Handbook of the Birds of the World
Encyclopedia
The Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish
publishing house Lynx Edicions
. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird
. The series is edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal and David A Christie.
So far, 15 volumes have been published. New volumes appear at annual intervals, and the series is expected to be complete with volume 16 by 2011. When Volume 16 is published, for the first time an animal class
will have all the species illustrated and treated in detail in a single work. This has not been done before for any other group in the animal
kingdom.
Material in each volume is grouped first by family, with an introductory article on each family; this is followed by individual species accounts (taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, food and feeding, breeding, movements, status and conservation, bibliography). In addition, all volumes except the first and second contain an essay on a particular ornithological theme. More than 200 renowned specialists and 35 illustrators (including Toni Llobet
, Hilary Burn
and H. Douglas Pratt
) from more than 40 countries have contributed to the project up to now, as well as 834 photographers from all over the world.
Since the first volume appeared in 1992, the series has received various international awards. The first volume was selected as Bird Book of the Year by the magazines Birdwatch and British Birds
, and the fifth volume was recognised as Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine
, the American Library Association
magazine. The seventh volume, as well as being named Bird Book of the Year by Birdwatch and British Birds
, also received the distinction of Best Bird Reference Book in the 2002 WorldTwitch Book Awards This same distinction was also awarded to Volume 8 a year later in 2003.
Individual volumes are large, 32 cm by 25 cm, and weighing between 4-4.6 kg; it has been commented in a review that "fork-lift truck book" would be a better title.
As a complement to the Handbook of the Birds of the World and with the ultimate goal of disseminating knowledge about the world's avifauna, in 2002 Lynx Edicions
started the Internet Bird Collection (IBC). It is a free-access, on-line audiovisual library of the world's birds with the aim of posting videos, photos and sound recordings showing a variety of biological aspects (e.g. subspecies, plumages, feeding, breeding, etc.) for every species. It is a non-profit endeavour fuelled by material from more than one hundred contributors from around the world. The IBC currently holds over 45,000 videos and 32,000 photos representing over 84% of the worldwide species, and new material is added daily.
on "Art And Nature".
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
publishing house Lynx Edicions
Lynx Edicions
Lynx Edicions is a Spanish ornithological publishing company.It became internationally known when it started publishing the Handbook of the Birds of the World, a 16 volume series which, when it is completed in 2011, will document for the first time in a single work an entire animal class,...
. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
. The series is edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal and David A Christie.
So far, 15 volumes have been published. New volumes appear at annual intervals, and the series is expected to be complete with volume 16 by 2011. When Volume 16 is published, for the first time an animal class
Class (biology)
In biological classification, class is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus, and species, with class fitting between phylum and order...
will have all the species illustrated and treated in detail in a single work. This has not been done before for any other group in the animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
kingdom.
Material in each volume is grouped first by family, with an introductory article on each family; this is followed by individual species accounts (taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, food and feeding, breeding, movements, status and conservation, bibliography). In addition, all volumes except the first and second contain an essay on a particular ornithological theme. More than 200 renowned specialists and 35 illustrators (including Toni Llobet
Toni Llobet
Toni Llobet is a Catalan artist and illustrator of several bird and wildlife books, including the New Catalan Breeding Bird Atlas, Handbook of the Birds of the World and the Handbook of the Mammals of the World.-References:...
, Hilary Burn
Hilary Burn
Hilary Burn is an English wildlife illustrator.-Career:Burn is the daughter of Colin Barber, an engineering draughtsman. She attented the Macclesfield High School and studied at the University of Leeds where she graduated to Bachelor of Science in zoology. From 1968 to 1971 she was a biology...
and H. Douglas Pratt
Harold Douglas Pratt, Jr.
Harold Douglas Pratt, Jr. , often credited in the short form H. Douglas Pratt, is an American ornithologist, bio acoustican, wildlife photographer and bird illustrator. His main research field are the endemic avifaunas of Hawaii and other islands in the Pacific where he was one of the pioneers of...
) from more than 40 countries have contributed to the project up to now, as well as 834 photographers from all over the world.
Since the first volume appeared in 1992, the series has received various international awards. The first volume was selected as Bird Book of the Year by the magazines Birdwatch and British Birds
British Birds
British Birds could refer to* The magazine British Birds.* Birds recorded in Great Britain, see List of British birds....
, and the fifth volume was recognised as Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine
Choice magazine
CHOICE Magazine is a publication of the Australian Consumers' Association, a non-profit organisation founded in 1959 to research and advocate on behalf of Australian consumers. The organisation trades as CHOICE and is similar to Consumer Reports in the United States...
, the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
magazine. The seventh volume, as well as being named Bird Book of the Year by Birdwatch and British Birds
British Birds
British Birds could refer to* The magazine British Birds.* Birds recorded in Great Britain, see List of British birds....
, also received the distinction of Best Bird Reference Book in the 2002 WorldTwitch Book Awards This same distinction was also awarded to Volume 8 a year later in 2003.
