illustrations better than those in Birds of East Asia are provided for Chinese Egret and several species of duck.
Published nearly a decade after East Asia, Japan incorporates many of the ornithological advances made since 2009. For example, in East Asia Brazil incorrectly writes that the calls of Pale-legged and Sakhalin Leaf Warbler are indistinguishable, and the illustrations suggest that the morphological differences between the two species are appreciable. In Japan, Brazil describes the higher-pitched call of Pale-legged, and the new paintings convey more accurately the near indistinguishability of the species on plumage and bare parts.
To a China-based birder, Birds of Japan offers regional interest and usefulness in the coastal provinces, where it can serve as a backup and partial update to Birds of East Asia. Japan also provides a foretaste of a second edition of East Asia. “The publisher has expressed strong interest in a new edition,” Brazil wrote, “and I have the artist already lined up. I am just awaiting a contract” (in litt., 2019).
Bloomsbury touts Birds of Bhutan and the Eastern Himalayas as “the one guide you’ll need on a visit to this incredible corner of Asia.” Including the neighboring Indian states along with Bhutan was an inspired decision, broadening the scope of the book without diminishing its coherence and increasing its usefulness in the Himalayan regions of China. For birders in the Dulong Gorge and at Baihualing, Ruili, and other hotspots in western Yunnan’s Gaoligong Mountains, Bhutan can replace Craig Robson’s Birds of Southeast Asia. Bhutan has better species descriptions than Robson’s sometimes cryptically concise work, and its illustrations excel those in Robson.
Birders in other parts of China will find Bhutan useful. In Himalayan south Tibet, in particular Yadong, wedged between Sikkim and Bhutan, birders will do just fine with Bhutan and only Bhutan in their backpack. Bhutan will prove useful in regions east of Himalayan China, notably Sichuan, as well as on the Tibetan Plateau. In southern Yunnan (Xishuangbanna), whose avifauna is more Southeast Asian than Himalayan, Bhutan can back up Robson.
Like Birds of Japan, Bhutan includes recent ornithological breakthroughs, among them Himalayan Thrush, a species described in 2016 by Alström et al., and Bugun Liocichla, discovered in 2006 in Arunachal Pradesh. Other Himalayan specialties sought after by China-based birders, such as Sclater’s Monal, Fire-tailed Myzornis, and Beautiful Nuthatch, receive ample coverage in the species accounts and introduction of Bhutan.
China sorely lacks good bird books. On the Helm Field Guides bookshelf, there are gaps where works such as Birds of Sichuan and Yunnan and Birds of the Tibetan Plateau should be. Birders in China have long had to cobble together field-guide strategies, using as a major component field guides covering regions of Asia bordering China. One welcome development has been the increasing quality of those guides. Nowhere are the improvements more evident than in Birds of Japan and Birds of Bhutan and the Eastern Himalayas.
Do you own either of the books discussed in this article? Add your review in the comments below.
Brazil, Mark. (2019). Email to author, 9 August.
Featured image: Covers of Birds of Japan (2018) and Birds of Bhutan and the Eastern Himalayas (2019), published by Helm Field Guides/Bloomsbury. (Craig Brelsford)
Kwa Craig Brelsford Shanghai birders wanapaswa kutumia Ndege wa Japan na Ndege wa Bhutan na Mashariki ya Himalaya. Nilihudumu kama mkurugenzi wa vitabu vyote viwili, vilivyochapishwa na Helm Field Guides. "Kuwa na Japan kwenye rafu yako ya vitabu au katika gari lako wakati unasafiri pwani ya China, na kutumia Bhutan kama kumbukumbu yako ya kwanza magharibi mwa Yunnan. """ "Birds of Japan ni kitabu cha kwanza cha Brazil kilichochapishwa mwaka 2009 na mwandishi Mark Brazil, na kinaitwa ""Birds of East Asia,"" na kinaonyesha jinsi ndege wanavyoweza kuongoza watu katika maeneo ya pwani ya China." Ndege wa Japani anaona Brazil akirudi kwa upendo wake wa kwanza, Japani, ambapo Brazil imekuwa hai tangu miaka ya 1980. Ndege wa Bhutan na Himalaya ya Mashariki, na Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskip, Tim Inskip, na Sherub, inashughulikia si Bhutan tu lakini pia majimbo ya jirani ya India ya Sikkim na Arunachal Pradesh. Mji huo una mipaka na Tibet na Arunachal Pradesh, na unaenea mashariki hadi kilomita 80 tu. Mto wa Dulong huko Yunnan Japan na Bhutan kila