Copyright © NISC (Pty) Ltd
OSTRICH 2012, 83(1): 67 Printed in South Africa — All rights reserved
OSTRICH ISSN 0030-6525 EISSN 1727-947X http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2012.680271
Book Review
Field Guide to the Birds of Macaronesia: Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde
Downloaded by [University of Miami] at 10:08 25 December 2014
By Eduardo Garcia-del-Rey 2011, Lynx Edicions, Montseny, 8, E-08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain 342 pages, including 150 colour plates and >230 detailed distribution maps, hardcover ISBN-13: 978-84-96553-71-2. Price €28
Four archipelagos together make up Macaronesia (Azores, Madeira, Canary and Cape Verde). They are volcanic islands that are quite fortunate in terms of natural attributes, because of their climate, habitats, and distinctive flora and fauna, including a number of endemic species. They are increasingly popular sites for birdwatching for many reasons. Despite the low diversity of species, which is common in many islands, they have many endemic species and subspecies. Also, because of their position in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, especially the Azores, many vagrants from America and Europe can be found, providing many opportunities for birdwatching. Many books are available for each one of the archipelagos, but not many encompass all four, so it will appeal mostly to people who want all the information for Macaronesia in the same book. The author is a renowned ornithologist, with a keen interest in Macaronesian birdlife and he was wise to provide two editions (English and Spanish), which widens the audience of readers for this book. Nevertheless, it is odd that this book overlaps considerably with two other books published by the same publisher, Aves de Portugal: Incluindo os arquipélagos dos Açores, da Madeira e das Selvagens, which covers Azores and Madeira, and Aves de España, which covers the Canary Islands. However, to my knowledge, they are only published in their native languages, whereas this book can be acquired either in Spanish or in English.
This book claims to be the first ‘full official list’ available for Macaronesia. Nevertheless, this is perhaps a bold statement because many lists for the resident and most regular migratory species are available. Some resident species may be the subject of further taxonomic revision in the future and the list of vagrants and rarities is constantly being updated with more and more observations. An additional good list is found in another good reference book (Clarke et al. 2006). The texts are very comprehensive with most of the recognised subspecies and recent taxonomic alterations. The illustrations are quite good for the species that were illustrated under the scope of the renowned Handbook of the Birds of the World, because this book uses many of them. The other illustrations prepared for this book are quite easy to distinguish from the above-mentioned, but they are satisfactory for their purpose. Overall this book is well worth the expense if you want to consult the most updated taxonomic revisions and is a valuable addition to any library. Reference Clarke T, Orgill C, Disley T. 2006. Birds of the Atlantic Islands: Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde. London: Christopher Helm.
Ricardo Jorge Lopes Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO), Porto, Portugal E-mail:
[email protected]
Ostrich is co-published by NISC (Pty) Ltd and Taylor & Francis