Individual volumes are large, 32 cm by 25 cm, and weighing between 4-4.6 kg; it has been commented in a review that "fork-lift truck book" would be a better title.
As a complement to the Handbook of the Birds of the World and with the ultimate goal of disseminating knowledge about the world's avifauna, in 2002 Lynx Edicions
Lynx Edicions
Lynx Edicions is a Spanish ornithological publishing company.It became internationally known when it started publishing the Handbook of the Birds of the World, a 16 volume series which, when it is completed in 2011, will document for the first time in a single work an entire animal class,...
started the Internet Bird Collection (IBC). It is a free-access, on-line audiovisual library of the world's birds with the aim of posting videos, photos and sound recordings showing a variety of biological aspects (e.g. subspecies, plumages, feeding, breeding, etc.) for every species. It is a non-profit endeavour fuelled by material from more than one hundred contributors from around the world. The IBC currently holds over 45,000 videos and 32,000 photos representing over 84% of the worldwide species, and new material is added daily.
Published volumes
A list of volumes of the Handbook of the Birds of the World produced to date is as follows:Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks
This volume was published in 1992. Unlike subsequent volumes, it does not have an introductory essay; instead, it has a 38 page overview by Eduardo de Juana of the biology of birds and a foreword welcoming the HBW project, by Christoph Imboden. Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Procellariidae The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order Procellariiformes , which also includes the albatrosses, the storm-petrels, and the diving petrels.The procellariids are... (Petrels And Shearwaters) Sulidae The bird family Sulidae comprises the gannets and boobies. Collectively called sulidas, they are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish and similar prey. The ten species in this family are often considered congeneric in older sources, placing all in the genus Sula... (Gannets And Boobies) |
Threskiornithidae The family Threskiornithidae includes 34 species of large terrestrial and wading birds, falling into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills. It was formerly known as Plataleidae. The spoonbills and ibises were once thought to be related to other groups of long-legged wading birds in the... (Ibises And Spoonbills) Anatidae Anatidae is the biological family of birds that includes ducks, geese and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica and on most of the world's islands and island groups... (Ducks, Geese And Swans) |
Volume 2: New World Vultures to Guineafowl
This volume was published in 1994. It has a foreword by Walter J. Bock on the organization of information in HBW. Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Cracidae The chachalacas, guans and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae.These are species of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. One species, the Plain Chachalaca, just reaches southernmost Texas in the USA... (Chachalacas, Guans And Curassows) Phasianidae The Phasianidae is a family of birds which consists of the pheasants and partridges, including the junglefowl , Old World Quail, francolins, monals and peafowl. The family is a large one, and is occasionally broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae, and the Perdicinae... (Pheasants And Partridges) |
Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks
This volume was published in 1996. It has an introductory essay by Robert BatemanRobert Bateman (naturalist)
Robert Bateman, OC, OBC is a Canadian naturalist and painter, born in Toronto, Ontario.Bateman was always interested in art, but he never intended on making a living from it. He was fascinated by the natural world in his childhood; he recorded the sightings of all of the birds in the area of his...
on "Art And Nature".
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Recurvirostridae Recurvirostridae is a family of birds in the wader suborder Charadrii. It contains two distinct groups of birds, the avocets and the stilts .-Description and diet:... (Avocets, Stilts) Glareolidae Glareolidae is a family of birds in the wader suborder Charadri. It contains two distinct groups, the pratincoles and the coursers. The coursers include the atypical Egyptian Plover, Pluvianus aegyptius, which has sometimes been placed in its own family... (Pratincoles, Coursers) |
Charadriidae The bird family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings, about 64 to 66 species in all.- Morphology :They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings, but most species of lapwing may have more rounded wings... (Plovers) Scolopacidae The sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders or shorebirds. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil... (Sandpipers And Allies) |
Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos
This volume was published in 1997. It has an introductory essay on "Species Concepts and Species Limits in Ornithology" by Jürgen HafferJürgen Haffer
Jürgen Haffer was a German ornithologist, biogeographer, and geologist. He is most remembered for his theory of Amazonian forest refugia during the Pleistocene that would have contributed to speciation and the diversification of the biota.At the age of 13 he had found a dead bird with a ring and...
.
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
- Pteroclidae (Sandgrouse)
- Columbidae (Pigeons And Doves)
- Cacatuidae (Cockatoos)
- Psittacidae (Parrots)
- Musophagidae (Turacos)
- Cuculidae (Cuckoos)
Volume 5: Barn-Owls to Hummingbirds
This volume was published in 1999. It has an introductory essay on "Risk Indicators and Status Assessment in Birds" by Nigel J. Collar.Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Volume 6: Mousebirds to Hornbills
This volume was published in 2001. It has an introductory essay entitled "On Avian Bioacoustics" by Luis Baptista and Don Kroodsma.Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Volume 7: Jacamars to Woodpeckers
This volume was published in 2002. It has an introductory essay on "Extinct Birds" by Errol FullerErrol Fuller
Errol Fuller is an English writer and painter who lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. He was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, and grew up in South London, England and was educated at Addey and Stanhope School...
