All the Birds of the World

All the Birds of the World is essentially an annotated pictorial checklist of the world’s birds, useful to anyone interested in the spectacular diversity of birds, from novice birders to professional ornithologists, and perhaps especially birders who keep world or regional lists. It is a very useful reference book that provides a quick shortcut to looking up the taxonomic status, distribution, or conservation status of any bird that you are interested in, without needing to sift through your bookshelves or search on the internet. Unlike other world bird checklists, it not only includes illustrations of the birds and distribution maps, but it includes all of the species recognised by the four most widely-used global bird lists (HBW and BirdLife, eBird/Clements, the IOC, and Howard and Moore). The main names used are those adopted by HBW-Birdlife, but all English and scientific names from eBird are included, as well as the majority from the other two lists.

For those of us who can remember that the global bird list stood at around 9,500 species not that long ago, it is staggering to see that there are 11,524 “species” illustrated in this impressive book. I use quotation marks because the actual number of species accepted by the various lists, at the time of publication, varied from 10,033 in Howard and Moore (as of August 2018), 10,563 in eBird/Clements (August 2019), 10,783 in IOC (January 2020), to 10,989 in HBW-BirdLife (Dec 2019).

All the Birds of the World is a spin-off that derives from the many years of work that went into the 17 volumes of the Lynx edicions Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), combined with the innovative two-volume HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World (del Hoyo and Collar 2014, 2016). Compared to the latter, All the Birds of the World is less than a quarter of the price, but includes a comparison of taxonomic treatment by the four major world bird checklists. What it lacks, compared to the Illustrated Checklist, is the scientific content relating to the HBW-BirdLife taxonomy, in particular the justification for recognizing particular taxa as species, detailed information on subspecies, and the enormous list of literature referenced in that work.

The present book starts with an 18-page Introduction that sets out to explain the philosophy and scientific basis for the enormous amount of data that have been collated, and how to interpret and use the information provided. Since this is a book by Lynx Edicions, it is hardly surprising that the main focus of the book is on the HBW-BirdLife list, and hence the number of subspecies shown is that recognised by this list. As pointed out in the Introduction, the HBW-BirdLife checklist is the only one that uses its own methodology to compliment bibliographical research. In my opinion, this makes the HBW-BirdLife the most robust of the checklists, and if I was a world lister, I would certainly follow their taxonomy. The 515 species that are only recognised by the HBW-BirdLife checklist is the outcome of applying the so-called “Tobias Criteria” (Tobias et al. 2010), which systematically scores differences in biometrics, plumage and bare parts, vocalizations, ecology and behaviour, and geographical relationships among various forms, assigning species status to those with a score exceeding a threshold.

In time, it is likely that the four main bird checklists mentioned above will slowly converge, although they may never reach a consensus on some taxa. Whilst the Introduction notes that 87% of species are recognized by all four checklists (and 92% by 3 of 4 lists), suggesting that this is indicative of a high degree of agreement between taxonomies adopted by the four checklists, my interpretation is slightly different. If we look at this the other way round, we see that there is disagreement on 13%, which translates to a staggering 1,495 species. At a higher level, the classification of birds is more stable, with HBW-BirdLife recognizing 244 Families amongst the 36 Orders of birds. The Introduction includes two full page Phylogenetic trees (Non Passerines and Passerines) that illustrate an example of a species in each Family whilst the legend indicates the number of species in each of these.

The bulk of the book, 798 pages, comprises the illustrated checklist. These are more like the plates of a modern field guide, complete with range maps, rather than a checklist. The paintings originate from 34 artists, but since this is not an identification guide, variation in image quality is not particularly important. Clear lines are used to separate genera, and finer lines to separate species. The illustrations are made up of 19,736 from the HBW series, 884 painted for the checklists, and 245 newly commissioned for this book. They include both sexes where the plumages differ, distinctive subspecies, and morphs. When the HBW-BirdLife list accepts a subspecies group ¹, at least one figure of a subspecies from each group is included. There are probably some omissions in the artwork; for example, I noticed that the male of Guadalcanal Moustached Kingfisher is not illustrated even though good photographs of this taxon have existed for several years. Species that have been recently described to science up to some point in 2019 are included providing that they are accepted by at least one of the four world lists. Examples include Pincoya Storm-petrel, Omani Owl, Cordillera Azul Antbird, Alor Myzomela, Himalayan Forest Thrush, and Eastern Short-toed Lark.

Alongside the pictures of the birds are a staggering 11,558 coloured maps, indicating resident, breeding, and non-breeding ranges for all the species included, whilst country codes are added when this helps interpreting the map. Where relevant, succinct notes on range are included as text. However, the maps do not delineate the range of any subspecies or subspecies groups. It is sometimes very difficult to see small patches of colour on the maps, and in some cases a magnifying glass is necessary to see detail, but for the purpose of this book they are entirely adequate. Unfortunately, though, they are not always particularly accurate. For example, Philippine Shortwing occurs in at least two tiny areas of Mindanao not shown on the map.

Also shown alongside the maps are altitudinal ranges and global conservation status. Alternative English names from the four checklists are included, except where space is insufficient, and a colour-coded taxonomic circle contains quadrants for each of these lists that indicates whether the checklist treats a particular taxon as a full species, subspecies, or, indeed, doesn’t list it at all. For listers, there is a small, inconspicuous checkbox with four squares that can be filled in with observational or other data. Meanwhile, for those who seek additional information, each species has a QR code, familiar to those who have used any of the books in the HBW-BirdLife international field guides series. Using a smartphone or tablet, the QR codes will provide instant access to online resources of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, including photos, videos, and sounds.

