Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I’m still somewhat amazed that I’m able to identify most vultures at a glance while driving. Hawks still require a little more scrutiny but they’re not that bad, especially since raptor diversity is relatively low where I live. But hawk watchers? They’re a different breed altogether. I’ve read enough to know better, but being able to identify, much less age and sex, a hawk that’s no more than a speck on the horizon is akin to magic. It used to be that if you wanted to identify raptors like these experts you had to spend significant time with them at a hawk watch. Now, Jerry Liguori has condensed this expertise into Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors.

There are already plenty of raptor identification books, but this book’s title intimates a unique approach. While other guides portray hawks up close with plumage-based field marks clearly visible, that’s not always how you see them. Many are far away and sometimes you only get a quick glimpse. Hawks at a Distance is designed to help birders identify these challenging birds.

And as the subtitle suggests, this guide focuses on the identification of migrant raptors. This makes sense, as you are more likely to see distant hawks from hawk watch spots in migration. Naturally, the information contained within will still be applicable to any hawk, not just those migrating. But there is one aspect that this focus greatly affects – species selection. Liguori gives full coverage to the 19 species most likely to be seen in migration in the United States and Canada, a slightly reduced account for one (Gyrfalcon), and abbreviated accounts for nine others. This means that some resident, range-restricted species are not covered (i.e. Harris’s Hawk, Snail Kite), though a few are (i.e. White-tailed Hawk, Hook-billed Kite).

At the beginning of each full account you’ll find a full-page, gorgeous portrait of the hawk (the Rough-legged is especially nice). But those are the only “glamour shots” you’ll find; the rest of the photos in this book are drastically different. The birds don’t fill the frame – they are shown quite small and sometimes seem swallowed by sky or landscape. Some are in less-than-perfect lighting conditions, such as back-lit, shadowed, or over snow. One thing they all have in common is that every single photo here (most taken by the author himself) is of a bird in flight.

Looking through Hawks at a Distance is a completely different experience than with any other identification guide. You won’t be wowed by the photography, and in some cases you won’t be able to see the bird very well at all. The author has done this intentionally in order to “show raptors in ‘real world’ settings”.

Each identification plate includes three to six color photographs, with most arranged in three rows of two equally sized pictures. At the bottom of the page, following all the photos, is the caption. I normally don’t like arrangements like this, with the captions separated from what they’re describing. But it works here. The arrangement serves to give a better impression of how the hawk actually looks in the field, a concept this book shares with The Crossley ID Guide.

Besides the captions, there is, on average, a little more than a page of text for the full accounts and half a page for the others. The main text accounts give an overview of the identification of the species, focusing on that which is visible from a distance. Plumage receives the most attention, but shape is also prominent, and flight style is mentioned. Accipiters, buteos, and falcons also have a group overview.

One of the best features of Hawks at a Distance is a section devoted solely to shape. A full page is devoted to each of the 19 raptors, where a multitude of photographs depict the bird in all kinds of postures, including head-on, gliding, soaring, and flying away. These plates are printed in black and white so as to focus attention on the shape, rather than plumage, of the birds.

The relatively short introduction describes the book and how to use it; gives basic tips on identification, optics, and hawk counting; and includes a glossary, labeled photos for bird topography, and photos of raptors in various flight positions.

Hawks at a Distance nicely complements, rather than replaces, Liguori’s prior book, Hawks from Every Angle. There is some overlap, especially in the plumage descriptions, but the different approach of this new volume fills a gap in the coverage of the prior, making them together the complete guide to the identification of migrant raptors in flight.

Recommendation

In the introduction to their seminal Hawks in Flight, the authors write:

None of us will ever fully conquer that challenge [of identification of hawks in flight], because another raptor will always be coming along that is just a little bit farther away or a little higher – just slightly out of reach.

Twenty-two years later one of those authors, Pete Dunne, penned the forward to Hawks at a Distance in which he says: “Far. It’s not as distant as it used to be.”

Raptor fans, and especially anyone who spends time at hawk watches, will definitely want a copy of Liguori’s Hawks at a Distance. It’s quite simply the best guide to hawks at, well, a distance. But is it something that other birders will need? Maybe not need, as Hawks from Every Angle and Brian Wheeler’s raptor guides are sufficient for day-to-day birding. But since when is sufficient enough for birders? Hawks at a Distance will still be useful to any birder due to its different approach and the encouragement it gives to push the limits of our identification skills to the horizon (literally).

The following is a guest review provided by Frank Lambert.

Families covered in this volume are as follows:

• Ploceidae (Weavers)
• Viduidae (Whydahs and Indigobirds)
• Estrildidae (Waxbills)
• Vireonidae (Vireos)
• Fringillidae (Finches)
• Drepanididae (Hawaiian Honeycreepers)
• Peucedramidae (Olive Warbler)
• Parulidae (New World Warblers)

This volume of Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), the penultimate volume, covers some of the most-studied of all species, and some of the most familiar birds in most parts of the world. But although some of the birds included are very well-known, others are at the other end of the spectrum. For example, Sillem’s Mountain Finch Leucosticte sillemi, is known only from two specimens collected in 1992 on the west Tibetan Plateau at 5,125m, in the practically unexplored Aksai Chin disputed area of China, which is claimed by India.

The book starts with a 55-page foreword on ”Conservation of the world’s birds: the view from 2010” by Stuart Butchart, Nigel Collar, Alison Stattersfield and Leon Bennun, all of whom work in the BirdLife International Secretariat in Cambridge, UK. For anyone interested in bird conservation issues, this essay provides an excellent overview of the status of the world’s birds, the most important pressures they face, and how these threats can be potentially tackled. The review is succinct yet comprehensive, and well worth taking the time to read – the following paragraphs give only a taste of the detail that is packed into it.

Altogether, 1,240 bird species (12.5%) are now threatened with global extinction and 132 species are known to have gone extinct during or since the sixteenth century (and in this respect, the Hawaiian Honeycreepers included in this volume are of particular relevance, with eight recently extinct members of this family illustrated – another eight are illustrated in HBW7). An additional four species, such as Spix’s Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii, are considered to be extinct in the wild (with populations surviving in captivity). Extinctions are continuing: 18 species were lost in the last quarter of the twentieth Century and another three are believed to have disappeared since 2000, including two species from Hawaii (Hawaiian Crow Corvus hawaiiensis and Poo-uli Melamprosops phaeosoma). Furthermore, the authors point out that 13 of the 190 species considered to be Critically Endangered may already be extinct (and hence are tagged as Possibly Extinct in the Wild) and others in this highest threat category will certainly be lost if no targeted conservation action is taken.

The authors provide an excellent, if not rather depressing analysis of the distribution and habitats of threatened bird species, and an analysis of trends (including a reminder that even many of our “common” birds are becoming much rarer) before embarking on a lengthy discussion on the principal threats to birds. These include many that we are all too familiar with, such as agricultural intensification (resulting in habitat destruction and degradation); unsustainable forestry; the spread of invasive alien species and disease (particularly relevant to islands); over-exploitation (hunting and trade, and not forgetting commercial fisheries which are impacting dramatically on many seabirds); and residential and commercial infrastructure development. Other threats that are covered that are perhaps less well understood by the public at large include changes in fire regimes; inappropriate water management, and various types of pollution. The final threat covered is of course one of the most topical, namely climate change.

Whilst the effects of human-induced climate change are debated by some, most of us now accept that increased greenhouse gas emissions are already resulting in slowly increasing temperatures, sea-level rises and shifts in precipitation patterns and snow cover. These changes to our planet are likely to have sweeping and dramatic effects on biodiversity during this Century. Whilst some species may well benefit, for most species climate change will have negative effects through impacts on distribution, abundance, and behaviour. Data compiled by BirdLife International show that climate change impacts have already been documented for 400 bird species, and there are likely many more species that are experiencing effects that we do not yet know about. The essay provides the reader with a brief account of the impacts through known examples before informing us of the likely future impacts of climate change on birds. We learn, for example, that the projected breeding ranges of European species will shift north-eastwards by 260-880km depending on the emission scenario and that on average, future ranges are likely to be 20% smaller than they are now and may only overlap by about 40% with present ranges. This kind of impact will inevitably cause serious problems for many species, in particular those living nearer the poles, and for migrants (which will face longer migrations). Many mountain-top species with limited opportunities for dispersal are also likely to be seriously affected by climate change.

