This month (October 2018) five new titles have been published in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides, bringing the total number that are complete and available for download to 21.

The PART-BY-PART series has moved into Passerines (“perching birds”). Parts 1 to 5 (first published last year) deal with all extant Non-Passerine bird species in the IOC bird list. Newly available titles are:

PART SIX: NEW ZEALAND WRENS to TYRANT FLYCATCHERS, CALYPTURA    1190 species

PART SEVEN: COTINGAS to WHISTLERS AND ALLIES    847 species

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ Part-by-Part series, search in the Books section of your local Amazon site for ATWBPP. Or, click here to see all ATWBPP titles on Amazon US; or here to see all ATWBPP titles on Amazon UK.

The following three eBooks in the WORLD REGION series are also now available:

All the World’s Birds 2019: A Companion Guide – AUSTRALASIA
VOLUME 1: NON-PASSERINES

All the World’s Birds 2019: A Companion Guide – AUSTRALASIA
VOLUME 2: PASSERINES

All the World’s Birds 2019: A Companion Guide – SOUTH AMERICA/MIDDLE AMERICA
VOLUME 2: SUBOSCINE PASSERINES

So, what are “Suboscine Passerines”?

Most extant Passerine bird species have a highly developed vocal chord in an organ called the syrinx – although some (such as crows) do not make full use of it. These species are classified within a suborder of Passerines called Passeri or Oscines (songbirds). The most primitive extant Passerine species do not have such a developed syrinx. All but two are classified into suborder Tyranni or Suboscines, with the New Zealand endemics Rifleman and New Zealand Rockwren (Family: New Zealand Wrens) being the only surviving species of the ancient Passerine suborder Acanthisitti.

Many of the extant Suboscine bird species are resident or otherwise regularly present in South America/Middle America (SA/MA). The third title in the list above covers all those 1267 species (including all SA/MA Ovenbirds, Antbirds, Tyrant Flycatchers, Cotingas, Manakins, Tityras and Becards), giving indications of distribution for many of them.

Volume 1 of the South America/Middle America World Region Companion Guide (first published in February this year) covers 1607 Non-Passerines. A third volume (to be released next year) will cover the SA/MA Oscine Passerines.

As you will have noted above, the birds of the Australasia world region have also been covered in two new titles. These volumes deal with all the regularly occurring bird species of Wallacea, New Guinea and nearby islands, Australia, New Zealand, and the oceanic islands and seas from the Solomons to Macquarie Island, listing local, country and regional endemics and providing distribution indications for most species. A “must have” for anyone planning to go birding within the region.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ World Region series, search in the Books section of your local Amazon site for ATWBWR. Or, click here to see all ATWBWR titles on Amazon US; or here to see all ATWBWR titles on Amazon UK.

*** NEXT PLANNED FREE PROMOTION ***

Advance notice:

One title from each of the four series of ATWB Companion Guides will be offered free-to-download in the run up to Christmas 2018 (i.e. one title from each of the PART-BY-PART, WORLD REGIONS, FOCUS ON … and INTERACTIVE CHECKLISTS series). More details towards the end of November. [Note: none of the five newest titles listed above will be included in this promotion.]

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Some details …

Each ATWB Companion Guide deals with the birds to be found in a particular PART of the IOC bird list; a WORLD REGION or sub-region; or an area of the world popular with birders (e.g. North-east India).  All have a number of important features, including:

– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species

– An indication of where in each region each bird family and species can be found in its native state

– Spotlighted species that have a restricted regional or worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2019’ series of Companion Guides is Version 8.2, published June 27 2018.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series, search in the Books section of your local Amazon site for ATWB. Or, click here to see all ATWB titles on Amazon US; or here to see all ATWB titles on Amazon UK.

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