Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 7. Jacamars to Woodpeckers. Del Hoyo, J. Elliot, A. and Sargatal, J. (2002) eds. Lynx Edicions. 613pp. Price £110. ISBN 84-87334-37-7

Bird Conservation International (2003) 13:367–368.  BirdLife International 2003

Printed in the United Kingdom

Book Reviews

Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 7. Jacamars to Woodpeckers.

Del Hoyo, J. Elliot, A. and Sargatal, J. (2002) eds. Lynx Edicions. 613pp. Price

£110. ISBN 84–87334–37–7 DOI: 10.1017/S0959270903213277

The 7th volume of the ‘HBW’ series marks the last volume of the non-passerines.

It covers Jacamars (Galbulidae), Puffbirds (Bucconidae), Barbets (Capitonidae),

Toucans (Ramphastidae), Honeyguides (Indicatoridae) and Woodpeckers

(Picidae). A thoughtful bonus is provided in a laminated index illustrating all

non-passerine families covered in the ﬁrst seven volumes, with the volume and

page numbers where they are covered.

The foreword to Volume 7 is titled ‘Extinct Birds’, written by Errol Fuller,

acknowledged as a major researcher in this area, and accompanied by illustra-

tions of each species. It provides a fascinating if ultimately depressing overview

of those species believed extinct, with no captive populations. Let’s hope that

none of the species covered in the main sections of HBW join this list.

The remainder of the book follows the established pattern with family accounts

lavishly illustrated with excellent photographs followed by species accounts and

colour plates of the usual high standard. As stated in a previous review of this

series in BCI, an essential component of the library of the ornithologically-

minded.

SEB BUCKTON

Parasites and Diseases of Wild Birds in Florida. Forrester, D.J. & Spalding, M.G.

(2003). University Press of Florida. 1132 pp.

DOI: 10.1017/S0959270903223273

This weighty and comprehensive tome comprises an excellent collation of

information about causes of mortality and morbidity of Florida’s avifauna. The

extraordinary amount of data is sourced from published literature, federal dis-

ease surveillance bodies, as well as a wide range of veterinary services, universit-

ies, rehabilitation centres and private personnel. The main body of the book is

divided according to host taxon and their diseases, rather than by disease, which

is a more typical approach of books on wildlife health. This makes the book

much more useful in terms of wildlife management as it is clear, therefore, which

are the main diseases of concern for speciﬁc taxa. The ﬁnal summary chapter

brings the data together according to cause of mortality or morbidity and the

good indexing also allows searching according to disease type. The book is writ-

ten in a relatively simple style without too much use of specialised vocabulary.

Extensive use of tables for summarising ﬁndings makes locating information

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270903213277 Published online by Cambridge University Press

Book Reviews 368

relatively easy. Ideally the photographs would be in colour (black and white

photographs are not necessarily good for illustrating clinical or post mortem ﬁnd-

ings and e.g. stained histopathological sections). However, there may have been

economic or production reasons for avoiding colour photography.

nd well established in the ﬁeld of wildlife health. Obviously they have a clear

understanding of how the paucity of long-term monitoring data on wildlife dis-

ease prevents effective wildlife management. This was no doubt one of the

drivers for the production of this book. Throughout the book they highlight the

gaps in our knowledge and the incompleteness of the animal health record. The

comment that the signiﬁcance of disease ﬁndings is not known peppers many

sections which illustrates our limited understanding of the ecology and impact

of most diseases at the level of population. However, there must be few regions

in the world outside North America for which such a volume of information of

bird mortality and morbidity could be compiled.

Although the book is reasonably specialised, it will be of interest to those

working in wildlife health, North American and other wildlife managers and

those with an interest in public health, as there are frequent references to risks

to human health. The division of the book according to host taxon will also aid

those involved in single species conservation programmes e.g. those working

on Whooping Cranes throughout their ﬂyways. In conclusion, the book is both

important and useful, and hopefully will spur others authors to tackle similar

projects.

RUTH CROMIE

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270903213277 Published online by Cambridge University Press