Search

The Birds of Singapore – an online book

on 17th September 2010

In May 1943, GC Madoc published “An Introduction to Malayan Birds.” He wrote his manuscript in Singapore’s Changi Prison where he was interned when the country fell into the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army. Only a single copy was produced, typed on paper stolen from the Japanese commandant’s office.

In the preface to the third edition of the book, Madoc wrote: “I hope that some day it will be superseded by a Nature Society publication in which the pooled knowledge of all Malaya’s ornithologists will be presented comprehensively with numerous coloured illustrations.”

With today‘s launching of the The Birds of Singapore website, Madoc’s dream is just beginning to be realised – sixty-seven years on.

The brainchild of ornithologist Slim Sreedharan, this online book will initially start with 100 of the commoner species. A series of checklists have already been posted that include all the species recorded to date, whether resident, introduced, escapees, vagrants or extinct. And Slim is slowly but surely adding on the individual species… one by one. It will take some time before we reach our one hundred species target, but get there we will.

Why is the Bird Ecology Study Group launching the website at this initial stage, you may ask? Well, this is an exciting new development as we broaden our base from our current, hugely successful blog on bird behaviour. And we wish to share our excitement with everyone as the website unfolds stage by stage.

The Birds of Singapore is essentially an online book. This online publication can be updated regularly as new information becomes available. Errors can be corrected and changes in systematics can be updated effortlessly. The online book will keep on growing and in time will literally become a living book. We cannot say the same about the few guidebooks we have on the local birds – guidebooks that are long outdated.

Also, this online book is freely accessible to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. It is also the green thing to do. We do not need to destroy more trees for the paper that go into conventional books. And you need not spend any money to buy guidebooks anymore.

Guidebooks in general can only provide limited descriptions of plumage, individual interpretations of calls and songs, and limited, if at all any information on behaviour. Besides, the illustrations, whether photographs or drawings, are much too small to do justice to the morphological diversity of our birds.

The posted checklists include Non-Passeriformes and Passeriformes, both with thumbnail images where currently available. These images can be enlarged with a click.

There are also sections on detailed write-ups of individual species that will include, besides aspects given in guidebooks, behaviour, large images, vocalisation and eventually, videos. Currently the Common Kingfisher, Blue-eared Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Spotted Dove and Pink-necked Green Pigeon have already been completed. These will give readers an idea of what is yet to come. Note that species that have been written up are listed in BLUE while those that have yet to be completed are in GREEN.

We hope to engage bird enthusiasts of all stripes and colours in active participation in the development of this online book. So check out “A Guide to Contributors” to get ideas on how you can get involved and what to contribute. All contributors will be fully acknowledged and the copyright will naturally remain with contributors.

YC Wee & Slim Sreedharan
Singapore
September 2010

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

Other posts by YC Wee

7 Responses

  1. Congratulations all round! It is high time observations & explanations accompany beautiful bird pictures spreading across the pages in journals & websites. Pretty pictures by themselves are quite useless: they only feast the eyes but not tease the mind. Keep up the useful work Dr. Wee et al.

  2. Great idea for an on-line living book that is capable of timely updating with the latest. It will be a good source of knowledge for all.

    The inclusion of vocalisation is very much welcome as it has an obvious advantage over words.

    We welcome the birth of singaporebirds.net! Congratulations!

    Just like seeing a nestling grow to a fledgling and morphing to an adult, we will look forward to The Birds of Singapore evolving from its launch to a respectable site in the near future.

    Best Wishes and keep up the good work!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories
Archives

Overall visits (since 2005)

Live visitors
679
9517
Visitors Today
51621472
Total
Visitors

Clustrmaps (since 2016)