Basics: 1998, hardcover, 64 pages, 102 color photos, 96 species, no range maps

This little book offers a tiny sample of 96 of the nearly 1,700 birds found in Southeast Asia and Indonesia. The intent is to offer a taste of the variety of birds found in the region and to display the beauty of many of the more colorful species.

The photos are pretty good and of a decent size to show the bird well. The text sometimes addresses just the one bird featured on the page. At other times, it generally discusses the family of birds with only minor mention to each of the 4 or 5 members illustrated. This text focuses on the natural history of the birds and gives the reader a basic introduction to the habitats and behaviors of these birds.

This book is for the person with a beginning interest in birds. The nice photos should be appealing and will hopefully strengthen their appreciation or interest in birds.

As a side note, the same cover and ISBN -- but a different title of Tropical Birds of Indonesia -- is assigned to another book that I presume has the same contents inside, based on how the author addresses the birds of Indonesia and Southeast Asia in the introduction.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali by MacKinnon
2) A Photographic Guide to Birds of Java, Sumatra and Bali by Tilford
3) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Borneo by Davison
4) A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali by MacKinnon
5) A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Indonesia by Strange
6) Birds: A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore by Strange
7) Photographic Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia by Strange ( )