From nidification to filoplumes

"Handbook of the Birds of the World" is an immensely fascinating mega-encyclopaedia, still under publication. 14 volumes have been published, the first already in 1992, and two more are being prepared. The ultimate goal of the exercise is to cover all (!) living species of birds, about 9000 and counting.

This is volume 13, covering a number of passerine families. The shrikes, a kind of passerine raptors which hunt small mammals and lizards, play a prominent part. So do the honeyeaters, a large family of Australian songbirds. Two "cousins" to the tits, penduline-tits and long-tailed tits, are also included. So are nuthatches, treecreepers, Old World orioles and sunbirds. If your primary interest in life is the wallcreeper, prepare yourself for a real treat - an entire section is devoted to this particular bird, placed in a family all of his own, Tichodromidae. The volume also covers a number of obscure birds only found in New Guinea or the Philippines.

What makes the HBW particularly appealing are the colour photographs and colour plates. Even if you're not interested in birds, the book is fascinating to just leaf through, for purely aesthetical reasons. If you really want to buy it, however, please note that the price is extortionate. On Amazon, 314 dollars is the bargain price. Even if you buy this volume directly from the publisher, the cost is still about 260 dollars (excluding postage and packing, I presume).

The HBW is thus mostly for libraries. It's also relatively difficult to read for a layman. You have to learn the meaning of strange words such as "nidification", "filoplumes", "sturnid" and "parvorder". And that's just from one page!

However, if you are an ornithologist or very advanced bird-watcher, and just won the jackpot at the state lottery, you might want to invest in a copy of HBW, volume 13.