Handbook of the Birds of the World: Volume 6, mousebirds to hornbills edited
by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott and Jordi Sargatal, Lynx Editions, 拢110,
ISBN 848733430X
WHO鈥橠 be a female hornbill? Having mated, she seals herself inside her nest
chamber, leaving only a slit for the males to pass her food. She remains
imprisoned until her young fledge as much as four months later. This
extraordinary breeding cycle is practised by all but two of the world鈥檚 54
species of hornbill.
According to the Handbook of the Birds of the World: Volume 6, female
hornbills probably do this to avoid predators, but no one really knows.
Similarly, many hornbill species indulge in cooperative
breeding鈥攏on-breeding males and female birds help the mated male raise his
young鈥攖hough nobody鈥檚 quite sure why they do this, either. More research
is definitely needed.
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This volume, 鈥渕ousebirds to hornbills鈥�, contains some of the most bizarre and
beautiful of the world鈥檚 birds, including bee-eaters, kingfishers and trogons,
making it the most attractive volume in the series so far. The price may be
high, but no one with a serious interest in the world鈥檚 birds can afford to be
without it.
The most extraordinary thing about HBW, as the series has come to be known,
is that it has taken relatively few years of intensive publishing to produce the
first six volumes (the first volume was published in 1992 and the seventh is now
only a year away). What鈥檚 more, each volume seems to improve on its predecessor
with a terrific mix of identification plates painted by leading artists and
action photographs, each one beautifully reproduced. Couple these with a
detailed and yet highly readable text, and it is no surprise that HBW
continues to set the standard in ornithological publishing.