Global warming and sea-level rise will affect not only biodiversity of course, but will surely create profound problems for the next few generations of people on this small planet of ours unless our governments make sincere efforts to tackle the underlying causes. The final part of the forward delves into some of the solutions to the threats faced by birds, under the title of “What can we do?”, and within this 13-page summary many of the actions that our communities and governments should be working to achieve are mentioned. As pointed out by the authors: “Ultimately, biodiversity will only be conserved if enough people care about nature and recognize its importance for human livelihoods and wellbeing, as well as its intrinsic value. Changes in attitudes and approaches are needed at local, regional and global scales among individuals (that’s you and me!), communities, businesses and governments.” The price-tag for improving the status of the world’s threatened species is high, but put into perspective not insurmountable: it is estimated that the cost of saving all the worlds Critically Endangered birds would be less than the sum spent by the USA every four days on the war in Iraq. It seems an incredible fact that this powerful nation can spend so much on armaments and yet almost ignore an extinction crisis on its own soil, where native Hawaiian birds are disappearing at an alarming rate.

The Foreword is followed with the standard approach of HBW that we are now so familiar with. In this volume, three wholly New World families, the Vireos (52 species in 4 genera), Peucedramidae (one species, Olive Warbler Pseucedramus taeniatus) and the New World Warblers (116 species in 25 genera) are covered. African species are also very well represented, with 116 species of weaver in 17 genera, 20 species of whydah’s and indigobirds in two genera; and 134 species of waxbills in 32 genera, of which a significant proportion occur in the Africa and its offshore islands. Other waxbills are widespread in the Asian and Australasian regions (for example munias and mannikins). But the only truly globally widespread family included in HBW15 are the Finches (144 species in 29 genera), with representative species worldwide except for Australia (where some have been introduced), New Zealand (ditto) and most of the Pacific. One endemic Pacific family that is included in this volume are the spectacular Hawaiian Honeycreepers, with 23 species included. Sadly, of these 23, at least 18 are considered to be threatened (and some of these may already be extinct). Another 16 honeycreepers are known to have gone extinct since 1600. The fragility of the honeycreepers is brought home by the photo of the last Poo-uli, sitting in what appears to be a rather small, depressing cage. It died in 2004, and no wild individuals have been seen since that year. Incidentally, the painting of this species on Plate 48 does not look particularly like the photograph in which the bird looks slimmer and longer-billed.

This volume has fewer photographs than the most recent two volumes, 495, compared to an incredible 657 in HBW14 and 546 in HBW13, but as usual the standard of the photos used is excellent. It was somewhat disappointing, however, not to see any photographs of the breath-taking display flights of paradise-whydahs. Regarding illustrations; considering the incredible diversity of nest construction exhibited by weavers, it would have been of great interest to have included a plate or two illustrating these (though to be fair there are eight photos of completed nests).

For most of the families covered, there are few taxonomic surprises, but there is at least one finch that most readers will be unfamiliar with; Corsican Finch Carduelis corsicana (which just made it into Svensson et. al. 2009), as well as one little-known Estrildid Finch, Timor Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata (formerly considered conspecific with Australian Zebra Finch T. castanotis), and two New World Warblers, namely Barbuda Warbler Dendroica subita and St Lucia Warbler D. delicata (split from Adelaide’s Warbler Dendroica adelaidae which now becomes a Puerto Rico endemic).

Recent changes in species limits for rosefinches proposed by Rasumussen and Anderton (2005) and Rasmussen (2005) have not been adopted by HBW, although there are good reasons to believe that these splits may be more widely recognised in the future. Hence Himalayan Beautiful Rosefinch Carpodacus pulcherrimus and Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch C. davidianus are still treated as Beautiful Rosefinch C. pulcherrimus; Himalayan White-browed Rosefinch C. thura and Chinese White-browed Rosefinch C. dubius are included in White-browed Rosefinch C. thura; Red-mantled Rosefinch C. rhodochlamys and Blyth’s Rosefinch C. grandis are included in the former species in HBW; Spot-winged Rosefinch C. rodopeplus and Sharpe’s Rosefinch C. verreauxii are included in Spot-winged Rosefinch by HBW; and Caucasian Great Rosefinch C. rubicilla and Spotted Great Rosefinch C. severtzovi are treated by HBW as Great Rosefinch C. rubicilla. Interestingly, the last of these splits has been widely recognised in the past, including by Clement et al. (1993). Apparently the authors believe that for most of these rosefinches, mitochondrial DNA analysis is required before such splits be recognised, which is perhaps surprising considering the species limits adopted by HBW in some other families, such as within the babblers and thrushes, sometimes without such evidence.

Red Crossbills Loxia curvirostra with 19 recognised subspecies ranging across the Palearctic and from Central America to Luzon, Vietnam and North Africa, is still treated as one species. Evidently much more study is required to determine species limits with any certainty, although Scottish Crossbill L. scotica (Great Britain’s only endemic bird), which has been a controversial species since it was first described, is recognised by HBW. In particular, Crossbill taxa in the East Palearctic and Asia are still very poorly-known and we may yet end up with, for example, Philippine Crossbill.

One “taxon” not included in HBW15 is Cream-bellied Munia Lonchura pallidiventer, which gets a mention under Chestnut Munia as “believed to be a hybrid”. This attractive munia was described by Robin Restall (1996a; and see the excellent Plate 70 in Restall 1996b) from a series of nine specimens from the Jakarta bird market that were said to have come from the hinterland of Southeast Kalimantan, Borneo. Although this may well turn out to be a hybrid, I believe that there is the possibility that this is a good species that has just been over-looked.

Some of the bird families covered by HBW15 include many species that have been relatively well studied, and the New World Warblers (Parulidae) are no exception. The introduction to this family runs to 71 pages and the accounts of most species are longer than is typical. The taxonomy followed is fairly standard, but Bachman’s Warbler Vermivora bachmanii is not included since the evidence strongly suggests it is already extinct, though Semper’s Warbler Leucopeza semperi, endemic to the small Caribbean island of St Lucia and which must also be extinct or very close to extinction, is included.

The species limits follow Curson (1994) except for the inclusion of Barbuda Warbler and St Lucia Warbler. Hence, “Audubon’s”, “Myrtle” and “Goldman’s” Warblers are all recognised as being forms of Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata. In contrast, however, whilst a small numbers of (knowledgeable) authors have opted to split some of the 43 subspecies of Yellow Warbler Denroicca petechia, HBW15 keeps them all under one species. Robert Ridgely (in Ridgely and Greenfield 2001), for example, recognised Mangrove Warbler D. petechia as separate from migratory northern Yellow Warbler D. aestiva, whilst Steve Hilty (2003) recognised Yellow Warbler D. aestiva, Golden Warbler D. petechia and Mangrove Warbler D. erithachorides. Whilst the illustrations of the New World Warblers appear to be good, they are not comprehensive in that hybrids such as “Brewster’s Warbler” and “Lawrence’s Warbler” are not illustrated (see e.g. Sibley 2000 for illustrations of these).

Within the New World Warblers, a few English names may be unfamiliar, for example, White-rimmed Warbler Basileuterus leucoblepharus is here White-browed Warbler and River Warbler B. rivularis is now Riverbank Warbler. The scientific name adopted for Blue-winged Warbler is Vermvora cyanoptera (not V. Pinus).