.
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
- Galbulidae (Jacamars)
- Bucconidae (Puffbirds)
- Capitonidae (Barbets)
- Ramphastidae (Toucans)
- Indicatoridae (Honeyguides)
- PicidaePicidaeThe woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks are a family, Picidae, of near-passerine birds. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia and New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions...
(Woodpeckers)
Volume 8: Broadbills to Tapaculos
This volume was published in 2003. It has an introductory essay on "The History Of Bird Classification" by Murray Bruce.Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Formicariidae The Formicariidae, formicariids, or ground antbirds are a family of smallish passerine birds of subtropical and tropical Central and South America. They are between 10 and 20 cm in length, and are related to the antbirds, Thamnophilidae, and gnateaters, Conopophagidae... (Ground-Antbirds) |
Volume 9: Cotingas to Pipits And Wagtails
This volume was published in 2004. It has an introductory essay on "Ornithological Nomenclature" by Richard BanksGroups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Motacillidae The Motacillidae are a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. There are around 65 species in 6 genera and they include the wagtails, longclaws and pipits. The longclaws are entirely restricted to the Afrotropics, and the wagtails are predominately found in Europe, Africa and... (Pipits And Wagtails) |
Volume 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes
This volume was published in 2005. It has an introductory essay on "The Ecology And Impact Of Non-Indigenous Birds" by Daniel Sol, Tim Blackburn, Phillip Cassey, Richard Duncan and Jordi Clavell.Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers
Published in September 2006. It has an introductory essay on "The ecological significance of bird populations" by Cagan Sekercioglu with a Preface by Paul R. EhrlichPaul R. Ehrlich
Paul Ralph Ehrlich is an American biologist and educator who is the Bing Professor of Population Studies in the department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology. By training he is an entomologist specializing in Lepidoptera , but...
.
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Cisticolidae The Cisticolidae family of small passerine birds is a group of about 110 warblers found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They are often included within the Old World warbler family Sylviidae.... (Cisticolas & allies) Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that was part of an assemblage known as the Old World warblers. The family was formerly a wastebin taxon with over 400 species of bird in over 70 genera. The family was poorly defined with many characteristics shared with other families... (Old World Warblers) |
Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees
Published in October 2007. With a foreword on Fossil Birds by Kevin J. Caley.Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Pachycephalidae The family Pachycephalidae, collectively the whistlers, includes the whistlers, shrike-thrushes, shrike-tits, pitohuis and Crested Bellbird, and is part of the ancient Australo-Papuan radiation of songbirds. Its members range from small to medium in size, and occupy most of Australasia... (Whistlers) Petroicidae The bird family Petroicidae includes roughly 45 species in about 15 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa. For want of an accurate common name, the family is often called the Australasian robins. Within the... (Australasian Robins) Maluridae The Maluridae are a family of small, insectivorous passerine birds endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Commonly known as wrens, they are unrelated to the true wrens of the Northern Hemisphere... (Fairy-wrens) |
Acanthizidae The Acanthizidae, also known as the Australasian warblers, are a family of passerine birds which include gerygones, thornbills, and scrubwrens. The Acanthizidae consists of small to medium passerine birds, with a total length varying between 8 and 19 cm. They have short rounded wings, slender... (Australasian warblers and Thornbills) |
Volume 13: Penduline-tits to Shrikes
Published in October 2008. With an introductory essay on Bird Migration by Ian Newton.
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Melanocharitidae The Melanocharitidae, the berrypeckers and longbills, is a small bird family restricted to the forests of New Guinea. The family contains ten species in four genera... (Berrypeckers and Longbills) Paramythiidae The painted berrypeckers, Paramythiidae, are a very small bird family restricted to the mountain forests of New Guinea. The family comprises two species in two genera: the Tit Berrypecker and the Crested Berrypecker . These are colourful medium-sized birds which feed on fruit and some insects... (Painted Berrypeckers) |
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Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows
Published in October 2009. With the foreword Birding Past, Present and Future – a Global View by Stephen MossStephen Moss
Stephen Moss is a British natural historian, birder, author and television producer. He is married, with five children , and lives in Somerset, having moved there from West London....
.
Groups covered in this volume are as follows:
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Corvidae Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs and nutcrackers. The common English names used are corvids or the crow family , and there are over 120 species... (Crows) |
Volume 15: Weavers to New World Warblers
Published in October 2010. With the foreword Conservation of the world's birds by Stuart Butchart, Nigel Collar, Alison Stattersfield & Leon Bennun.
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Volume 16: Cardinals to New World Blackbirds (Scheduled for a release in December 2011)
- Thraupidae (Tanagers)
- Cardinalidae (Cardinals)
- EmberizidaeEmberizidaeThe Emberizidae are a large family of passerine birds. They are seed-eating birds with a distinctively shaped bill.In Europe, most species are called buntings. In North America, most of the species in this family are known as sparrows, but these birds are not closely related to the sparrows, the...
(Buntings and New World Sparrows) - Icteridae (New World Blackbirds)