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Copies of the "Guide to the birds of Philippine rice fields" are available internationally for US$6.00 (excluding shipping charges, which are determined when we know the shipping destination). For orders, email k.villanueva@irri.org --providing the number of copies desired and the shipping location. IRRI will then send the customer the total cost along with payment instructions. Music: "Feathers" by NABION (https://soundcloud.com/nabionmusic) Also see: http://irri-news.blogspot.com/2015/11/irri-and-national-museum-feature-genius.html and http://irri-news.blogspot.com/2015/11/sharing-harvest-of-art-and-natural.html On 12 November 2015, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI; http://irri.org) and the National Museum of the Philippines (http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/#page=page-1) held a trifecta of grand events celebrating the genius of National Artist Vicente Manansala, heirloom rice treasures of the Cordilleras interpreted for the palate by the country’s top chefs, and the breathtaking natural beauty and awe of wild bird diversity in the Philippines. "The Guide to the birds of Philippine rice fields", by Paul Bourdin, Tirso Paris, Fred Serrano, Richard. Smedley, and Gene Hettel, was launched at the special event, Sharing the Harvest, at the Museum, Thursday, 12 November 2015. It is published by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). More information about the guide can be found at .http://irri.org/resources/publications/books/guide-to-the-birds-of-philippine-rice-fields Annually, Filipino farmers harvest more than 4 million hectares of rice fields within the country. Even though management and techniques differ from island to island, even among neighboring farmers, the overall habitat is similar and so, rice fields provide an important artificial wetland attraction for an area’s biodiversity and for migrating “feathered” visitors. Located 50 kilometers south of Manila on the slopes of the dormant volcano Mt. Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has spent more than 50 years developing new rice varieties for poor farmers and studying different environmentally friendly and relatively pesticide-free methods of rice field management that farmers can use. The 209 hectares of rice fields on IRRI’s experiment farm form a mosaic patchwork of different crop stages and varying degrees of wetland habitats, which make them a bird paradise. Keeping a healthy rice ecosystem is a target for IRRI on the farm. For example, the Institute uses integrated pest management (IPM), which reduced pesticide application by 96% between 1993 and 2008 and encourages richer natural biodiversity. Although there is no direct evidence on the impact of the reduced pesticide use, it is certainly a contributor to richer bird life in and around the farm. This guide will help bird enthusiasts identify birds—both common and rare—found frequenting rice fields in the Philippines, spotlighting particularly the rice fields on the IRRI farm as a microcosm for the country as a whole. All of these birds, most assuredly, can be seen in many rice fields within the Philippines, Hence the title of this guide. This guide concentrates on the IRRI fields because they have been intensively surveyed over recent years like no other location in the country. Highlighted are 93 species that actually use the fields, that is, hunting for food, sheltering within the rice plant canopy, and raising their broods. It also includes five years of observational records at IRRI to approximate what months these birds are most likely to be present.