As a complement to HBW, and with the ultimate goal of disseminating knowledge about the world’s avifauna, in 2002 Lynx Edicions started the Internet Bird Collection. It is a freely accessible, on-line audiovisual library of the world’s birds where visitors can view or post videos, photos and sound recordings showing a variety of biological aspects (e.g. subspecies, plumages, feeding, breeding, etc.) for every species. The IBC is a very useful source of reference, and currently holds more than 45,000 videos and 32,000 photos representing more than 80% of the world’s species.

Resources used:

• Clement, P., Harris, A. & Davis J. 1993. Finches and Sparrows. Christopher Helm, London.
• Curson, J., Quinn, D. & Beadle, D. 1994. New World Warblers. Christopher Helm, London.
• Hilty, S. L. 2003. Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London.
• Rasmussen, P.C. 2005. Revised species limits and field identification of Asian rosefinches. BirdingAsia 3: 18-27.
• Rasmussen, P.C. and Anderton, J.C. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Lynx Editions, Barcelona.
• Restall, R. 1996a A proposed new species of munia, genus Lonchura (Estrildidae) Bull. Brit. Orn. Soc. 115: 140-157.
• Restall, R. 1996b. Munias and Mannikins. Pica Press, Mountfield, UK.
• Ridgely, R.S. & Greenfield, P.J. 2001. The Birds of Ecuador. Christopher Helm, London.
• Sibley, D. 2000. The North American Bird Guide. Pica Press, Sussex, UK.
• Svensson, L., Mullarney, K. & Zetterström, D. 2009. Collins Bird Guide: the most complete guide to the birds of Britain and Europe. 2nd Edition. HarperCollins, London.

Often, it seems like the flashy, rare, or hard-to-identify birds get all the attention. There are plenty of books on wood-warblers, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and gulls. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Although some are certainly endangered, and silent birds can be hard to identify by sight, nightjars don’t usually fit into those categories. So I was pleasantly surprised to see Nightjars of the World, a new photographic guide to these enigmatic birds.

The birds included in this book (which I will collectively refer to as nightjars, even though technically that is just one of the families treated) are nocturnal and secretive. They are usually known for their repetitive, yet evocative, calls. But beyond these calls that “jar” the night, they are incredibly fascinating. Did you know that the Oilbird is the only known nocturnal fruit-eating bird? Even more amazingly, it is one of a very few birds that uses echolocation to navigate (like bats). Although several nightjars are known to enter brief periods of torpor (when an animal reduces body temperature and metabolic rate to conserve energy), the Common Poorwill is the only bird that may truly hibernate.

Flipping through this book, you will see many similar-looking birds that are a study in cryptic patterns of brown, gray, and rufous. That may sound boring, but nightjars have a subtle beauty that really shines through these wonderful photographs. But there are also some undeniably spectacular species, as well as crazy-looking ones like the Sri Lankan Frogmouth that, according to my wife, “looks like a Muppet”.

Doesn't this bird look like a Muppet?

Each account starts with text and range maps on the first page (and rarely a photo), followed by one or more pages of photographs, which are the undisputed highlight of the book. Each species is portrayed by 2-8 photos (on average three and a half). They are fantastic, and very large. The pictures of most nightjars occupy half a page, while those of the more upright potoos, frogmouths, and owlet-nightjars take up an entire page.

About a dozen of these 135 species are illustrated primarily, or even entirely, by photos of museum specimens. But many of these are known with certainly only from such specimens. Amazingly, one of these, the Nechisar Nightjar, is known from just a single wing found on an Ethiopian road (google the species or see the fascinating Atlas of Rare Birds for more details). This, combined with these birds’ secretive habits, makes it amazing that such a large number of photos have been included, much less photos of such high quality.

However, I do wish that more species were shown in flight. Granted, most encounters with nightjars will be of perched birds, and getting good in-flight shots of them must be incredibly difficult. But there have to be some available for the more common species (don’t there?). Personally, being in the eastern United States, I would have loved to see an in-flight comparison between the Whip-poor-will and Chuck-will’s-widow. Plus, there are some members with elongated tail and wing feathers that would be spectacular to see in the air. However, such pictures are included for seven of the ten nighthawks, which are most commonly seen in flight, and a very select few other species.

The textual accounts include the following:

• English Name – some are different from the “official” names, in which case there is a note explaining the difference
• Scientific Name – includes full citation giving name, author, year, and place of publication (for each subspecies!)
• Length – in centimeters
• Identification – description of species, with differences based on gender and age where appropriate (and known)
• Main Confusion Species
• Vocalizations
• Habitat – including altitudinal range
• Breeding – summary of when and where; clutch size; description of eggs and chicks
• Range
• Status – uncommon, abundant, etc
• 2009 IUCN Red List Category – “Least Concern”, “Endangered”, etc

That is a fairly extensive list, but the accounts are actually disappointingly sparse. The list of similar species seems incomplete. Whip-poor-wills and Chuck-will’s-widows, for instance, aren’t listed for each other. (It can’t just be me that can have difficulty with them given poor views.) A flight call is described for relatively few species; otherwise just the main territorial call is given. Further, it would have been nice to include some information on feeding and other habits.

To be fair, some of this information is simply not available. Nine of these species have never had their vocalizations described at all, much less other details of their lives (there are a lot of question marks in this book). But a cursory examination of these species’ accounts in volume five of the Handbook of the Birds of the World reveals additional particulars, like flight calls and feeding habits, that could have been included here for many species. Their absence in this newer book is all the more surprising given that Cleere also authored the nightjar family account in the Handbook.

The range maps are relatively large and use distinct colors for permanent, breeding, and non-breeding ranges, with arrows indicating migration routes. Major rivers and country boundaries are displayed, but inter-country political boundaries are not. For large countries like the US, this can make the maps more difficult to decipher than they should be. However, subspecies ranges are labeled for polytypic species, which is very welcome.

There are actually two maps for most species – the detailed map described above and a smaller map of the entire world with a box outlining the area shown in the detailed map. The world map will be of help to the severely geographically challenged, but the actual maps aren’t zoomed in far enough to confuse most readers. Even for very range-restricted species in South America, the “detailed” map shows the entire continent. For the most part, I feel that they are a waste of space that could have been devoted to more text or photos.

A 50 page introduction covers distribution, plumage and structure, general biology (including communication, food, breeding, and camouflage), and taxonomy. A good bit of the page count comes from tables, figures, and a generous amount of photos, but it provides a good background on these birds.

Finally, I’d like to mention that this is a beautifully produced and designed book. The binding, paper, and printing are of very high quality. The layout is simple, but very attractive. There’s one thing that could have been done to improve it, though. Among the appendices in the back is a list of photographic credits that gives location, date, and photographer for each of the book’s 587(!) photos. I’m glad this was included, but the location and date would have been much more useful if placed adjacent to the photos themselves.

Recommendation

I wish the text was more extensive and that additional in-flight photos were included, but Nightjars of the World will still help birders to identify these birds. But even so, I don’t think that’s the primary value of this book. One of my favorite and most sublime birding moments was studying a Common Pauraque in the daylight as it was roosting right next to a trail. This guide can’t quite replicate such an experience, but it does reveal the subtle beauty of nightjars that absolutely floored me that day in Texas. If you aren’t already a fan of nightjars, this book will convert you.

The following is a guest review provided by Frank Lambert.

Families covered in this volume are as follows:

• Family Malaconotidae (Bush-shrikes)
• Family Prionopidae (Helmet-shrikes)
• Family Vangidae (Vangas)
• Family Dicruridae (Drongos)
• Family Callaeidae (New Zealand Wattlebirds)
• Family Notiomystidae (Stitchbird)
• Family Grallinidae (Mudlarks)
• Family Struthideidae (Australian Mudnesters)
• Family Artamidae (Woodswallows)
• Family Cracticidae (Butcherbirds)
• Family Pityriaseidae (Bristlehead)
• Family Ptilonorhynchidae (Bowerbirds)
• Family Paradisaeidae (Birds-of-paradise)
• Family Corvidae (Crows)
• Family Buphagidae (Oxpeckers)
• Family Sturnidae (Starlings)
• Family Passeridae (Old World Sparrows)

The 14th volume of the Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) once again treats us to a feast of superb photographs, authoritative text and impressive plates. This volume covers a very diverse group of birds, the vast majority of which are Old World or Australasian in distribution. Indeed, of the families covered, only the crow family includes New World species.

