8/9/2019 NB14-BR Book Reviews Final-libre

1/3

A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobagoby Richard ffrench, John P. ONeill, John Anderton,

Dale Dyer and John Schmitt, 2012. Ithaca, NY:

Cornell University Press. xxi + 407 pp and 40colour plates. Softback. ISBN 978-0-8014-7364-7.

$39.95 / UK24.95.

e Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobagoare home to a South American avifauna, withall but a handful of vagrant species occurring inneighbouring Venezuela. eir small sizeandconsequently manageable avian diversitycombined with a pleasant climate, goodinfrastructure, an English-speaking populace

and a serviceable field guide, have made themone of the choice destinations for birders seekingan introduction to the richness and diversity ofthe Neotropics. For decades, the sole field guidecombined Richard ffrenchs text with John ONeillsillustrations, in a traditional format with the platesinserted in a block in the centre of the book. For

years, it was the only guide available, and usedin conjunction with a North American guide, itallowed observers to put a name to most of thebirds. e text provided a wealth of interesting

observations on natural history, even if it lackedhard comparative information to support fieldidentification.

e appearance in 2007 of the more portable,better laid-out and more field-oriented Kenefick-Restall-Hayes guide, now in its second edition,challenged the monopoly of ffrench and ONeill.At less than half the size, with text and illustrationson facing pages, and depicting all species

(including vagrants, and usually featuring severalplumages), the contender has evidently becomethe guide of choice.

How does the third edition of the old ffrenchclassic compare? ere have been a number ofimprovements to previous editions, notably in theplates. John ONeills paintings did not lack charm,but their style made them more of a work of artand less apt for the purposes of identification. esame applied to the wonderful Don Eckelberryportraits that graced the first two editions. esehave been removed and replaced by 40 entirelynew plates by several different artists. Somewhat

variable in quality, though uniformly more suited

to field identification, they cover all species exceptvagrants. Omitting these vagrants may prove tobe a mistake, since many of them will doubtlessturn out to be regular visitorsand preciselythe species that will require painstaking fieldidentification. e straightforward specieswoodpeckers, antbirds, tanagersare, however,well-served. Herons are another easily identifiablelot, but one might have wished for more attentionto identification of LittleEgretta garzettaandSnowyE. thulaEgrets, since both are often to be

seen on a trip to the islands. Raptors receive muchbetter treatment than previously, with some much-needed depictions of flying birds in colour. Swiftsare very successful, with authentic wing-shapeand rump patterns: this is the standard requiredif observers are to be in with a fighting chanceof identifying these birds. e plate of thrushesis a bit of an oddity with Spectacled (Bare-eyed)rush Turdus nudigenisand Orange-billed

78 Neotropical Birding 14

>> BOOK REVIEWS

78Neotropical Birding 14

Book Reviews

8/9/2019 NB14-BR Book Reviews Final-libre

2/3

79Neotropical Birding 14

Nightingale-rush Catharus aurantiirostrislooking similar in size, while the facing text notesthat Cocoa rush Turdus fumigatusis the samelength as the latter; but there is little scope formistaken identity despite these errors. Overall,inexperienced observers will be able to identifymost species by the plates alone. eir limitationswill become apparent with difficult groups likepeeps or skuas (jaegers): for example, my firstedition Kenefick-Restall-Hayes guide provides 32illustrations of five species of Stercorarius, whereasthe user has to make do with six paintings of thetwo most likely species here.

e text of the current edition has beenbrought up-to-date too with the incorporation offive decades of ffrenchs field notes, yet it doesnot look appreciably different to that of my field-worn second edition. As in previous editions,

there is a store of information within these pagesand a lot of natural history data that are not tobe found elsewhere. is will be vital for thosewith more than a passing interest in the islandsavifauna. For the purpose of field identificationthough, the text remains less than ideal, and Isuspect that less experienced users will find thetext inadequate for clinching the identification oftrickier groups like, say,Myiarchus flycatchers. A

similar speciessection would have gone a long wayto remedying this. All in all, I would have expected

more emphasis on identification within the textto supplement the very brief notes that face theplates, particularly in the light of advances in birdidentification technique and knowledge over thepast couple of decades. ere should be attentionto age / sex / race related differences in plumage,such as mention of the fact that that Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscusrecords are all of theeasily field-identifiable, light-mantledgraellsiisubspecies or that the Swainsons Flycatcher

Myiarchus swainsonirecords pertain to the

nominate subspecies.In sum, although I have a lot of affection for

the old ffrench guide, on my next trip to Trinidadand Tobago, Im more likely to be carryingKenefick-Restall-Hayes into the field. However,I would still want to have access back at camp orhotel to the copious natural history informationcollated over five decades by ffrench. His legacy iswell preserved in this posthumous edition.