moja huja na utangulizi wa mikoa yao, iliyoonyeshwa sana kwa ramani na picha. "Kwa sehemu yake ya ""Where to Bird,"" Grimmett na wenzake wanafungua ukurasa wa 38 na ni utangulizi kamili kama ndege anaweza kupata katika Himalaya ya mashariki." Brazil ni nchi kubwa zaidi ya dunia, lakini ina eneo la kilomita 3000. Hokkaido ya Subarctic na Ryukyu ya Subtropiki Japan na Bhutan zinatumia tena kazi nyingi za sanaa kutoka kwa kazi za awali za Helm, Japan ikitumia Ndege wa Asia Mashariki na Bhutan kutoka Ndege wa Bara la India. Hata hivyo, kuna mambo mengi mapya. Katika Japan, hakuna chini ya 18 picha mpya za White Wagtail zinazotolewa, 12 kufunika ssp tatu. Leucopsis, ocularis, lugens) ya kawaida katika pwani ya China. Mifano bora kuliko ile iliyo katika Birds of East Asia hutolewa kwa ajili ya Egret ya Kichina na spishi kadhaa za bata. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Mashariki ya Asia: Japani"" ni kitabu cha kwanza cha utafiti wa ndege na ndege nchini Japan, na kinaonyesha maendeleo makubwa ya ndege na ndege tangu mwaka 2009." Kwa mfano, katika Asia ya Mashariki, Brazil imeandika kimakosa kwamba sauti za Pale-legged na Sakhalin Leaf Warbler haziwezi kutofautishwa, na picha zinaonyesha kwamba tofauti za kimaumbile kati ya spishi hizo mbili ni kubwa. Katika picha ya Brazil, anajulikana kwa sauti ya juu ya pale-legged, na picha mpya zinaonyesha kwa usahihi zaidi karibu indistinguishability ya spishi juu ya manyoya na sehemu tupu. Kwa mtazamaji wa ndege wa China, Ndege wa Japani hutoa maslahi ya kikanda na manufaa katika mikoa ya pwani, ambapo inaweza kutumika kama chaguo la ziada na sasisho la sehemu kwa Ndege wa Asia Mashariki. Japani pia hutoa ladha ya toleo la pili la Asia Mashariki. "Mchapishaji ameonyesha nia kubwa katika toleo jipya", Brazil aliandika, "na tayari nina msanii aliyepangwa. Mimi ni tu kusubiri mkataba <unk> (katika lit., 2019). "Bloomsbury inatoa ""Birds of Bhutan and the Eastern Himalayas"" kama ""mwongozo mmoja utahitaji kwenye ziara ya kona hii ya ajabu ya Asia.""Kujumuisha majimbo ya jirani ya India pamoja na Bhutan ilikuwa uamuzi wa kuchochea, kupanua wigo wa kitabu bila kupunguza mshikamano wake na kuongeza manufaa yake katika mikoa ya Himalaya ya China." Kwa watazamaji wa ndege katika Bonde la Dulong na katika Baihualing, Ruili, na maeneo mengine katika Milima ya Gaoligong ya magharibi mwa Yunnan, Bhutan inaweza kuchukua nafasi ya Ndege wa Kusini Mashariki mwa Asia wa Craig Robson. Bhutan ina maelezo bora ya spishi kuliko kazi ya Robson wakati mwingine ya kifupi, na vielezi vyake vinazidi zile katika Robson. Walinzi wa ndege katika sehemu nyingine za China watapata Bhutan kuwa yenye manufaa. Katika Tibet ya Kusini ya Himalaya, hasa Yadong, iliyo kati ya Sikkim na Bhutan, watazamaji wa ndege watafanya vizuri na Bhutan na Bhutan tu katika mkoba wao. Bhutan itathibitika kuwa muhimu katika mikoa ya mashariki ya Himalaya ya China, hasa Sichuan, na pia kwenye Plateau ya Tibet. Katika kusini mwa Yunnan (Xishuangbanna), ambayo avifauna ni zaidi ya Kusini Mashariki mwa Asia kuliko Himalaya, Bhutan inaweza kuunga mkono Robson. "Kama ndege wa Japan, Bhutan inajumuisha mafanikio ya hivi karibuni ya ndege, miongoni mwao ""Himalayan Thrush,"" spishi iliyoelezwa mnamo 2016 na Alstrom et al., na Bugin Liochila, iligunduliwa mnamo 2006 huko Arunachal Pradesh." Vyakula vingine vya Himalaya vinavyotamaniwa na waangalizi wa ndege nchini China, kama vile Sclater's Monal, Fire-tailed Myzornis, na Beautiful Nuthatch, hupatikana sana katika akaunti za spishi na kuanzishwa kwa Bhutan. China inakosa sana vitabu vizuri vya ndege. Katika rafu ya vitabu vya Helm Field Guides, kuna mapungufu ambapo kazi kama vile Ndege wa Sichuan na Yunnan na Ndege wa Plateau ya Tibet zinapaswa kuwa. Kwa muda mrefu, wachunguzi wa ndege nchini China wamelazimika kuandaa mikakati ya kuongoza ndege katika maeneo ya mashambani, wakitumia kama sehemu kuu ya miongozo ya shambani inayofunika maeneo ya Asia yanayopakana na China. Jambo moja lenye kupendeza ni kwamba vitabu hivyo vimekuwa vyenye ubora zaidi. Hakuna mahali ambapo maboresho hayo yanaonekana waziwazi kuliko katika Ndege wa Japani na Ndege wa Bhutan na Milima ya Himalaya ya Mashariki. Je, una vitabu vyote vilivyozungumziwa katika makala hii? Ongeza maoni yako katika maelezo ya chini. Brazili, Mark. (2019). Barua pepe kwa mwandishi, 9 Agosti. "Kichapo cha ""Birds of Japan"" na ""Birds of Bhutan and the Eastern Himalayas"" cha Helmfield Guides na Bloomsbury." (Craig Brelsford)