Species that are single-country endemics (3,313 in total) are clearly indicated alongside the maps, whilst near the back of the book we find a list of one-country endemics that illuminates some interesting facts. For a start, it shows that eight counties have more than 100 endemic species, with the top five being Indonesia (with an incredible 557 endemics), Australia (369), Brazil (275), Philippines (270), and Peru (134).

One helpful feature is a set of 33 detailed, full-page maps found near the end of the book. These show topography, name major rivers, and give the country codes that are used throughout the work. Another nice touch is the inclusion of a plastic card with a handy guide to the labeling, names, map colours, Red list categories, and subspecies/subspecies groups that can double as a bookmark. It’s very helpful (unless misplaced!).

A separate section of the book provides illustrations and maps of 162 species that are thought to have become extinct since 1500. Only 108 of these could be illustrated since some of the species have insufficient information to formulate a picture of their appearance in life, some being known only from fossils. I find it a bit odd that whilst all of the birds known to have gone extinct since 1500 are included, undescribed extant species, which do not yet have a scientific name assigned, are not included in the book. The reason given for this is that while many of these forms will eventually be described and accepted, others are later requalified as subspecies. Whilst I understand this reasoning, it is also very likely that some of the named species in the book will also be downgraded to subspecies, and I think it would have been very useful to have drawn attention to undescribed taxa as a means to alert birders to their existence and to perhaps prompt taxonomists to take more interest in describing them. For example, neither Kilombero Cisticola nor White-tailed Cisticola, sympatric species occurring in a small area of swampland in Tanzania, are included. Yet both are well-known, and indeed have full species accounts in both editions of Birds of East Africa (Stevenson and Fanshawe 2002, 2020). Another example is an undescribed parrotfinch from Timor, Indonesia, for which a good photograph of the distinctive male exists, and indeed this taxon was included with a full species account in Lynx’s own Indonesian field guide (Eaton et al. 2016), along with some other recently-discovered but undescribed taxa.

In this age of taxonomic revision, no book can expect to remain totally current, and whilst this book is forward-looking in relying primarily on the what I consider to be the best of the current checklists (HBW-BirdLife) we can expect many changes in recognised species limits over the coming years. Indeed, it is already possible to point out some taxa that are recognised as good species elsewhere but not featured as such in this book, including Malaysian Crested Argus Rheinardia nigrescens, included as a full species in one of the most recent HBW-Lynx international field guides (Puan et al. 2020: based on Davison et al. 2020) and Eastern and Western Yellow-spotted Barbets (Boesman and Collar 2019). Some other examples of forthcoming changes include Elegant Pitta, now split into Temminck’s Elegant Pitta P. elegans, Wallace’s Elegant Pitta P. Concinna, and Banda Elegant Pitta P. vigorsii (Yue et al. 2020), and the hooded pitta complex, which will soon be acknowledged to represent five species (Rasmussen et al. 2020, in prep.), compared to three in the present book.

From the point of view of a taxonomist or lister, the illustration of more than one taxa from those species that have subspecies groups is particularly relevant. This enables us to speculate which taxa are likely to include presently unrecognized species since these will likely be those comprised of more than one subspecies group. Examples (and there are many!) include Cardinal Woodpecker with 9 subspecies in 3 subspecies groups; Hairy Woodpecker, 17 subspecies in 6 groups; Collared Kingfisher, 14 subspecies in 5 groups; Horned Lark, 28 subspecies in 6 groups; Hair-crested Drongo, 12 subspecies in 9 groups; Western Spindalis, 5 subspecies in 5 groups; Common Yellowthroat, 13 subspecies in 3 groups; Grass Wren, 19 subspecies in 8 groups; and White Wagtail, 11 subspecies in 9 groups. So we can conclude that there is still considerable scope for potential splits in coming years.

Even though I have had All the Birds of the World book for only a couple of weeks, I have referred to it regularly for various reasons, but most often as bedside reading since it is an enjoyable way to browse through all the birds of the world, while dreaming about some post-pandemic birding and considering where my priorities should lie. Considering its size and the enormous amount of information contained within, it is incredibly good value for money, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone with a passion for the world of birds, particularly those interested in current taxonomic thinking, serious birders, and listers.

¹ Subspecies Groups are defined as “informal taxonomic units used in several recent world checklists to highlight seemingly monophyletic groups of taxa that at present appear to sit between the species and subspecies levels”.

– Reviewed by Frank Lambert

References

Boesman, P. & Collar, N. J. 2019. Two undescribed species of bird from West Africa. Bull BOC 139: 147–159.

del Hoyo, J. and Collar, N.J. 2014. HWB and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol 1. Non-passerines. (2016: Volume 2. Passerines) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Davison, G.W.H., Collar, N.J., Boesman, P. & Puan, C.L. 2020. Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae). Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 2020 140: 182-194.

Eaton, J.A, van Belen, B., Brickle, N.W. and Rheindt, F.E. 2016. Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Puan, C.L, Davison, G. & Kim Chye Lim, K. C. 2020. Birds of Malaysia. Lynx and BirdLife International Field Guides Collection. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Rasmussen, P.C., Ericson P.G.P., Yanhua Qu, Irestedt, M., Blom, M., Sullivan, P, Lambert, F.R. & Rheindt, F.E. 2020. Unexpected plumage congruence with DNA and song evidence for species groups in the Hooded Pitta Pitta sordida complex. North American Ornithological Conference. Poster presentation.

Stevenson, T. & Fanshawe, J. Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi. 2nd Edition (2020). Helm Field Guides, Christopher Helm, London. Bloomsbury.

Yue, A.Y, Ng. E.Y.X., Eaton, J. A., & Rheindt, F.E. 2020. Species limits in the Elegant Pitta (Pitta elegans) complex from Wallacea based on bioacoustic and morphometric analysis. Avian Research 11:42 (12pp). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-020-00227-4