Some of the families are relatively poorly known – so that the Vangas (endemic to Madagascar) with 15 species only have a 21 page introduction, whereas the New Zealand Wattlebirds (three extant species with the north and south island saddlebacks recognised as separate species) receive 28 pages. Another New Zealand family, Notiomystidae, with only one species, the Stichbird Notiomystis cincta generates and impressive 14 pages!

The Foreword, in a marked departure from the usual more scientific topics covered, is a short essay on “Birding Past, Present and Future – a Global View”, in which Stephen Moss sets out to show how birding has gone from the “preserve of a few eccentric enthusiasts to the mass-participation leisure activity of today” in the last 100 years. With some 46 million “birders” in the USA (which sounds unlikely, but the figure has been manipulated (by the US Fish and Wildlife Service) by counting anyone who watches birds in and around their homes as a birder) and some 2.85 million “active birders” in the UK, the essay is not surprisingly focused on material from these two countries. Nevertheless, the essay is wide-ranging and contains something for everyone. I found the analysis of how much money birding generates for various economies of particular interest. In the USA, wildlife-watchers (of whom birders form the vast majority) spend almost US$32 billion in pursuit of their hobby (presumably over their lifetime, though this is not stated), of which nearly US$2 billion goes on optics, but even more – $2.2 billion – is spent on bird food. According to the US Fish and Wildlife survey, overall the impact of wildlife-watching on US economic output is apparently even more, at US$85 billion a year, producing $13 billion in tax revenues and creating some 860,000 jobs. Given the number of hunters that I saw whilst birding in the USA it would have been interesting to have seen a comparison here of what their economic contribution might be compared to wildlife-watchers. According to Stephen Moss, however, these figures are likely to be over-estimates because of the very liberal view of the types of expenditure relating to birding activities that were included. Whether this went as far as to include the number of book cases required to hold all of the volumes of HBW that have ever been sold in the USA I can’t say, but it does give food for thought.

The first family covered in this volume, the bush-shrikes, firmly places the taxonomically controversial “Bulo Burti Boubou” (described as a new species, Laniarius liberatus in 1989) as a morph of Somali Boubou L. erlangeri: a taxon itself so recently recognised as a species that it is treated as a subspecies of the widespread Tropical Boubou L. aethiopicus in the Birds of Somalia (Ash and Miskell 1998) and not mentioned by Sinclair and Ryan (2003). But the settling of this taxonomic issue is just the tip of the iceburg – as HBW14 so well illustrates, such species-limits issues now abound and are increasingly the focus of discussion and study by birders who would not consider themselves as scientists – a theme that was unfortunately not explored in the Foreword of this volume. With increasingly easy access to published papers and other information on the internet, and new tools such as instant access to numerous recordings of the vocalizations of closely related taxa (primarily at the incredibly useful website xeno-canto), almost any intelligent birder with an interest can now delve into the realm of the taxonomist and potentially make significant contributions to our understanding of taxonomic issues.

Two families in particular in this volume – the drongos and the crows –include a significant number of taxa for which there are unresolved taxonomic issues, some of which would have important consequences for bird conservation. For example, how many of the eight subspecies of Slender-billed Crow Corvus enca (a group of poorly-known forest corvids that are distributed from the Greater Sundas to islands of the Philippines and Sulawesi region) should be treated as good species? Based on my own field experience in the region I am convinced that there must be at least four! Indeed, the IOC already recognizes one of these, the endemic Seram taxon violaceus as a separate species, Violet Crow. Philippine populations, however, are still treated as Slender-billed Crow, “pending formal breakup of that polytypic species”.

Once again I sense some inconsistency in the taxonomic treatments of the various families – no doubt as a result of different approaches by the various authors. For example, within the starlings the Hill Mynas in the genus Gracula are now represented by five species, (including endemic species on the west Sumatran islands of Nias and on Enggano and in Southwest India/Sri Lanka) even though some taxonomists may feel that the justification for this treatment has not been adequately dealt with in the scientific literature. In contrast, when it comes to the black corvids in the genus Corvus, HBW mostly takes a more cautious approach. Hence, as mentioned above none of subspecies of Corvus enca have been split, and nor have they split any of the subspecies of Large-billed Crow C. macrorhynchos, even though the IOC and recent field guides (e.g. Rasmussen and Anderton 2005, Robson 2008, Myers 2009) have recognized a number of different species, most notably Eastern Jungle Crow Corvus levaillantii, and Indian Jungle Crow Corvus culminates. These splits are still controversial, in part because of the complexity of the issues involved, and it is not surprising that HBW has taken a cautious approach. On the other hand, HBW recognizes another black corvid, the Bismarck Crow Corvus insularis (a split from Torresian Crow C. orru) apparently on the basis of two unpublished manuscripts (though I don’t wish to imply here that I don’t agree with treating C. insularis as a good species) .

The Birds-of-Paradise are one of my favourite bird families, and I was interested to see that HBW recognizes one “new” species, the Foja Parotia Parotia berlepschi. However, I was a little surprised that Growling Riflebird Ptiloris intercedens, a split (recognized by IOC) from Magnificent Riflebird Ptiloris magnificus is not recognized here. The vocalizations of Growling Riflebird are so different from those of Magnificent Riflebird that it seems inconceivable to me that they should be treated as the same species (compare recordings XC38119 with XC38120 at xeno-canto). Also in contrast to IOC, HBW has retained the so-called satinbirds (Loria’s Cnemophilus loriae, Crested C. macgregorii and Yellow-breasted Birds-of-Paradise Loboparadisea sericea) within the Paradisaedae (Birds-of-Paradise): IOC put these three species in their own family, Cnemophilidae (see the December 2009 IOC list (version 2.3)) .

Nevertheless, it has to be recognized that the authors and editors of HBW are working in a time of incredible taxonomic change, and deciding what to include as a species versus a subspecies must often be a vexing task. The IOC list is updated every 3-4 months, with changes to English and scientific names, changes to the names of genera and the addition of newly discovered or split species. Keeping up with that is impossible in a “static” piece of work such as HBW, so the taxonomy followed is inevitably going to be recognized as out-of-date very rapidly. For example, within the next decade it seems likely that within the Corvidae alone there will be an additional ten or more species recognized that are not treated as species by HBW. Despite this, HBW has made a very serious effort to illustrate and describe the vast majority of significantly different taxa that may warrant species status, so that they are included in this impressive piece of work even if not as good species.

A few unfamiliar English names appear in this volume, such as Lauterbach’s Bowerbird Chlamydera lauterbachi, which everywhere else in recent times has normally called Yellow-breasted Bowerbird, White Nile Rufous Sparrow Passer shelleyi (Shelley’s Rufous Sparrow in Sinclair and Ryan 2003; Shelley’s Sparrow in IOC) and Small Ground-Sparrow Pyrgilauda davidiana, one of five species of ground-sparrows in this distinctive high altitude genus of Old World Sparrows that were previously called Snowfinches (a name here reserved for three species in the genus Montifringilla). Most unfamiliar English names in HBW14, however, result from the inclusion of newly recognized species, such as the Masked Bowerbird Sericulus aureus (split from Flame Bowerbird S. ardens), Tablas Drongo Dicrurus menagei (split from Hair-crested Drongo D. hottentottus), Arabian Magpie Pica asirensis (split from Common Magpie P.pica), and Iberian Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cooki (split from Asian Azure-winged Magpie C. cyanus).

