The following are my picks for the best bird books of 2018:
BEST BOOK:
1) Shirihai, Hadoram and Lars Svensson. Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds: Passerines. 2018. Helm. Hardbound: 1271 pages in 2 volumes with slipcase. Price: $250.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: This unique and spectacular handbook is the most complete and comprehensive photographic guide to the passerines of the Western Palearctic. Written by two of the world's most respected ornithologists, Hadoram Shirihai and Lars Svensson, the Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds contains the most up-to-date information available on bird identification covering all aspects of plumage, moult, aging and sexing, with sections on voice and other identification criteria, and detailed taxonomic notes.
The handbook is divided into two volumes, with the first covering larks, hirundines, pipits and wagtails, bulbuls, accentors, robins, chats, wheatears, thrushes, prinias and cisticolas, and warblers, and the second covering flycatchers, reedlings, tits, nuthatches, orioles and sunbirds, shrikes, corvids, finches, and buntings, along with extreme vagrants.
The exceptional text is backed up by a stunning collection of more than 4,000 photographs, featuring a comprehensive range of plumages that illustrate every race and morph of each species in the region.
This stunning handbook will be the definitive reference for the region for years to come--no birder's shelf will be complete without it.
RECOMMENDATION: A MUST HAVE for those with a serious interest in the birds of the Western Palearctic!
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
1) Greeney, Harold and David Beadle. Antpittas and Gnateaters. 2018. Helm. Hardbound: 496 pages. Price: $65.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Elusive study organisms for ornithologists and highly prized additions to the birder's life-list, the antpittas (Grallariidae) and gnateaters (Conopophagidae) are among the most poorly known Neotropical bird groups. This authoritative handbook is the first book dedicated solely to these two families, combining an exhaustive review of more than two centuries of literature with original observations by the author and many knowledgeable contributors.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Elusive study organisms for ornithologists and highly prized additions to the birder's life-list, the antpittas (Grallariidae) and gnateaters (Conopophagidae) are among the most poorly known Neotropical bird groups. This authoritative handbook is the first book dedicated solely to these two families, combining an exhaustive review of more than two centuries of literature with original observations by the author and many knowledgeable contributors.
Antpittas and Gnateaters provides a thorough
guide to the identification and ecology of these birds, with detailed
maps accompanying the text. A series of superb plates illustrate most of
the 156 recognized taxa; supplemented by more than 250 colour
photographs, the immature plumages and natural history of many species
are depicted for the first time.
This book is the ultimate reference on these remarkable and beautiful birds, and an indispensable addition to the libraries of researchers and birders for many years to come.
RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for those with an interest in these species! David Beadle's artwork highlights this book.
This book is the ultimate reference on these remarkable and beautiful birds, and an indispensable addition to the libraries of researchers and birders for many years to come.
RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for those with an interest in these species! David Beadle's artwork highlights this book.
2) Clark, Bill and Rob Davies. African Raptors. 2018. Helm. Hardbound: 336 pages. Price: $75.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Africa has the most diverse range of raptors of any continent, with almost a third of the world's species occurring in the region. This comprehensive new book examines all of these species in impressive detail, emphasizing their field identification. A full range of plumages is illustrated for each species, with each plate usually covering only two species.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Africa has the most diverse range of raptors of any continent, with almost a third of the world's species occurring in the region. This comprehensive new book examines all of these species in impressive detail, emphasizing their field identification. A full range of plumages is illustrated for each species, with each plate usually covering only two species.
The
specially commissioned artwork has been painted by raptor enthusiast Rob
Davies. The authoritative text treats the identification of both
perched and in-flight birds and covers all major plumages and morphs.
These texts are accompanied by up-to-date range maps and many fabulous
color photographs from some of the world's leading bird photographers.
This new book will be an essential reference for all those with an
interest in raptors and especially in African raptors.
RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those with an interest in African raptors!
RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those with an interest in African raptors!
3) Olsen, Klaus Malling. Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide. 2018. Princeton University Press. Hardbound: 368 pages. Price: $45.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: With more than 50 gull species in the world, this family of seabirds poses some of the greatest field identification challenges of any bird group: age-related plumage changes, extensive variations within species, frequent hybridization, and complex distribution.
Gulls of the World takes on these challenges and is the first book to provide a comprehensive look at these birds. Concise text emphasizes field identification, with in-depth discussion of variations as well as coverage of habitat, status, and distribution. Abundant photographs highlight identification criteria and, crucially, factor in age and subspecific field separation. Informative species accounts are accompanied by detailed color range maps.
