I don't own this but just saw that it was out in July. It is by Lynx as all the best bird books seem to be nowadays (!) Birds of Eastern Polynesia | Lynx Edicions Birds of Eastern Polynesia is the first biogeographic Atlas covering all of the birds of one of the largest areas of Oceania. The book treats all of the 241 species, including extinct birds, ever recorded on the Line Islands, the Cook, Austral, Society, Marquesas, Tuamotu and Gambier archipelagos, the Pitcairn Group, and the Eastern Is. Group. Their distribution over the 151 islands of the region is detailed in 142 maps. The species accounts include systematics, a detailed morphometric or genetic analysis when it is available, and data on distribution, population size and trends, habitat and breeding. All species recorded in Eastern Polynesia are illustrated in colour, except those only known by bone records. Birds of Eastern Polynesia represents an original and much needed ornithological synthesis of all the available literature on Eastern Polynesian birds, including many difficult-to-find reports, as well as unpublished data gathered from local ornithologists and biologists. It also contains new data collected by the authors during numerous fieldtrips in Eastern Polynesia and during visits to museum collections. This work presents a complete overview of this vast oceanic region for anyone with an interest in the biology, biogeography and conservation of the birds of the Pacific islands.
My copy is somewhere between Spain and Christmas Island, I took advantage of their pre-publication offer. Will hopefully have it in the next few weeks when the ship arrives. It's a different format from recent publications like the Lynx's Birds of New Guinea and Birds of Indonesia, which are like traditional field guides (text on the left page, plates on the right), but at least Birds of Eastern Polynesia has decent-sized maps that clearly show where the birds are found. And it's pretty much the only comprehensive book for the birds of this region (there are other field guides covering the entire Pacific, but with only basic information for each species). I'll let you know what I think once I've received it. Hix
So I received my copy of the book yesterday and I've been having a look at it and I'm quite impressed. Firstly, it's the same size as Lynx's other recent publications Birds of New Guinea and Birds of Indonesia, 16.5cm x 23.5cm which is a bit smaller than A4. It cost me 24 Euro (which is around AUD $36, USD $28 or GBP £21.45) which I think is excellent value considering it's a hardback book of 438 pages. And considering books with fairly limited audiences are usually disgustingly expensive, I think it's a good buy. (Note: this was a pre-publication discount - it has since increased in price). After the usual introductory pages explaining the scope of the atlas and acknowledgements, there is an Introduction to Eastern Polynesian Islands which covers the geography (151 main islands in 11 groups covering 10 million sq.km), oceanography, geology, different types of islands, climate, vegetation, colonisation by humans and their impacts (habitat changes & nuclear bomb tests), plus a brief history of ornithology in the islands. The next chapter looks at the Biogeography of Eastern Polynesian Birds, covering colonisation, sympatry, colonisation routes and times, extinctions, and characteristics of landbirds, seabirds and migratory species. This chapter is a little technical but for anyone interested in ornithology (as opposed to birdwatching) the information will be of interest. There's a brief guide to using the atlas before the Systematic List starts on page 51 and takes up the bulk of the book. Let me be clear - this is not a field guide. It is a detailed and thoroughly researched synthesis of the birds found in this region, including extinct species and species only known from fossils. Each bird family has it's own box with a little information about that family; the more species in that family that are found in the islands, the more family information is discussed, including systematics, and phylogenetic and morphometric analyses. After the Family introduction each species will be listed individually, accompanied by a colour painting (except species known only from fossils), and a discussion of its Systematics, Distribution, Population Size and Trends, and Remarks on Life History. Some also have a section on Historical Data. Most species have distribution maps, unless they are only found on one or two islands. Colours on the maps indicate if the bird is breeding there or just a regular or migratory visitor. Sources used for the maps are listed at the end of each species. And so the book describes the 241 species of extant, recently extinct and long extinct species of birds that have been recorded in the islands, including several that are known from just one record more than 50 years ago. At the end of the book is a Bibliography, an Index, a Checklist, and a list of all the island's names plus maps of the individual archipelagos. There's also a glossary. The introductory chapters have some great photos of islands and atolls, and different habitat types, but nowhere in the book is there a single photo of a bird (although there are two on the front cover). This is not as criticism, more an observation so anyone purchasing the book knows what to expect: a valuable scientific reference, but not something for use in the field. There are phylogenetic trees, DNA sequences, and some interesting graphs of which I have no idea what they represent. Two small criticisms: I think the species accounts would benefit from having a section titled Status; there were a few times I was interested to see if a bird was still extant or extinct and I'd have to read through the historical population counts and reports before discovering the species became extinct 30 years ago (or is still present in large numbers). Secondly, the illustration of the Red-footed Booby is of a brown bird, a juvenile, but is labelled as such. When there is no written description of each species because of the accompanying painting, adults should be represented and other plumages labelled. I also think the book would have benefitted by having a list of the 11 different island groups with their land and seabird species (excluding the rare vagrants), and fossil species, with endemics highlighted, for comparative purposes. And a few interesting things I've found flipping through the book: Eastern Polynesia has a Tinamou and a Caracara - they were successfully introduced to Easter Island in 1888 & 1928 respectively and today number in the hundreds for the tinamou and in the several thousands for the caracara. Abbott's Booby, a species now only found on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean (previously found throughout the Indian Ocean) was represented in the Pacific by another subspecies found only in the Marquesas and becoming extinct around 900 years ago (when the islands were colonised). A bird collected from Raiatea in the Society Islands on Cook's second voyage is only known by a watercolour by Georg Forster as the original specimen was lost. The bird in the picture has been subject to much debate and is thought to be a type of thrush, or a honeyeater, or a starling. It is listed in the book as "The Mysterious Bird of Ulietea". There are nine islands in the Tuamotus that have never been surveyed by ornithologists. I hope this brief review is of benefit to anyone considering purchasing the book. Hix.
I knew about the caracara, but I didn't know about the tinamou (or more likely, I just forgot). check the subspecific name
yup. It was actually named in reference to Abbott and Costello. David Steadman was also the guy that named Vini vidivici.