As with all recent volumes of HBW this one is well-researched and mostly up to date. But some of the authors are still perhaps unaware that they can access the vocalizations of many bird species on-line. For example, the vocalization of Long-tailed Paradigalla Paradigalla carunculata is available on xeno-canto (XC26333) but in the HBW species account it simply says VOICE: No information available. Perhaps in the last two volumes of HBW cross-reference to vocalizations that are available on this website and at the upcoming Michigan State University Avian Vocalizations Center (AvOCET) could be included.

The illustrations in HBW14 are generally of a very high standard, though there are surprisingly few juvenile plumages depicted. For example, it seems odd that none of the young plumages of Aponis starlings are depicted since these are very distinctive. There is one photograph of an immature Aplonis, but this is hardly that useful. Again, the photography is impressive and there are numerous outstanding photographs, the vast majority taken in the wild (some Indonesian species look like they could be of captive birds). I particularly appreciated the photographs of the variations of bowers and dance floors of the Australasian bowerbirds. They are simply incredible! But I was a little disappointed with a few of the photos of the Birds-of-Paradise and some of one of the world’s most amazing species, the Bornean Bristlehead Pityriasis gymnocephala (the only representative of the only endemic Bornean bird family, Pityriaseidae), since I know that there are definitely better photos available than those that were used. But that is a minor quibble. One photograph that did catch my attention, however, was that of Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise Paradisaea raggiana on page 437: this individual seems very odd and I wonder if it is in fact a hybrid between Raggiana and either Greater Bird-of-Paradise P. apoda or Lesser Bird-of-Paradise P. Minor. As mentioned in the text, members of this genus apparently manage to hybridize regularly.

Overall, as with most previous volumes in this series, Volume 14 of HBW is an outstanding piece of work and will prove to be a major source of reference for birders or for anyone interested in ornithology. I find myself using the various volumes of HBW more often than many of the other books in my library, and I for one am looking forward to seeing the penultimate volume at the end of this year. Unlike some of the other publishers in the bird book business, Josep del Hoyo and his team seem to be incredibly reliable in getting volumes of this series to their readers on time. I guess that means that they have very few siestas in their Barcelona office and are all busy working whilst the rest of Spain is sleeping!

Resources used:

• Ash, J.S. and Miskell, J.E. 1998. The Birds of Somalia. Pica Press, The Banks, Mountfield, UK
• Myers, S. 2009 A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo. New Holland, London and Talisman, Singapore.
• Rasmussen, P.C. and Anderton, J.C. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Lynx Editions, Barcelona.
• Robson, C. (2008). A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. New Holland, London.
• Sinclair, I. and Ryan, P. 2003. Birds of Africa south of the Sahara. Struik, Cape Town.

The following is a guest review provided by Frank Lambert. This series of books is just marvelous, and it sounds like this volume is no exception.

Recent volumes of Handbook of the Birds of the World (hereafter HBW) have kept up to a very high standard in terms of both presentation and content, and HBW 13 is no exception. This volume even includes Togian White-eye Zosterops somadikartai, described only in 2008. The text on the 16 families has been put together by 20 different authors, and the photos, which are again superb, draw on the skills and luck of numerous photographers. Photographs of many rare and little-known species are included, such as White-browed Nuthatch Sitta victoriae from Mt. Victoria, Myanmar, Pygmy Tit Paslatira exilis from Java, Rufous-throated White-eye Madanga ruficollis of the highlands of Buru (Indonesia), Black-ringed White-eye Zosterops anomalus of southwest Sulawesi, Black-eared Miner Manorina melanotis of Australia and Long-bearded Honeyeater Melidectes princeps from the mountains of Papua New Guinea. However, the photograph of New Ireland Friarbird Philemon eichhorni on page 577 is apparently not this species – the photo shows a bird with a distinctive casque at the base of its bill, which this species lacks – according to both the text and painting. Indeed, the photograph may well be a Helmeted Friarbird P. buceroides yorki even though the text states that this photo was taken on New Ireland, where P. eichhorni occurs but P. buceroides is absent. On New Ireland, the friarbird occurs in mostly inaccessible montane forests – I failed to find it in two days of searching in the only easily accessible forest at 800-1,000m, suggesting that it is rare and mainly occurs above this altitude.

HBW 13 covers 595 species in 16 Oscine Passerine families:

• Remizidae (Penduline-tits)
• Aegithalidae (Long-tailed Tits)
• Sittidae (Nuthatches)
• Tichodromidae (Wallcreeper)
• Certhiidae (Treecreepers)
• Rhabdornithidae (Rhabdornis)
• Nectariniidae (Sunbirds)
• Melanocharitidae (Berrypeckers and Longbills)
• Paramythiidae (Painted Berrypeckers)
• Dicaeidae (Flowerpeckers)
• Pardalotidae (Pardalotes)
• Zosteropidae (White-eyes)
• Promeropidae (Sugarbirds)
• Meliphagidae (Honeyeaters)
• Oriolidae (Orioles)
• Laniidae (Shrikes)

With the exception of 7 species (including the Verdin Auriparus flaviceps, presently treated as an aberrant member of the Remizidae but likely to be something else), none of these species are found in the new world, and the families covered give this volume a distinct Old World bias, with good representation from Asia and Africa, as well as from Wallacea, Australasia and the pacific islands.

The forward, by Ian Newton, is a 32 page essay on Bird Migration. Whilst this is a fascinating subject, and the essay well researched and written, I was a little disappointed that virtually all the examples given were of species from the Western Palaearctic and North America or of waterbirds. The inclusion of some of the less widely appreciated aspects of migration, such as that of intra-tropical migration within Africa or South America, or indeed a few paragraphs on the significant number of Austral migrants which escape the southern winter by moving northwards into often very different habitats in the Amazon or Atlantic forests, would have spiced up this essay.

A quick perusal of HBW13 again illustrates the dynamic nature of avian taxonomy and the ever increasing role that studies of DNA and vocalisations is playing in determining species limits. It is also to some extent a reflection of the ease of finding representative vocalisations for even obscure taxa (see, for example, the ever expanding sound collection at xeno-canto), most of which are being contributed by the hundreds of birders who now make sound recordings on their travels. Now that it is possible to make excellent digital recordings on very light equipment and upload and share the recordings on the internet, this trend is only likely to accelerate the process of splitting that is rapidly unfolding in the neotropics, the Orient and elsewhere. Some of these “new” species are rather cryptic and were easily overlooked without access to vocal information, but others, such as Sulphur-billed Nuthatch Sitta oenochlamys of the Philippines probably should have been recognised as good species many years back.

This recent trend in splitting of species, particularly in the Asian region, is well demonstrated by HBW13. For example, when Sibley & Monroe (1990) was published, and even as recently as 1995 (Harrap and Quinn 1996), only six species of Certhia treecreepers and 24 nuthatches were recognised. Now, after careful studies of morphology and vocalisations, there are nine and 27 species respectfully, and future studies of the Spotted Creeper Salpornis spilonotus may result in the splitting of African and Oriental taxa. Species that had not been “discovered” when I first visited Asia, such as Neglected Nuthatch Sitta neglecta, Przwalski’s Nuthatch S. przewalski and Hodgeson’s Treecreeper Certhia tinquanensis now leap out of the pages as I thumb through this informative book.

Other examples of recent Oriental region splits include Grey-throated Sunbird Anthreptes griseigularis, now a Philippine endemic, Vigors’s Sunbird Aethopyga ignicauda of western India and Grey Friarbird Philemon kisserensis of small islets to the east of East Timor. Apart from splits, there have been a significant amount of moving taxa between families in recent times. In this volume, two good examples are of the Bonin White-eye Apalopteron familiare, which was previously considered to be a honeyeater, and McGregor’s Honeyeater Macgregoria pulcher, previously considered to be a bird-of-paradise (Paradisaeidae).

