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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mark Bruce" data-source="post: 1414458" data-attributes="member: 23565">A few comments on some things I've picked up on in the guide largely concerning Taiwan but some are general, too. It's great to finally have a field guide like this for the region so a very big 'Well Done !' to Mark Brazil. The guide includes several splits. I'll not say anything on the taxonomy used in the guide or the merits of the splits that are included in the guide. Brazil lists 24 endemics for Taiwan. That's up 9 from the previous 15. The splits for the new endemics he includes are:-Taiwan Barbet Megalaima nuchalis from Black-browed Barbet Megalaima oorti-Taiwan Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus musicus from Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus ruficollis-Black-necklaced Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus erythrocnemis from Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus erythrogenys-Taiwan Wren Babbler Pnoepyga formosana from Scaly-breasted Wren Babbler Pnoepyga albiventer-Rufous-crowned Laughingthrush Garrulax ruficeps from White-throated Laughingthrush Garrulax albogularis-Rusty Laughingthrush Garrulax poecilorhynchus from Grey-sided Laughingthrush Garrulax caerulatus-Taiwan Hwamei Garrulax taewanus from Chinese Hwamei Garrulax canorus-Taiwan Fulvetta Alcippe formosana from Streak-throated Fulvetta Alcippe cinereiceps-Taiwan Shortwing Brachypteryx goodfellowi from White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana The quality of the artwork varies. On the whole it isn't bad at all and the size of the subject is fairly large. I must admit that some of the pigeons & doves and the swallows & martins are not the best and seem not quite up to the general standard of most of the other plates. Colours also seem a bit off on some species. On the Taiwan birds all three pheasants seem out to me. The Mikado and Swinhoe's Pheasants look very black. They are much bluer. The male Grey-chinned Minivet looks very dull and more like a youngster. The Maroon Oriole is very brown. It is far redder. The male Black-naped Monarch is very dull. Both the male and female of the Taiwan subspecies are a far brighter blue. The Rusty Laughingthrush and Steere's Liocichla are also shown as very dull. The colours for both male and female race affins for the Plumbeous Redstart are just wrong. They are shown as very grey. They are much bluer. The <a href="http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/230745/ppuser/23565" target="_blank">male </a>in my gallery looks nothing like the colour of the bird shown in the guide. The White-tailed Robins are also very dull. Range maps are very small. As much of the area is covered with islands it is frustrating as distribution for a species may appear as nothing more than a speck on the very small map. Light pink depicting scarce or rare is also very difficult to see for the islands, particularly when it is just a thin line along the coast. Slightly larger maps would be a more user-friendly and a most welcome addition for future editions.  It is very difficult to actually see the distribution of many birds on Taiwan. This same problem is true for the Japanese Islands. Apart from the endemics several other species are only found on Taiwan within the general region and the present maps offer limited help in showing their distribution.  I picked up a few problems with distribution maps: -The text lists Mandarin Duck as a resident on Taiwan but the map is blank. It is an uncommon to rare resident. It is also likely that Taiwan gets some migrants, too. -Gadwall isn't shown as on Taiwan and the text indicates it is occasional when it is actually a fairly common winterer. -Garganey is shown for just the lower half of Taiwan. It is listed as uncommon (winter). Garganey can be found in the north of Taiwan but mainly the lower half. On Taiwan the species is fairly common on passage but uncommon to rare for winter. Gadwall is far more common than Garganey. -Flesh-footed Shearwater isn't shown or listed for Taiwan. It is fairly common off the SE coast of Taiwan in summer. -Bulwer's Petrel is far more common than the text indicates or the dot on the map off SE Taiwan shows. Bulwer's Petrel is very common off the central to SE coast and it would be really unusual to go to sea, particularly on the ferries to Ludao (Green Island) or Lanyu (Orchid Island/ Botel Tobago), and not see a Bulwer's Petrel. At this point the status of many of the open-ocean seabirds off Taiwan is poorly known. Several surveys have been done over the last few years. It would appear that Bulwer's Petrel, Streaked Shearwater, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater and even possibly Short-tailed Shearwater are far more frequent off the Taiwan east coast than the guide indicates. -Oriental Honey Buzzard isn't shown on Taiwan on the map. The text indicates that it can be seen on migration. Oriental Honey Buzzard is resident in central Taiwan and fairly common. It is also fairly common on passage especially in southern Taiwan in October. -Black-shouldered Kite isn't shown or listed for Taiwan. The text states that it can be found on Kinmen Island, a Taiwan-controlled island just off the Chinese coast about 2km off the city of Xiamen. The BSK is indeed resident on Kinmen but it is also resident on the west-central Taiwan coast where it is locally fairly common.-Black-eared Kite is shown only on the west-central Taiwan coast. The BEK is an uncommon resident and while it is found on the west-central Taiwan coast it is actually more common on the SW coast and up around Keelung on the north coast.-Upland Buzzard isn't shown on Taiwan and the text indicates it as accidental. The map shows Rough-legged Buzzard as rare on Taiwan. Upland Buzzard is rare winter with the Rough-legged being more of an 'annual' vagrant. -Pied Avocet is listed and shown as accidental. It is fairly common to uncommon winter.-Northern Lapwing is listed and shown as a scarce winter visitor. It is actually a locally common winterer in western Taiwan where large flocks totalling several thousand can be found in the rice paddies.-Roseate Tern is shown for north and SE Taiwan but the map should also include the west-central Taiwan coast and the Penghu Islands (the Pescadores) in the middle of the Taiwan Strait. -Collared Scops Owl isn't shown on the map for Taiwan but the text lists it. It is a common resident.-Ruddy Kingfisher is listed and shown as a Taiwan resident. It is not resident. Ruddy Kingfisher are seen very rarely on passage. There are usually only a handful of sightings annually normally in May.  I've got to go out so will try complete the map problems sometime over the next few days.</blockquote>

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