Book Review: Birds New to Science
Author: David Brewer
Some of the most exciting and headline-grabbing events in ornithology involve the discovery of species new to science. This book documents the surprisingly high figure of 288 such events since 1960. This total does not include the large, and ever-growing, number of taxa elevated from subspecies to species status – all the birds in this book are genuine new discoveries, either never seen before or previously unrecognised as distinct.
As might be expected, most of the species are tropical, with South America, sub-Saharan Africa and Indonesia/Philippines/ New Guinea contributing the lion’s share. However, there are two Western Palearctic entries – the cryptic Monteiro’s Storm Petrel and the more distinctive (albeit to date largely inaccessible)Algerian Nuthatch. Also as expected, the discoveries are heavily biased towards owls (no fewer than 28 species), and tapaculos feature extensively too, with fifteen new species described here.
The book begins with a brief introduction and glossary followed by a useful ‘beginner’s guide’ to species concepts and the increasing role of genetic analysis in defining species boundaries. Then comes a useful potted history of avian taxonomy and ornithological discovery, beginning with Linnaeus and then proceeding at brisk pace through some of the luminaries of eighteenth and nineteenth century bird collection. Unsurprisingly, the peak rate of new species description was reached betwen 1830 and 1850 but the flow of new discoveries has not yet come to a complete halt, as amply evidenced in this book.
The meat of this volume is the accounts of these 288 species, each following a standard format comprising details of the type specimen, the circumstances of the species’ discovery, a description, habitat, food and feeding, breeding, voice, movements, range, conservation status and etymology. Some of the sections are very brief, however, a reflection of our limited knowledge of some of these species. The descriptions of the finding circumstances are perhaps the most fascinating. Many of the species are of course highly localised, shy or nocturnal (or all three) but there also some remarkable stories of species ‘hiding in plain sight’, notably the Elfin Woods Warbler found in a national park in Puerto Rico and the perhaps even more astonishing discovery of Cambodian Tailorbird amidst the bustle of suburban Phnom Penh. Nor are all the new species ‘small and brown’ or as cryptic as the Asian ‘Golden Spectacled Warbler’ derivatives. Some, such as the stunning Scarlet-banded Barbet, are eye-catching in the extreme.
Even more intriguing are some of the long-standing mysteries of birds discovered and then ’lost’ without further trace. The accounts of, for example, White-eyed River Martin, Red Sea Swallow and Vaurie’s Nightjar are tantalising to say the least. Such enigmas represent some of the greatest and most exciting challenges in ornithology.
The accounts are thorough and are backed up by an extensive bibliography. My only disappointment was not to find a separate handy list, either systematic or chronological, of the 288 species. Accompanying the texts are a myriad of photographs. Considering that we are dealing with what are often very little known species, the standard of the images is surprisingly high. Some, however, are understandably more in the ‘record shot’ category whilst a few species lack photographic documentation.
There are, of course, perils in claiming new species, as highlighted in the chapter on ‘Invalid Species’. Here are detailed numerous examples of claims which have either proved contentious or been shown to be simply incorrect. Amongst the latter is of course the infamous recent case of ‘Omani Owl’, subsequently linked to the type specimen of Strix butleri, thereby (under nomenclatural rules) opening the way for the designation of the already familiar Desert Owl as the ‘new’ species Strix hadorami. Debates inevitably continue about a number of the species featured in the book’s main section too but all those listed are recognised formally by at least one of the major world checklists.
Another section covers likely additional new species, those taxa known by the author to be in the process of formal description. Inevitably, this leads on to a further chapter in which he muses on how many more species might still remain to be discovered. A further thought-provoking section summarises the ongoing ‘lively’ debates about the ethics of collecting. The overwhelming majority of the new species in this book were described from a collected type specimen although some more recent instances have relied on other material (notably Bugun Liocichla, described from photographs of a captured specimen and feather samples). A final chapter discusses the often critical conservation status of these newly described species.
Published:: Christopher Helm 2018
Hardback/Softback: 416 pages
ISBN: 9781472906281
RRP: hardback £45.00
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This book is an impressively researched piece of work and will certainly have instant appeal as a reference source for ‘world birders’. For the less well travelled or list orientated, however, there is much to enjoy also. This is, despite its rigorously scientific approach and credentials, an undeniably romantic book. Who could not be inspired by the thought of wandering the dry scrub of Ethiopia in search of Nechisar Nightjar or the desolate uplands of Tibet for Sillem’s Mountain Finch?
Andy Stoddart
13 December 2017
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