It seems a pity that nobody has yet had time to tackle the question of species limits of Black-naped Oriole Oriolus chinensis, which according to HBW has 20 subspecies, with a breeding distribution from SE Russia and China through Southeast Asia and the Philippines to most of the Indonesian archipelago; the migratory northern race diffusus winters mainly in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Whilst many of the subspecies are very similar, and indeed also similar to Slender-billed Oriole O. tenuirostris, some are very different and there are very likely some that represent good species. One excellent example of this is provided by the taxon melanistictus of the Talaud islands (Indonesia), illustrated on Plate 55. This is just one of what may turn out to be several orioles that should be recognised as island endemics.

Despite all the evidence of the trend towards splitting, HBW sometimes takes a more conservative approach to taxonomy, as can be seen within the flowerpeckers. Thick-billed Flowerpecker Dicaeum agile, for example, include the Philippine forms that are sometimes treated as a separate species Striped Flowerpecker D. aeruginosum (e.g., by Inskipp et al. 1996 and Kennedy et al. 2000), whilst Plain Flowerpecker D. concolor includes the Andaman taxon virescens, which Rasmussen and Anderton (2005) treat as an Andaman endemic – this taxon is “markedly morphologically and vocally distinct from Plain Flowerpecker, which may not be its closest relative”. Rasmussen and Anderton (2005) also consider the western Indian form to be a good species, Nilgiri Flowerpecker D. concolor (whilst Plain Flowerpecker is treated as D. minullum). Personally, I would trust Rasmussens’ judgement on these particular taxonomic decisions rather than those taken by HBW.

The spiderhunters of the genus Arachnothera are probably another group where species limits are yet to be fully determined. “Everett’s Spiderhunter A. everetti”, which was considered to be a subspecies of Grey-breasted Spiderhunter A. affinis (“a race with more heavily streaked breast whose status is not clear”) by Smythies (1981) but later recognised as a good species by Sibley & Monroe (1990) and Inskipp et al. (1996), is now back to being a subspecies of A. affinis – which is now Streaky-breasted Spiderhunter – that is found only in the foothills and lower montane forests of Borneo and in Java and Bali. On the other hand, Grey-breasted Spiderhunter is now A. modesta, a species found in the lowlands of peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and at scattered localities in the lowlands and hills of Borneo. Yes, taxonomy can be confusing!

For keen world birders, this is a very important volume to possess since it includes illustrations of all the white-eyes (98 species), a group that includes many similar taxa, as well as those of another large (mainly Australasian) family the honeyeaters (175 species): neither of these groups have been covered elsewhere in any recent monograph. And whilst some readers may have the impression that white-eyes are relatively uninteresting or boring, a quick glance at Plate 36 may change your mind. It is a diverse group of birds with some stunningly plumaged species! HBW is undoubtedly one of the most important references for any keen birder or ornithologist to own, and I for one look forward to the last three of the 16 volumes. When Volume 16 is published in late 2011, it will complete the first work to describe and portray each species of any entire Class of the Animal Kingdom (with the obvious exception of some of those species that have been described during the publication period).

You can order this book through the publisher’s website. Alternatively, those in the US might prefer to order from Buteo Books to save on shipping charges.

Resources used:

• Harrap, S. and Quinn, D. 1996. Tits, Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Christopher Helm and A.C. Black, London.
• Inskipp, T. Lindsey, N and Duckworth, W. 1996. An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of the Oriental Region. Oriental Bird Club.
• Kennedy, R.S. Gonzales, P.C., Dickinson, E.C., Miranda, H.C. and Fisher, T.H. A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines. 2000. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Rasmussen, P.C. & Anderton, J.C. 2005 Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.
• Sibley, C.G. and Monroe, B. 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. Yale University Press, Newhaven and London.
• Smythies, B.E. 1981. The Birds of Borneo. The Malayan Nature Society and The Sabah Society, Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu.

Shorebirds…birders seem to either love them or hate them. Or just ignore them altogether! There’s nothing wrong with the birds, they’re just hard to identify. But not impossible, especially with the right guide (or guides, more than likely). So is this one worthy of joining you at your nearest shorebird hotspot?

Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia: A Photographic Guide covers the shorebirds of, you guessed it, North America, Europe, and Asia. However, while it covers the entirety of the first two continents, it doesn’t quite get all of Asia. It also includes the northern portion of Africa. Basically, it covers just about the entire northern hemisphere (and indeed is published under the title Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe). Regardless, it includes 134 species of shorebirds.

The species accounts are very attractive, with a nice use of color and images. They start with the English and scientific names along with a brief one or two sentence description of the species. For example, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper is introduced thusly: “A small east Asian sandpiper with a unique spatulate-tipped bill. Endangered.” The main text follows, and photographs conclude the accounts.

The account text consists of the following sections:

• Identification – Size; ID keys; In flight; Feeding
• Ageing – separate descriptions of each age class
• Call
• Status, Habitat, and Distribution
• Racial Variation and Hybridization
• Similar Species
• References – source material and further reading

As you can see, the text is mostly identification related. Combined with the photo captions, it does a good job of telling you what you need to look for. However, there is little beyond that. There is very little relating to behavior, for example, except as it pertains to identification. But I was pleased to see that some of the more distinctive behavioral traits, such as the tail bobbing of Spotted Sandpipers and “wave chasing” of Sanderlings, was mentioned.

The range maps use three colors to indicate breeding, wintering, and permanent ranges. The maps are a good size, and zoomed in appropriately on the actual range. It’s very nice to find that the maps show the entire worldwide range for each species. However, I am displeased about two aspects of the maps. For such a strongly migratory group of birds, it’s unfortunate that the migratory range isn’t indicated. Some of these species are encountered by birders almost exclusively on migration, so it’s regrettable that’s not shown on the maps. Even more egregious is the lack of political boundary lines. Personally, I find maps that lack them much less useful.

And now we get to the most important part – the photographs. They are, in a word, great. For the most part, they show single birds of all the various plumage types, broken down by age, gender, and race. Most are even shown in flight, or at the very least, stretching their wings. Anywhere from two to twenty photos of each species are included, ensuring that each species gets as many as necessary. The layout is flexible, which allows the photos to be sized and placed as best suits them. Not only does it help the reader get a better look at the pictures, it makes the entire guide more visually appealing.

Each photo is captioned with the age and sex of the bird (where known), the location and month the photo was taken (bravo!), and the photographer’s name. Additionally, most include notes on the relevant field marks depicted in the image. While you should always refer to the account text to get the full story, you can learn much about the identification of the species just by reading the captions.

Finally, we go back to the beginning of the book and the fairly extensive introduction. Plumage and molt is given a decent overview, which includes the expected topography diagrams. Shorebird behavior is also touched upon, focusing especially on feeding.

My biggest issue with this guide is that the species name is only given in the account header and (occasionally) in the main text. This may not seem like much of a problem, but since the photos follow the text, most of them are on separate pages than the header. Thus, for the majority of the pictures, there is no indication on that page of the species you’re looking at! For instance, if you find yourself on the last page of the Kentish Plover account and want to know what bird it is, you would have to flip back three pages to find out. This has been a constant annoyance to me while looking through this guide. And the shame is that it would have been very easy to rectify. Each page has a color bar along the top indicating the group this species belongs to (e.g. “Snipes”, “Calidris and related sandpipers”). There is plenty of room to include the species name in this bar.

Recommendation

There’s no question this guide is useful for sorting out shorebirds. No, the real question is how it stacks up to other shorebird guides. Here is a comparison of the most recent shorebird guides, including this one. But in case you don’t want to read all that, here’s the conclusion: The Shorebird Guide (my review) is still, by far, the best guide for shorebirds.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for this guide on your shelf. You really can’t have too many shorebird references. This is an ideal second guide for North American birders since it contains so many potential vagrants from Europe and Asia. And this is almost a must-have for European and Asian birders.

