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THE ATLAS OF BIRDS. DIVERSITY, BEHAVIOR AND

CONSERVATION by Mike Unwin

Article in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology · January 2012

DOI: 10.2307/41932825

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 ORNITHOLOGICAL LITERATURE
have been based on the wrong recording. He makes
no mention of the mewing gnatcatcher-like calls of
the three Amakihis although they are among the
most frequently heard sounds in Hawaiian forests.
The Endnotes deal briefly with last-minute
taxonomic and nomenclatural changes made by
the organizations that oversee such matters, and
provide a few additional notes on identification.
The lists of national and international organizations
and the references overlook nearly all important
American-affiliated agencies and publications.
Finally, an Appendix, with too many errors of
nomenclature and orthography to detail here, lists
species that have gone extinct since 1800.
Ber van Perlo’s book clearly suffers from the
author/illustrator’s lack of personal familiarity with
the region and its birds. He acknowledges that he
owes ‘‘everything to the artists and writers who are
my predecessors in creating field guides’’ and the
statement is no exaggeration. Except for the
descriptions of published recordings of vocaliza-
tions, the entire content of this book is derivative, a
repackaging of previously published (but unattrib-
uted) information, none of which was produced by
the author himself. Consequently, this book should
never be considered a primary source. As a quick
and handy illustrated list, it is adequate, but is
hardly the kind of field guide most birders demand.
However, the general nature-oriented traveler may
find the book’s compact size and abbreviated text
helpful in organizing a trip through this vast ocean
region and in identifying its most common birds.—
H. DOUGLAS PRATT, Research Curator of
Birds Emeritus, North Carolina State Museum
of Natural Sciences, 11 West Jones Street,
Raleigh, NC 27601, USA; e-mail: dpratt14@nc.
rr.com
LITERATURE CITED
CLEMENTS, J. F. 2007. The Clements checklist of the
birds of the world. Cornell University Press,
Ithaca, New York, USA.
GILL, F. AND D. DONSKER (Editors). 2011. IOC World
Bird Names (Version 2.9). Princeton University
Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. http://www.
worldbirdnames.org/
PRATT, H. D., P. L. BRUNER, AND D. G. BERRETT. 1987. A
field guide to the birds of Hawaii and the tropical
Pacific. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New
Jersey, USA
PRATT, T. K. AND R. L. PYLE. 2000. Nukupu’u in the
Twentieth Century: endangered species or phan-
tom presence? ’Elepaio 60:35–41.
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193
RAUZON, M. J. AND H. L. JONES. 2005. First record of
the Kelp Gull and significant records of the
Glaucous-winged and Laughing gulls for the
central Pacific. Western Birds 36:296–302.
VANDERWERF, E. A., G. J. WILES, A. P. MARSHALL, AND
M. KNECHT. 2006. Observations of migrants and
other birds in Palau, April-May 2005, including the
first Micronesian record of a Richard’s Pipit.
Micronesica 39:11–29.
VANDERWERF, E. A., B. L. BECKER, J. EIJZENGA,
AND H. EIJZENGA. 2008. Nazca Booby Sula granti
and Brewster’s Brown Booby Sula leucogaster
brewsteri in the Hawaiian Islands and Johnston
and Palmyra atolls. Marine Ornithology 36:67–
71.
VICE, D. S., C. KESSLER, D. L. VICE, G. J. WILES, H. D.
PRATT, J. FLORES, P. RADLEY, N. JOHNSON, AND C.
AGUON. In prep. New and noteworthy bird records
for the Mariana Islands, 2004–2010.
THE ATLAS OF BIRDS. DIVERSITY, BE-
HAVIOR AND CONSERVATION. By Mike
Unwin. Princeton University Press, Princeton,
New Jersey, USA. 2011: 144 pages; many
unnumbered photographs and maps. ISBN: 978-
0-691-14949-3. $22.95 (paper).—This was not the
book I anticipated from the title. We now have
a remarkable new perspective of the geography
of birds from geographic information system-
generated maps of bird habitats, large-scale bird
atlas and roadside survey projects, and migratory
tracks of individual birds equipped with satellite
transmitters. This information can be used to
delineate biodiversity hotspots (including those
that span international borders); document range
expansions and contractions that may or may not
be driven by climate change; and identify critical
migratory routes and stopover sites. Synthesizing
this information into a single book would make a
major contribution to our understanding of the
status and vulnerabilities of birds. Although some
of this information is included in The Atlas of
Birds, such as maps of migration routes based on
satellite tracking of Sooty Shearwaters (Puffinus
griseus) and an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), this
is not a major focus of the book.