Gulls of the World is the most authoritative photographic guide to this remarkable bird family.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: With more than 50 gull species in the world, this family of seabirds poses some of the greatest field identification challenges of any bird group: age-related plumage changes, extensive variations within species, frequent hybridization, and complex distribution.
Gulls of the World takes on these challenges and is the first book to provide a comprehensive look at these birds. Concise text emphasizes field identification, with in-depth discussion of variations as well as coverage of habitat, status, and distribution. Abundant photographs highlight identification criteria and, crucially, factor in age and subspecific field separation. Informative species accounts are accompanied by detailed color range maps.
Gulls of the World is the most authoritative photographic guide to this remarkable bird family.
- The first book to provide in-depth coverage of all the world's gull species
- More than 600 stunning color photographs
- Concise text looks at variations, habitat, status, and distribution
- Informative species accounts and color range maps
4) Johnson, Kirk Wallace. The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century. 2018. Viking. Hardbound: 308 pages. Price: $27.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: On a cool June evening in 2009, after performing a concert at London's Royal Academy of Music, twenty-year-old American flautist Edwin Rist boarded a train for a suburban outpost of the British Museum of Natural History. Home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world, the Tring museum was full of rare bird specimens whose gorgeous feathers were worth staggering amounts of money to the men who shared Edwin's obsession: the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying. Once inside the museum, the champion fly-tier grabbed hundreds of bird skins—some collected 150 years earlier by a contemporary of Darwin's, Alfred Russel Wallace, who'd risked everything to gather them—and escaped into the darkness.
Two years later, Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist high in a river in northern New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide told him about the heist. He was soon consumed by the strange case of the feather thief. What would possess a person to steal dead birds? Had Edwin paid the price for his crime? What became of the missing skins? In his search for answers, Johnson was catapulted into a years-long, worldwide investigation. The gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man's relentless pursuit of justice, The Feather Thief is also a fascinating exploration of obsession, and man's destructive instinct to harvest the beauty of nature.
RECOMMENDATION: An interesting true life crime story involving bird specimens and fly-fishing.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: On a cool June evening in 2009, after performing a concert at London's Royal Academy of Music, twenty-year-old American flautist Edwin Rist boarded a train for a suburban outpost of the British Museum of Natural History. Home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world, the Tring museum was full of rare bird specimens whose gorgeous feathers were worth staggering amounts of money to the men who shared Edwin's obsession: the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying. Once inside the museum, the champion fly-tier grabbed hundreds of bird skins—some collected 150 years earlier by a contemporary of Darwin's, Alfred Russel Wallace, who'd risked everything to gather them—and escaped into the darkness.
Two years later, Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist high in a river in northern New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide told him about the heist. He was soon consumed by the strange case of the feather thief. What would possess a person to steal dead birds? Had Edwin paid the price for his crime? What became of the missing skins? In his search for answers, Johnson was catapulted into a years-long, worldwide investigation. The gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man's relentless pursuit of justice, The Feather Thief is also a fascinating exploration of obsession, and man's destructive instinct to harvest the beauty of nature.
RECOMMENDATION: An interesting true life crime story involving bird specimens and fly-fishing.
5) Vallely, Andrew and Dale Dyer. Birds of Central America: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. 2018. Princeton University Press. Paperback: 584 pages. Price: $49.50 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Birds of Central America is the first comprehensive field guide to the avifauna of the entire region, including Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Handy and compact, the book presents text and illustrations for nearly 1,200 resident and migrant species, and information on all rare vagrants. Two hundred sixty detailed plates on convenient facing-page spreads depict differing ages and sexes for each species, with a special focus on geographic variation. The guide also contains up-to-date range maps and concise notes on distribution, habitat, behavior, and voice. An introduction provides a brief overview of the region’s landscape, climate, and biogeography.
The culmination of more than a decade of research and field experience, Birds of Central America is an indispensable resource for all those interested in the bird life of this part of the world.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Birds of Central America is the first comprehensive field guide to the avifauna of the entire region, including Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Handy and compact, the book presents text and illustrations for nearly 1,200 resident and migrant species, and information on all rare vagrants. Two hundred sixty detailed plates on convenient facing-page spreads depict differing ages and sexes for each species, with a special focus on geographic variation. The guide also contains up-to-date range maps and concise notes on distribution, habitat, behavior, and voice. An introduction provides a brief overview of the region’s landscape, climate, and biogeography.
The culmination of more than a decade of research and field experience, Birds of Central America is an indispensable resource for all those interested in the bird life of this part of the world.
- Detailed information on the entire avifauna of Central America
- 260 beautiful color plates
- Range maps, text, and illustrations presented on convenient facing-page spreads
- Up-to-date notes on distribution supported by an extensive bibliography
- Special focus on geographic variation of bird species
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