Falcon. For me, that word is associated with strong images and concepts. In my mind, I see a Peregrine in flight, motionless as if a photograph, with pointed wings slightly swept back. But then my mental image changes; the wings are pulled back and it is bulleting through the air, faster than any other creature on Earth, toward some unsuspecting prey. Speed, agility, grace, and a terrible beauty – falcon. It is no wonder that these raptors have long held our species in thrall.

Kate Davis is the founder of the Raptors of the Rockies rehabilitation and education center, and she shares her considerable knowledge of these birds through this book. Just about every aspect of a falcon’s life is covered, from physiology to behavior to conservation.

If you didn’t already know, this remarkably up-to-date text will make it abundantly clear how amazing these birds are. The hunting techniques are perhaps the most fascinating. As you may be aware, the Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal on the planet, attaining speeds over 200 miles per hour during its stoops, or dives, on prey. The author explains the adaptations that allow such a feat, such as those that permit the bird to see and breathe during the dive. But other falcons use different methods, such as hovering (kestrels) and aerial pursuits.

The relationship between these birds of prey and man is also discussed in detail. This includes an introduction to historical and modern-day falconry, but is mostly focused on conservation. Most falcons have had a rough time recently. The ecological scourge that was the pesticide DDT almost wiped out the Peregrine Falcon from this continent during the 20th century. As a kid in the 1980’s I was fascinated by Peregrines, and I think one of the reasons was that I thought I’d never get to see one. Thankfully, due to the extraordinary effort summarized in this book, I was wrong. The Peregrine is now one of the most famous conservation success stories.

The six falcons of North America – Gyrfalcon, Peregrine, Prairie, Aplomado, Merlin, and American Kestrel – also get their own species account, each of which includes:

• Photographs – 6-12 for each species
• Range map
• Measurements – length, wingspan, weight
• Description
• Range
• Habitat
• Behavior
• Flight
• Breeding
• Vocalizations
• Movement
• Conservation
• Subspecies in North America
• Etymology – the meaning behind their names, both common and scientific
• Tidbit – other interesting information

The accounts average about eight pages each, and as you can see, they are packed with information. There is some great stuff here. Just one example: Merlins have been known to emulate the undulating flight style of woodpeckers in order to get closer to prey.

The maps show the species’ breeding, winter, and permanent ranges over the entire North American continent, including Central America and parts of South America where appropriate. The only exception is the Aplomado Falcon, which only shows the status in Texas, New Mexico, and the northern portion of Mexico. However, that map is extremely detailed, showing the range on a county basis. In a very nice touch, a separate map is given for each subspecies (except for the kestrel, for some reason).

Any photograph where its caption begins “Not Photoshopped!” has to be a good one. Indeed, the shot captioned as such – a Peregrine attacking a Brown Pelican – is an unbelievable image. But it is not the only amazing picture in this book. The many photographs here, the majority of which have been provided by Rob Palmer and Nick Dunlop, are fantastic. All the species are well represented, both perched and in-flight. The photos in the latter group are particularly impressive.

Additionally, the author has provided some excellent black-and-white illustrations and diagrams.

My only complaint with this book is its size. The trim size is just larger than the guides in the Princeton photographic series. While this is ideal for a specialty identification guide, that is not the purpose of this book. You would not need to carry this into the field, or even leave in the car for reference. Thus, I would prefer it to have been larger, to better showcase the spectacular photographs. They look great as they are, but they deserve more.

Recommendation

The photography alone is reason enough to get this book. It perfectly captures the mystique and appeal of falcons. The text is quite good as well, providing an authoritative yet comprehendible account. This book should satisfy anyone interested in these birds.

What do you think is the most popular bird family in terms of books published about them? I’m not even sure how to find the answer. The best method I’ve come up with is to search for family names within Amazon.com’s birdwatching section, and then compare the number of results that it finds. These numbers are certainly inflated, as they also include general field guides, novels, calendars, etc (161 different books about trogons? I think not). Still, they should give a good idea as to which one is the most popular. Here are a few that I thought would do well: hummingbirds – 608; sparrows – 717; hawks – 766; raptors – 585; ducks – 829. But the most popular, with 884, was owls. That didn’t surprise me (nor should it have you, since this is a review of an owl book!). So did we really need another? What does this one have to add?

Owls of North America presents the biology and behavior of this intriguing family, and introduces those species that call North America home.

Backhouse starts with a brief exploration of the relationship between humans and owls. Throughout history, people have both revered and reviled these birds. There have been some crazy ideas about owls, and some of these superstitions persist even today. Human impacts on owl populations today are also touched upon.

Up next is an initial overview of owls in general, and an introduction to the owl families and genera that are represented in North America.

Subsequent chapters delve into greater detail on the various aspects of owls’ lives, specifically:

• Adaptations for a nocturnal lifestyle
• Feeding
• Communication
• Mating
• Life cycle (including hatching, fledging, and life expectancy)
• Other activities and movements

A remarkable amount of information is presented, but in a way that anyone can understand. It is thorough enough for the target audience, without going into details that only professionals would appreciate.

Backhouse’s style is pretty straightforward. For each topic, general family-wide information is given, supported by species-specific examples. In this way, the reader learns about both the owl family as a whole and individual species. The writing style is also suited to the task at-hand, not flashy, but presenting the information clearly and interestingly enough to keep the reader from becoming bored.

23 species profiles complete the book, which includes all the owls of the United States, Canada, and Mexico north of the tropic of Cancer. The Mexican species that most “North American” birders may be unfamiliar with are Stygian and Mottled Owls, Colima Pygmy-owl, and Vermiculated Screech-owl (although the first two have been found in Texas).

Each of the profiles includes:

• Range map – actually shows the entire North American continent, from Greenland to Panama, as well as most of the Caribbean
• Introductory notes – tells a story, or highlights something about the species
• Appearance
• Voice
• Activity timing and roost sites
• Distribution
• Habitat
• Feeding
• Breeding
• Migration and other movements
• Conservation

These accounts include just about everything that you could want in a book like this. My favorite section was the introductory notes. These were surprisingly fascinating, and covered different topics depending on the bird, including conservation, taxonomy, and biological principles. Unless you’re looking for some specific information, the rest of the species profiles can be skimmed. But the first section of each account deserves to be read in its entirety.

Just over 70 photographs supplement the text. There is a mix of portraits, action shots, and captures of interesting behavior. Some of these you may have seen before (or very similar shots), such as the Great Gray with talons spread, inches away from catching a rodent. But others are startlingly unexpected, like a pygmy owl struggling with prey that’s almost as big as it is! Overall, the images are great and add much to the text.

Everything that is present here, both text and photos, is very good. The only real issue I have is with what is not here. After reading through the book once, it seemed as if there were fewer photographs than there should be. After further examination, I still think that more should have been included, but this impression is exacerbated by the layout. There are very large side margins in order to accommodate captions for the pictures. However, the margins are kept the same size even on pages without pictures. There is something to be said for consistency, but in this case it results in too much wasted space. A more fluid layout, with smaller margins where possible, and the placement of pictures in varying locations on the page would greatly improve the book’s look and feel.

Also, please note that this book’s focus is on natural history, and not the identification and finding of owls. These topics are touched upon tangentially, but not in any depth. I think a short chapter on the subject would have been welcomed.

Other Owl Books

With all of the owl books available, I thought I would give a brief overview of some other books dealing with North American owls.

Surprisingly, I’m aware of only one real, direct competitor to this book – Owls of the United States and Canada: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior, by Wayne Lynch. Both focus on the biology and behavior of North American owls for nonprofessional readers. I wish I could give a detailed comparison, but I’ve only glanced through the Lynch book. There have to be others that are similar, but I have a hard time believing that they would be as good as these two.

Paul Johnsgard’s North American Owls is similar to Backhouse and Lynch in that it reviews the owl family as a whole and has species accounts for the NA birds. However, it is more technical and has many fewer illustrations. Thus, it would probably appeal more to professionals.