The Atlas of Birds is filled with maps, but these
are primarily the traditional types of maps one
finds in ornithology textbooks or other general
books on ornithology. The goal is to provide an
overview of the biology, distribution, and conser-
vation of birds throughout the world. Maps
illustrate the distribution of all bird Orders and a
few select families, the location of protected and
 194 THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY N Vol. 124, No. 1, March 2012
unprotected Important Bird Areas (IBAs), and the
approximate location of major migratory flyways.
Other maps serve as backdrops to show the
locations for particular examples that are de-
scribed in capsule summaries illustrated with
photographs arrayed around the map. The maps
showing the distribution of Orders and families
are attractive and easy to read, but the IBA maps
are too small to provide more than a general sense
of the distribution of IBAs on each continent.
Many of the maps and examples were provided
by Birdlife International, providing a rich source
of information on global distribution of birds.
Many of the examples emphasize the importance
of IBAs and the conservation work of Birdlife
International and its partners. The information
typically is derived from sources in particular
countries, and the book emphasizes comparisons
of number of bird species, endemic species, IBAs,
and threatened species in different countries.
Comparisons among nations are frequent in the
text and maps, and there is an Appendix dedicated
to statistics for each country. These comparisons
are presented without sufficient discussion of how
the data may reflect the number of active birders
and ornithologists in each country, and the history
and level of support for the IBA program in
different regions. For example, the United King-
dom may have more recorded bird species than
any other European country because of a large
number of experienced birdwatchers who fre-
quently detect rare birds rather than because it
supports a particularly diverse array of birds.
The author was successful in achieving his
primary goal, which apparently was to produce
a well-illustrated overview of bird biology and
conservation, not to develop a book incorporating
new sources of geographical information on birds.
Many of the basic concepts of ornithology and
bird conservation are discussed in an accessible
and engaging style. In describing differences in
courtship displays among different species of
birds, Mike Unwin writes that ‘‘each species has
its own routine’’ (page 72), and he succinctly
describes passerines as ‘‘small birds that sing’’
(page 60). Ravens (Corvus spp.) aside, that is an
accurate and memorable definition, particularly
when it is followed with a succinct description of
the passerine syrinx. Key topics such as the
evolutionary history of birds; the structure and
adaptations of feathers; and the effect of intro-
duced, invasive species on birds are summarized
succinctly. Each topic is covered in a short essay
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on a single page, complemented by a facing page
with select examples illustrated by photographs.
This provides a useful introduction to bird biology
and conservation for anyone with a general interest
in birds, and this book might be an appropriate text
for an informal course or workshop in ornithology.
It is not sufficiently comprehensive to be used as a
text in a more advanced course. Some important
topics are not covered or are only briefly men-
tioned. Theories about how birds navigate over
great distances are summarized in a single, brief
paragraph (page 79), and complex communal
social groups with cooperative breeding are briefly
mentioned in a single example.
The concise discussions of major areas of
biology require some simplification. This is not a
problem, but there are occasional minor mistakes.
Bird migration is almost certainly older than ‘‘the
end of the last Ice Age’’ (page 78). ‘‘Anisodactyl’’
is defined incorrectly on page 60, but correctly
on page 66. The ‘‘semi-plume (contour)’’ feather
illustrated on page 18 appears to be a contour
feather with a downy base, not a semiplume feather
with only downy barbs. Careful editing of the
manuscript would have caught these and other
minor problems. Careful review would have also
prevented mislabeling of some illustrations. The
photographs of ‘‘African Spoonbill’’ and ‘‘Sacred
Ibis’’ on page 49 appear to be photographs of
Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) and White Ibis
(Eudocimus albus), respectively.
Mike Unwin deftly manages the complexities of
shifting avian taxonomy resulting from molecular
studies, describing the status of particular taxo-
nomic groups (such as New World vultures) in both
traditional and revised taxonomies. The discus-
sions of different Orders of birds include this
perspective except for the section on passerines,
which does not mention molecular evidence of
convergent evolution of distantly related passerine
lineages in Australia and on other continents. The
complexities of passerine taxonomy are probably
beyond the scope of this book, however.
