Birds New to Science: Fifty Years of Avian Discoveries

by David Brewer

Overview

The story of the discovery of nearly 300 bird species new to science since 1960.

Amazing as it might sound, ornithologists are still discovering several bird species each year that are completely new to science. These aren't all obscure brown birds on tiny islands – witness the bizarre Bare-faced Bulbul from Laos (2009), spectacular Araripe Manakin from Brazil (1998), or gaudy Bugun Liocichla from north-east India (2006).

Birds New to Science documents more than half a century of these remarkable discoveries, covering around 300 species. Each account includes the story of discovery, a brief description of the bird (many with accompanying colour photographs), and details of what is known about its biology, range and conservation status.

Written in an engaging style, this is a rich reference to an incredible era of adventure in ornithology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472906298
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	01/26/2018
Series:	Helm Photographic Guides
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	228 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David Brewer was born in Worcestershire, England. He read Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and received his PhD from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. After a fellowship at the University of Arizona he emigrated to Canada. David has watched birds on all seven continents, but his main area interests are the study and conservation of birds of South and Central America.

His publications include Wrens, Dippers and Thrashers (Helm, 2001), Where to Watch Birds in Central America and the Caribbean (with Nigel Wheatley) (Helm, 2002), the four-volume Canadian Atlas of Bird Banding (Canadian Wildlife Service, 2001-2010), and contributions to three volumes of the Handbook of the Birds of the World (Lynx, 2005–2010). He has been a Research Associate in Ornithology at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, for more than 25 years.
David Brewer was born in Worcestershire, England. He read Natural Sciences at Cambridge and received his PhD, in Heterocyclic Chemistry, from Glasgow, Scotland. After a fellowship at the University of Arizona, Tucson, he emigrated to Canada where he worked as an industrial research chemist. He started bird watching at the age of eleven, and backyard bird ringing at fourteen. He has watched birds on all seven continents, but his main area interests are the study and conservation of birds of South and Central America, and also bird banding.

His publications include Wrens, Dippers and Thrashers (Helm, 2001), Where to Watch Birds in Central America and the Caribbean (with Nigel Wheatley), (Helm, 2002), the four-volume Canadian Atlas of Bird Banding (Canadian Wildlife Service, 2001-2010), and contributions to three volumes of the Handbook of the Birds of the World (Lynx, 2005–2010). He has, for more than twenty-five years, been a Research Associate in Ornithology from the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Scope of the book
Glossary

The concept of species
Description of the world's birds
Species accounts
Future new species
Invalid species
Future discoveries
The ethics of collecting
Conservation issues

Bibliography