REFERENCES

Kenefick, M., Restall, R. & Hayes, F. (2007)Birds of Trinidadand Tobago. London: Christopher Helm

Christopher J. Sharpe

Handbook of the Birds of the World, SpecialVolume: New Species and Global Indexeditedby Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, Jordi

Sargatal and David A. Christie, 2013. Barcelona,

Spain: Lynx Edicions. 812 pp, 214 bird

illustrations, 50 gures, 319 colour photographs

and 94 distribution maps. Hardback. ISBN 978-

84-96553-88-0. 145.00 (approx. $197.52 /

UK120.80).

e first volume of theHandbook of the Birdsof the World(now universally known as HBW)appeared in 1992 to wide acclaim. Subsequent

volumes consolidated HBWs reputation asthe single most reliable and accurate source ofinformation on all the worlds birds. Several ofthem were of particular interest to our readers,either for their coverage of quintessentially

Neotropical families (like the furnariids,woodcreepers, antbirds and tapaculos treated in

volume 8, or the cotingas, manakins and tyrannidsof volume 9), or because they provided a much-needed synthesis of particular families that hadhitherto been inadequately covered by Neotropicalfield guides (such as owls, nightjars andhummingbirds, treated in volume 5). Sometimesthe plates contained the only accurate or colourillustrations of little-known endemics. e final

volume, including tanagers and icterids, rolled

off the press in 2011, bringing the sixteen-volumeseries to a conclusion.

So why a Special Volume? Birds just offertoo many things to talk about! quips Josepdel Hoyo in his introduction. Admittedly, theSpecial Volumewas an afterthought, albeit oneconceived several years before the end of theproject. As Josep explains, the extra volume aimedto give an overview of the way avian systematicshad developed since HBWs inception (whenthe Peters Check-list was adopted as a basis for

organising the survey), to cover the dozens ofspecies that had been described since the projectbegan, and to provide a much-needed index.When the project was nearing completion, theeditors received an offer they could not refuse: topublish descriptions of 15 entirely new species.us the elements of the volume came together tobe melded into a single, if rather heterogeneousbook.

BirdLife International has been involved inLynxs initiative since the start, so it is fitting

that theForewordshould comprise a history ofthe organisation, which celebrates 20 years as aglobal partnership and 90 since its founding as theInternational Council for Bird Preservation.

8/9/2019 NB14-BR Book Reviews Final-libre

3/3

80 Neotropical Birding 14

>> BOOK REVIEWS

Jon Fjeldss essay onAvian classificationin fluxgives a masterly overview of a subjectthat can cause as much consternation to birdersas it does to professional ornithologists. Heexplains the value of classification, showswhy it is changing so rapidly (due to the rapidgrowth in genetic analyses, the increasing rateof discovery of fossils, the congruence betweenmolecular and morphological data and our clearerunderstanding of Earths history) and exploresthe current bird classification, order by order. Inthe process, he examines the purposes of namingand classification, the reasons for splitting well-established species, the different species conceptsand just what is involved in genetic analyses. Forme, this is one of the highlights of the volume: theperfect introduction to a polemical topic and theideal answer to the birders continual question of

why bird names and classifications are constantlychanging. e final section, entitled Why is it sodifficult?, just about sums it up! Required reading,then, for those who struggle with Splits, Lumpsand Shuffles...

Fjeldss next essay on e discovery of new birdspeciesis equally gripping. Despite Ernst Mayrsassertion in 1946 that all but a hundred or so birdspecies had been catalogued, in the two decadessince HBW began 128 new entirely bird specieshave been described, a figure includes neither

splits nor the 15 newly described species containedin this volume. is puts the annual rate ofdiscovery at half a dozen species per year, a figurewhich shows no sign of tailing off. Neotropicalbirders will not be surprised to learn that moreof these new species are being found in SouthAmerica than anywhere else.

e following section is logically devoted tothe 69New bird speciesdescribed since 1992 (if

youre following the figures, this does not includenew species already covered in the previous 16

volumes of HBW). e accounts are exactly likethose of the main body of HBW and includesuperb illustrations by Hilary Burn. With theseadditional accounts, HBW now treats every birdspecies known through until the end of 2012.

After this comes the set of type descriptionsof theFifteen new species of Amazonian birds. Allof these are Brazilian species, and 11 are countryendemics. e last time so many new species weredescribed simultaneously in the same publicationwas in von Pelzelns publication of 1871 on thebirds ofyouve guessed itBrazil.

After all the serious technical information,readers might be ready for some refreshmentand they get, it in the form of 200 spectacularphotographs that illustrate the diversity of avianplumages and behaviours.

Serious duties resume with a comprehensiveGlobal indexby scientific name, or common namein English, French, German and Spanish.

And thus, this extraordinary twenty yearodyssey through the avian world concludes. Ordoes it? e Special Volumeis in many ways a

transition volume. Later this year, Lynx will bepublishing the two-volumeHBW and BirdLife

International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds ofthe World. At the same time, the entire contentof HBW, updated and with a huge amount ofsupporting material, has been made availableonline as the continuously updatedHBW Alive.

So, to buy or not to buy? e easy answer isthat those who already have volumes 116 willundoubtedly want this final volumeindeed, willalready have it. ose who have cherry-picked

the most relevant volumes to the Neotropics (5, 8,9, 16) will find much of utility here, given thegeographical slant. ose who dont have previous

volumes will probably not have sufficient reasonto part with their money. With what they save,my recommendation would be to plump for three

years ofHBW Alive.

REFERENCES

Mayr, E. (1946) e number of species of birds.Auk63:6469

von Pelzeln, A. (1871)Zur Ornithologie Brasiliens. Resultatevon Johann Natterers Reisen in den Jahren 1817 bis 1835.

Vienna: A. Pichlers Witwe & Sohn.

Peters, J. L. (19311951) Check-list of birds of the world.Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.

Christopher J. Sharpe