The final chapters on global threats to birds and
international efforts to save birds and their
ecosystems provide a good overview for anyone
interested in setting personal priorities for bird
conservation. The descriptions of conservation
success stories (pages 122–123) are particularly
effective. The sections on bird conservation, along
with the accessible introduction to some basic bird
biology, makes the book worthwhile for amateur
naturalists and conservationists.—ROBERT A.
 ORNITHOLOGICAL LITERATURE
ASKINS, Katherine Blunt Professor of Biolo-
gy, Connecticut College, New London, CT
06320, USA; e-mail: raask@conncoll.edu
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO FINDING THE
BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. Second Edition. By
Richard Thomas, Sarah Thomas, David Andrew,
and Alan McBride. CSIRO Publishing, Colling-
wood, Victoria, Australia. 2011: 463 pages, 28
black-and-white and 64 color photographs, and 77
maps. ISBN: 978-0-643-09785-8. USD 42.95
(paperback).—This excellent book is an expanded
and updated version of the book by Richard and
Sarah Thomas published in 1996 (Frogmouth
Publications, Oakington, England, 280 pages), which
set the standard for bird finding in Australia. This
new edition with its added two highly experienced
birdwatcher authors will once again set the standard.
The book has a section entitled ‘States and
Territories’ that presents birding sites by state starting
with Victoria in southeastern Australia, then proceeds
further south to the island-state of Tasmania and then
continues counterclockwise through New South
Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland,
Northern Territory, Western Australia, and South
Australia. This edition has an added chapter with site
guides to ‘Australia’s islands and external territories,’
which include such far flung places as Lord Howe,
Christmas, and Macquarie islands.
The coverage of each state begins with a map of
the state with the areas covered demarcated (e.g., for
Victoria: Melbourne area, Southwestern Victoria,
etc.) and numerical reference to each site discussed
in the text. The introductory material includes a list
of endemic species and bird specialties of the state.
Then follows a detailed examination of each site, in
many cases including a map. Each site section
includes a list of key species, and in the text the bird
names are printed in bold face, which makes finding
a particular species in the text easy. The site guide
descriptions provide names, telephone numbers,
e-mail addresses, or web sites of landowners or
government offices that need to be consulted prior to
visiting and, where prudent, warn of potential threats
(e.g., at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve in the
Northern Territory: ‘‘(beware of crocodiles and
snakes)’’ (page 120). Directions are clear and
concise. For the areas that I know best (Tasmania,
parts of Western Australia, and the Alice Springs
area) I found the directions excellent. There is also a
chapter on pelagic birding with internet sites, e-mail
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195
addresses, and phone numbers provided to facilitate
lining up pelagic trips. A substantial portion of the
book (pages 201–393) is a section entitled ‘Bird
Finder Guide,’ which includes a section of 64 color
photographs of Australian birds. The photographs
really make you want to drop everything and head
for Australia. The bird finder guide text presents a
paragraph (some short, some long) on each of the
700+ species that occur in Australia (excluding
vagrants and introduced species, which are covered
in appendices).
The species are presented in taxonomic order
and for each family there is a brief presentation of
interesting features of its Australian species. Each
species account includes the range and status, and
in many cases references the relevant sections of
the site guides. Appendices include, in addition to
vagrants and accidentals and introduced species,
a glossary of vegetation, landscape, and more
general terms such as ‘platelet,’ a circular scrape
made by buttonquail (Turnix spp.) while feeding
in litter. A final appendix is a directory that deals
with planning a trip, timing, arranging transport,
accommodations, climate, and various hazards, as
well as equipment such as CDs and field guides
and important telephone numbers and web sites in
each state that might be useful. The three indices
cover common names, scientific names, and sites.
This book is loaded with essential information for
anyone planning to sort out Australian birds on their
own, or planning research on a specific group of birds
or in a particular area. Much has changed in the world
of bird watching in Australia in the 15 years since the
first edition of this book originally became available.
The increase in communications and the ease of
retrieving information due to advances in internet,
cell phones, and global positioning system technol-
ogy has expanded the horizons of bird watching and
facilitated field research. The intensifying of floods
and droughts in recent years, presumably a result
of global warming, has changed many Australian
landscapes. The two new authors of this edition have
revisited 90% of the original sites and many of the
changes that have occurred are reflected in this new
edition. This is a comprehensive guide, well-written
and well-illustrated. I cannot imagine planning a trip
to Australia and not having a copy of this book.—
WILLIAM E. DAVIS JR., Professor Emeritus,
Boston University, 23 Knollwood Drive, East
Falmouth, MA 02536, USA; e-mail: wedavis11@
gmail.com