If you’d rather get to know our owls on a species, rather than family, level, then I would highly recommend North American Owls: Journey Through a Shadowed World and Raptors of North America: Natural History and Conservation (Review). These two will include many of the basic biological facts, but they really focus on the birds on a personal level, based upon the authors’ experiences.

The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters With North America’s Most Iconic Birds (Review) includes photographs and information on each of the NA owls, but focuses on their relationships with other birds (especially woodpeckers) and their habitat.

Finally, if you’d like help identifying and finding owls, then there is the aptly named How to Spot an Owl. Owls of the North: A Naturalist’s Handbook and Field Guide to Owls of California and the West (which, despite its title, actually covers all the owls of NA) also would help in this regard.

Recommendation

Owls are fascinating creatures. If you’d like to have a light shone into their nocturnal world and learn more about them and their lives, then this book is for you.

I now belong to a higher cult of mortals, for I have seen the albatross!
- Robert Cushman Murphy

Murphy put it much better than I could, but I felt precisely the same way upon seeing my first albatross – a Black-footed during a pelagic trip out of Westport, Washington. I imagine anyone fortunate enough to belong to this higher cult also echoes this sentiment.

But why should this relatively small group of birds evoke such passion? Certainly, it is not due to their looks. Although by no means ugly, albatrosses are not visually arresting in the same manner as trogons, parrots, tanagers, and others that lure birders to the tropics. Perhaps it is because these are truly amazing birds. Literally living on wind and wave, some may go the better part of a decade without touching land. It also takes special effort to see one. You not only have to go out to meet them on the sea or their remote island breeding colonies, but most are also endangered. One thing is certain; no one who reads this book can fail to regard this family as special.

This book is comprised of three main parts. The first is an introduction to the various groups of albatrosses, with each of the eight groupings getting its own chapter. In each, Tui De Roy gives an excellent overview of the group and what sets these species apart. The author has obviously spent an extraordinary amount of time among these birds, and is able to convey that familiarity to the reader.

Many fantastic photographs complement this section’s text (as well as the rest of the book, but they are especially prominent here). Consistently beautiful and awe-inspiring, I found myself amazed anew with every page turned. The book’s large size and unique layout allow the pictures to be reproduced in the size and quality that they deserve.

The second section presents 18 separate essays, all by different authors. Most are two pages long, and they cover a broad range of topics, such as a detailed look at the Wandering Albatross, an account of a lifetime working with albatrosses, and even an interview with an ex-poacher. But most deal in some way with conservation.

I have never seen this sort of arrangement in any similar book. It seems like it would be in danger of being too scattershot and not comprehensive enough, as well as lacking in the cohesiveness that a single author brings. However, it works here. This format allows details, and even entire topics, to be presented that otherwise may not have fit in. And they are written by the experts – the researchers, conservationists, and others – that know these birds the best. The articles are also the perfect length, short enough to keep your attention, yet long enough to get in all the important information.

The final section is a brief overview of the albatross family as a whole, along with individual accounts for the 22 species that the authors recognize (this family’s taxonomy is far from settled, so there is debate over how many albatross species there actually are).

The family overview is brief, but decent, covering topics such as taxonomy, range, courtship, and breeding. Along with a couple of photographs and a range map (with breeding sites labeled), each 1.5-2 page species account also includes:

• Introduction – alternate names, who first described it, taxonomic source and notes, origin of name, and conservation status and justification
• Description – adults (male and female where different) and juveniles
• Size
• Population and distribution
• Oceanic range
• Breeding – nests, timing, courtship, incubation, fledging, breeding success, and more
• Food
• Threats

The species accounts in family books such as this are usually sparse, have tiny pictures, and are of limited value. Not so here. These are full of good information and add greatly to this book. The only fault I could find with this section is its placement. Albatross follows the tradition in bird family books of putting the species accounts in the back, which usually works fine. But due to its unique structure, I think this book would be better served by placing this section first and foremost. I would urge readers to review this portion of the book first, unless already familiar with this group of birds.

In addition to all of this, there is also an introduction by Carl Safina (a modified excerpt from his wonderful Eye of the Albatross [review]), a list of the best places to see albatrosses, books and websites for further reading, and a glossary. The lists are necessarily incomprehensive, but that’s not an issue as they are essentially an unexpected bonus.

Recommendation

Unfortunately, most birders will never become part of Murphy’s “higher cult of mortals”. And even those that have may find that their relatively short encounters with these amazing birds are not nearly enough. Thankfully, this book provides just about everything that you could want to become more familiar with them.

I would have to say that this is the best book of its type that I have seen. It favorably compares to the albatross account in the Handbook of the Birds of the World, and even surpasses it in some aspects (which is about the highest praise that I can give). It is a highly recommended addition to anyone’s birding library.

There’s just something about seabirds. They aren’t especially visually striking; most are somberly dressed in a mixture of white, gray, black, or brown. They don’t have musical, or even pleasant sounding, voices. But there is still a feeling of something…”other” about them. Their otherness is the focus of this natural history, as it seeks to reveal how they are unique among the birds.

The collective term “seabird” does not refer to any taxonomic classification or grouping. Instead, quite simply, it is applied to any species that leads an essentially marine, or oceanic, existence. This would include all of the penguins, tubenoses (albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters, and the like), and auks, as well as some of the gulls and terns, just to name a few. Basically, any bird that one normally has to see from a boat.

The author has coined the term “seabird syndrome” to encompass the collection of attributes that mark them as different from landbirds, including low reproductive rates, long lives, deferred breeding, coloniality, and sexes that behave and look alike. Other groups of birds may have some of these traits, but seabirds alone possess all of them. (Interesting tidbit: among landbirds, vultures are the closest to seabirds in terms of these characteristics.) It is no accident that these birds, from across many different families, share these traits. They are all adaptations to a marine lifestyle, made necessary because of their feeding ecology.

Gaston focuses his book on the patterns of behavior and ecology that make up the seabird syndrome. He covers population dynamics, feeding, migration, breeding, distribution, plumage, and other special adaptations. There is a ton of information here, but perhaps the most interesting thing is how the author attempts to tie it all together. It is quite amazing to consider that almost every portion of these creatures’ lives, even seemingly unrelated traits such as lifespan, can be traced back to their choice in feeding grounds.

However, this is not a comprehensive study. Focusing on what makes marine birds different results in what the author admits is a “somewhat uneven treatment of seabird biology”. For instance, one subject barely mentioned is courtship displays, even though some of these birds (especially frigatebirds) are well known for their elaborate or bizarre rituals. Additionally, conservation status and threats is obvious in its absence. Some of these birds, especially the long-lived albatrosses, are imminently jeopardized directly and indirectly by people.

A more complete coverage would obviously be preferable, but these omissions are understandable given the author’s purpose for this book. Prospective readers just need to be aware of what they will find here.

Seabirds is definitely more technical than your average general market bird book. It can read like a scientific paper at times, especially when dealing with tables and graphs. However, it seems that the author has attempted to strike a balance between the needs of professional and amateur audiences, and for the most part has succeeded. For the former, he has synthesized the results of many scientific studies and has presented a hypothesis in the form of his seabird syndrome. But he has still managed to keep it readable for the rest of us. It is not a light read, but it presents a great deal of information in an understandable and digestible format, while keeping it more interesting than it otherwise could have been.

Unsurprisingly, given its more technical approach, this book is not lavishly illustrated. However, some color photographs, grouped together on 16 pages in the middle of the book, are a welcome inclusion. Most of the various seabird groups are represented, giving any unfamiliar reader a general idea of what these birds look like. There are also scattered black-and-white photographs and drawings throughout the book.

Recommendation

This natural history is essential to anyone studying seabirds, and highly recommended to anyone strongly interested in them. For everyone else, I would recommend first reading Eye of the Albatross, by Carl Safina (wonderful, wonderful book!). Afterward, if you find that you would like to learn more about these intriguing birds, especially how and why they are so different, you will know where to turn.