Handbook of the Birds of the World. Special Volume: New Species and Global Index
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When the acclaimed Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) series concluded last year with the publication of Volume 16, it seemed like the end of an era. ‘Seemed’ rather than ‘was’, because despite having finished systematically cataloguing all the world’s birds, HBW continues with this impressive ‘legacy’ volume.
Subtitled ‘New Species and Global Index’, its theme is brought beautifully to life on the cover by Chris Rose’s depictions of Cryptic Forest-falcon and Bare-faced Bulbul – species discovered as recently as 2003 and 2009 respectively. ‘Discovery’ is an elastic concept when it comes to describing new bird species, because – as in the case of the forest-falcon – they may be reassessments of museum specimens or taxonomic splits rather than ‘true’ finds in the field (though the bulbul falls in the latter category).
These areas are discussed in detail in two expansive sections entitled ‘Avian classification in flux’ and ‘The discovery of new species’, both authored by Jon Fjeldså. His expertise in these fields results in a well-structured overview of classification principles and problems, together with a group-by-group summary of research and advances in knowledge made in recent years. This is fascinating and informative, and sure to become a well-thumbed reference over time.
Sixty-nine new species – specifically, those where a new scientific name has been introduced since the family accounts were published in volumes 1-16 – are detailed in a 32-page section which adopts the familiar HBW format. It is followed by Bret Whitney and Mario Cohn-Haft’s essay titled ‘Fifteen new species of Amazonian birds’, itself accompanied by the original scientific descriptions of each. Readers may marvel at some of the circumstances of discovery but also, as this one did, question whether the collection of specimens of hitherto unknown bird species should be practised quite so routinely. Perhaps a ‘for and against’ debate on ethics and alternative methods in species description could have been given a home here?
The Special Volume then changes pace unexpectedly with a photo gallery, presenting 200 of the best entries (out of 10,754) from last year’s HBW World Bird Photo Contest. The idea, according to the publishers, is a kind of photographic homage, and as the book’s mainstay centre section it certainly works. The quality of the images is breathtaking and there are too many show-stoppers to list in full, but mention must be made of the feeding Crested Honey-buzzard surrounded by bees in Taiwan, the wide-angle Dotterels on a Swiss mountain, the pattern created by nesting Greater Crested Terns when photographed from the air, the Indochinese Roller tossing a hapless mouse into the air, and the drenched Tree Swallows huddled on a bleak branch in the Yukon.
Finally, the Global Index consumes the last 300 or so pages of the volume, with English, French, German, Spanish and scientific names given for every species in all volumes.
Anyone who has collected this series so far will surely want to acquire this important addition. But even this is not the end of the road for the series, with an illustrated checklist on the way, as well as HBW Alive, an online version which will benefit from regular updates. HBW is set to maintain its position as the leading reference on the world’s birds for years to come.
Subtitled ‘New Species and Global Index’, its theme is brought beautifully to life on the cover by Chris Rose’s depictions of Cryptic Forest-falcon and Bare-faced Bulbul – species discovered as recently as 2003 and 2009 respectively. ‘Discovery’ is an elastic concept when it comes to describing new bird species, because – as in the case of the forest-falcon – they may be reassessments of museum specimens or taxonomic splits rather than ‘true’ finds in the field (though the bulbul falls in the latter category).
These areas are discussed in detail in two expansive sections entitled ‘Avian classification in flux’ and ‘The discovery of new species’, both authored by Jon Fjeldså. His expertise in these fields results in a well-structured overview of classification principles and problems, together with a group-by-group summary of research and advances in knowledge made in recent years. This is fascinating and informative, and sure to become a well-thumbed reference over time.
Sixty-nine new species – specifically, those where a new scientific name has been introduced since the family accounts were published in volumes 1-16 – are detailed in a 32-page section which adopts the familiar HBW format. It is followed by Bret Whitney and Mario Cohn-Haft’s essay titled ‘Fifteen new species of Amazonian birds’, itself accompanied by the original scientific descriptions of each. Readers may marvel at some of the circumstances of discovery but also, as this one did, question whether the collection of specimens of hitherto unknown bird species should be practised quite so routinely. Perhaps a ‘for and against’ debate on ethics and alternative methods in species description could have been given a home here?
The Special Volume then changes pace unexpectedly with a photo gallery, presenting 200 of the best entries (out of 10,754) from last year’s HBW World Bird Photo Contest. The idea, according to the publishers, is a kind of photographic homage, and as the book’s mainstay centre section it certainly works. The quality of the images is breathtaking and there are too many show-stoppers to list in full, but mention must be made of the feeding Crested Honey-buzzard surrounded by bees in Taiwan, the wide-angle Dotterels on a Swiss mountain, the pattern created by nesting Greater Crested Terns when photographed from the air, the Indochinese Roller tossing a hapless mouse into the air, and the drenched Tree Swallows huddled on a bleak branch in the Yukon.
Finally, the Global Index consumes the last 300 or so pages of the volume, with English, French, German, Spanish and scientific names given for every species in all volumes.
Anyone who has collected this series so far will surely want to acquire this important addition. But even this is not the end of the road for the series, with an illustrated checklist on the way, as well as HBW Alive, an online version which will benefit from regular updates. HBW is set to maintain its position as the leading reference on the world’s birds for years to come.
- Handbook of the Birds of the World. Special Volume: New Species and Global Index, edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal and David Christie (Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, 2013).
- 821 pages, 319 colour photos, 214 illustrations, 94 distribution maps and 50 figures.
- ISBN 9788496553880. Hbk, approx £125.
