Birds of Cambodia

For many years Cambodia was ignored by birdwatchers, perhaps for fear of treading on one of three million landmines that are thought to remain from the Cambodian Civil War. The risk to most tourists from these is tiny, but birdwatchers need to explore the wider countryside, so there is a risk. However, having visited myself I was reassured that the main national parks are safe, and elsewhere there are marked trails – but it is not a country where you can simply wander off the path! Tourism has trebled in the last ten years, and over 200,000 UK visitors travelled to Cambodia last year – including many more birders than before. So this guide is very timely.

If you avoid the rainy season from May to October then you can easily enjoy a great birding holiday and by using members of the Cambodia Bird Guide Association you can be more likely to have a rewarding visit. There are currently only two endemics found here – the recently-described (and thankfully easy-to-see) Cambodian Tailorbird Orthotomus chaktomuk, and the more elusive Cambodian Laughingthrush Garrulax ferrarius which can be found if you camp in the Cardoman Mountains. There are a further 15 near-endemics to look for in addition to truly wonderful birds as the Critically Endangered Giant Ibis Thaumatibis gigantea and White-shouldered Ibis Pseudibis davisoni.

Until now the only bird book for Cambodia has been A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia by Craig Robson (New Holland, 2000 and 2008 – now published by Bloomsbury). That remains a useful tool on any South-East Asia trip but urgently needs updating and lacks distribution maps. This new guide from Lynx (in the BirdLife International Field Guides Collection) delivers everything you need and includes multi-coloured general distribution maps. Texts of around 150 words per species cover status, habitat and behaviour, age, sex and geographical variation, voice, and confusion species are suggested. There are 123 colour plates with around 1400 illustrations illustrating 629 species. These are taken from Handbook of the Birds of the World and groups such as waterfowl, waders and raptors are additionally shown in flight. Both sexes are depicted where appropriate and a selection of juvenile and non-breeding plumages are displayed as are some racial variations. A total of 28 artists created the images which work together very well. The layout generally allows around four to six species per plate.

In common with all of the books in this series the taxonomy used is that of BirdLife/HBW and if you follow the IOC or Clements taxonomy you may find that several near-endemic species are unfamiliar – such as Cambodian Blue Robin Myiomela cambodiana (split from White-tailed Blue Robin Myiomela leucura) and Cambodian Flowerpecker Dicaeum cambodianum (split from Fire-breasted Flowerpecker Dicaeum ignipectus), while waiting to be split is the Cambodian race of the Streaked Wren-babbler Turdinus brevicaudatus griseigularis.

Quick Response (QR) codes are included for each species linking to the HBW Internet Bird Collection gallery of photos, videos and sounds. There are also introductory pages outlining Cambodia’s habitats and key birding sites. This book contains everything you would want for a trip and once again Lynx have found a need and satisfied it.