[Crodol]

I thought it would be easy to find an answer to this question by searching the forums but it seems all is concentrated on field guides. As I am in Singapore at the moment I have "Birds of Southeast Asia" by Robson but I find few things more boring than actually trying to read this book - especially as I have to flip always a couple of pages until I find a bird that I know, given my short list of spotted species...

So, is there a standard volume about birds/birding in general with info on how "birds work" and maybe even a chapter on how to approach them in the wild without scaring them big time? Maybe that book would even describe on how it all works with birds propagating etc.

I could do a "birding" search on Amazon but I trust your opinons more.

PS: TGIF

[Gretchen]

Well, don't know how you feel about North American books, but Sibley has two which are fairly generic (though I haven't looked at them from a non-NA view). Very short and informative is Sibley's Birding Basics, and much more exhaustive is The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior (Ornithology). Depending on your interests, one of them might suit...

[etudiant]

A good broad brush overview might be Hilty's Birds of Tropical America, as it illuminates birds and their place in the ecosystem wonderfully well.
The book really is an easy read, despite the somewhat austere presentation, with just a few line drawings to lighten up the text. Also, one learns that the often peculiar bird behaviors hang together for good reason, often illustrated by examining the differences between tropical and paleoartic bird behavior.

If your interest is not slaked, Krichler's A Neotropical Companion extends the same type of magisterial insight into the broader Neotropic ecosystem.

[Crodol]

Thanks for the tips - might go with Sibley's Birding Basics for the moment.

Hilty's Birds of Tropical America and Krichler's A Neotropical Companion also sound exactly like what I was looking for - the only thing I wonder about is how useful it is for the tropics in South East Asia...

Are there big differences between the tropics in the Americas and in South East Asia? Probably the same "principles" apply but the species might look slightly(?) different...?

[Gretchen]

You may get some other ideas from forum members yet - hopefully! I haven't seen much in Asia that is not a field guide (in English), so if you don't see it in good book stores in Singapore, I guess there's not much currently on the market. There may be something else suitable from Europe though? (Not that I didn't really like Sibley's Basics - just to give you more choices...)

There is also this nice site you might want to look around for reviews: http://www.birderslibrary.com/

[bitterntwisted]

Two books with the same title may well fit the bill. I am currently reading and enjoying the first, by Michael Bright. I haven't read the second, but I have read several of Stephen Moss's other books, and rated them highly...

Michael Bright, The Private Life of Birds: A Worldwide Exploration of Bird Behaviour (1993)
Stephen Moss, The Private Life of Birds (2006)

Graham

[fugl]

Here's another possibility which I finished reading not too long ago & can recommend
Tim Birkhead, The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology, 2008

[Don't be put off by the silly title, by the way: the author's a professional biologist & the book's packed with solid information]

[Keith Dickinson]

Originally Posted by bitterntwisted

Two books with the same title may well fit the bill. I am currently reading and enjoying the first, by Michael Bright. I haven't read the second, but I have read several of Stephen Moss's other books, and rated them highly...

Michael Bright, The Private Life of Birds: A Worldwide Exploration of Bird Behaviour (1993)
Stephen Moss, The Private Life of Birds (2006)

Graham

Bright's book is an excellent read, I received a copy for Christmas a good few years ago and enjoy going back and re-reading sections again and again

[J. Moore]

I would second the recommendation for the Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. It is focused on providing general information about birds that would be of interest to birders, and is designed as a companion to the Sibley Field guides. It concerns North American birds, but has a lot of excellent general information also. It is not actually written by Sibley, but by about 20 different authors, most of whom are ornithologists or scientists, and each of whom was selected on the basis of his (or her) expertise in the particular area about which he writes, as well as his ability to write engaging prose.

Best,
Jim

[carjug]

Used book store. stack of old Bird magazines. Too Good.

Also, Good Birders Don't Wear White,

and

The Complete Birder