Josep del Hoyo Calduch(Author), Nigel J Collar(Author), David A Christie(Author), Andrew Elliott(Author), Lincoln DC Fishpool(Author), Peter Boesman(Author), Guy M Kirwan(Author), Norman Arlott(Illustrator), Hilary Burn(Illustrator), John Cox(Illustrator), François Desbordes(Illustrator), Ren Hathway(Illustrator), Francesc Jutglar(Illustrator), Ian Lewington(Illustrator), H Douglas Pratt(Illustrator), David Quinn(Illustrator), Chris Rose(Illustrator), Brian E Small(Illustrator), Jan Wilczur(Illustrator), Ian Willis(Illustrator), Tim Worfolk(Illustrator)
1013 pages, 446 plates with 12629 colour illustrations and 6649 colour distribution maps
Publisher: Lynx Edicions
Having finished the Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), Lynx are publishing a checklist in association with BirdLife: HBW and Birdlife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. This will complement the HBW collection and each volume will be the same size as a HBW Volume, with Volume 1 covering the non-passerines, and volume 2 covering the passerines.
These books are really two works in one. They are a complete checklist whose taxonomy incorporates the most up-to-date information and an exhaustive methodology (Tobias et al. 2010) in an entirely systematic and consistent way. At the same time, they contain illustrations and distribution maps for every bird species in the world. This includes the original artwork from the HBW series, as well as hundreds of new illustrations, all in two compact volumes.
An extensive introduction, with many illustrated examples, explains the rationale and advantages of the taxonomic system adopted in the Checklist, as well as how to use the book. With the guidance of many genetic studies and the aid of the scoring system employed to evaluate differences in morphology, vocalizations, ecology and geographical relationships, the number of taxonomic changes for the passerines has been significantly high. At present (totals may change slightly before publication), the volume 2 has 41 lumps and 628 splits, compared with the taxonomy presented in the HBW series.
Large-format maps offer the reader assistance in interpreting the distribution sections. They provide both administrative and physical details, for greater clarity of use.
In total, Volume 2 deals with 1 order, 138 families, 1,358 genera, 6,592 extant species, 57 extinct species, and has 2809 bibliographical references.
