United States
£ GBP
New Guinea, the largest tropical island, supports a spectacular bird fauna characterized by cassowaries, megapodes, pigeons, parrots, kingfishers, and owlet-nightjars, as well as the iconic birds of paradise and bowerbirds. Of the nearly 800 species of birds recorded from New Guinea, more than 350 are found nowhere else on Earth. This comprehensive annotated checklist of distribution, taxonomy, and systematics of the birds of New Guinea is the first formal review of this avifauna since Ernst Mayr's Checklist, published in 1941. This new book brings together all the systematic, taxonomic, and distributional research conducted on the region's bird families over the last 70 years.
Bruce Beehler and Thane Pratt provide the scientific foundation for the names, geographic distributions, and systematic arrangement of New Guinea's bird fauna. All technical information is annotated and a geographic gazetteer and bibliography are included. Birds of New Guinea: Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics is an ideal complement to the Birds of New Guinea field guide also published by Princeton, and is an essential technical reference for all scientific libraries, ornithologists, and those interested in bird classification.
Preface 8
PART ONE
Introduction 11
The New Guinea Region 11
New Guinea in Context 12
New Guinea's Bird Regions 13
References and Data Sources 16
Systematics 18
Taxonomy 21
Species Concepts 22
Treatment of Subspecies 23
The Avifauna 25
Historical Biogeography 25
The Checklist and Nature Conservation 26
The Future 27
Layout of the Accounts 28
Terms, Usage, and Abbreviations 34
Figures 37
PART TWO
Casuariiformes 40
Casuariidae 40
Galliformes 44
Megapodiidae 44
Phasianidae 50
Anseriformes 53
Anseranatidae 53
Anatidae 54
Phoenicopteriformes 61
Podicipedidae 61
Columbiformes 63
Columbidae 63
Phaethontiformes 92
Phaethontidae 92
Procellariiformes 93
Oceanitidae 94
Hydrobatidae 96
Procellariidae 97
Ciconiiformes 103
Ciconiidae 103
Pelecanidae 104
Threskiornithidae 105
Ardeidae 108
Fregatidae 116
Sulidae 117
Phalacrocoracidae 120
Anhingidae 122
Otidiformes 123
Otididae 123
Gruiformes 123
Rallidae 124
Gruidae 135
Cuculiformes 136
Centropodidae 136
Cuculidae 138
Caprimulgiformes 148
Podargidae 149
Caprimulgidae 150
Aegothelidae 153
Apodidae 157
Charadriiformes 163
Burhinidae 163
Haematopodidae 164
Recurvirostridae 165
Charadriidae 166
Jacanidae 171
Scolopacidae 171
Turnicidae 184
Glareolidae 186
Laridae 187
Stercorariidae 197
Accipitriformes 198
Pandionidae 199
Accipitridae 200
Strigiformes 213
Tytonidae 213
Strigidae 216
Bucerotiformes 219
Bucerotidae 219
Coraciiformes 220
Meropidae 220
Coraciidae 221
Halcyonidae 222
Alcedinidae 233
Falconiformes 235
Falconidae 235
Psittaciformes 238
Cacatuidae 238
Psittrichasidae 240
Psittaculidae 241
Passeriformes 271
Pittidae 271
Ptilonorhynchidae 274
Climacteridae 282
Maluridae 284
Meliphagidae 288
Acanthizidae 325
Pomatostomidae 340
Orthonychidae 341
Cnemophilidae 342
Melanocharitidae 345
Paramythiidae 352
Psophodidae 354
Cinclosomatidae 355
Machaerirhynchidae 360
Cracticidae 362
Artamidae 365
Rhagologidae 367
Campephagidae 368
Neosittidae 379
Oreoicidae 381
Eulacestomatidae 383
Pachycephalidae 384
Oriolidae 400
Rhipiduridae 406
Dicruridae 413
Ifritidae 415
Paradisaeidae 416
Melampittidae 438
Monarchidae 440
Corvidae 453
Laniidae 454
Petroicidae 455
Alaudidae 473
Hirundinidae 474
Pycnonotidae 478
Phylloscopidae 479
Zosteropidae 481
Acrocephalidae 487
Locustellidae 489
Cisticolidae 492
Sturnidae 494
Turdidae 498
Muscicapidae 500
Dicaeidae 503
Nectariniidae 506
Passeridae 510
Estrildidae 511
Motacillidae 520
PART THREE
Bibliography 525
Geographic Gazetteer 560
J. L. Mandeville and W. S. Peckover
Index of English Bird Names and Topics 633
Index of Scientific Names 647
Bruce M. Beehler is a research associate of the Division of Birds at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and a naturalist with interests in birds and forests.
Thane K. Pratt is a research associate at the B. P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii and a bird conservationist with a focus on the tropical Pacific. Pratt and Beehler are the coauthors of the field guide Birds of New Guinea, Second Edition
"This is an outstanding book for professionals and advanced amateurs interested in New Guinea birds."
– Choice
"This work is a positive goldmine and no-one with a serious interest in the birds of New Guinea should be without it. Those [...] yet to visit will surely revel in such a magnificent introduction to the region, with the extensive bibliography and gazetteer alone being substantial navigational aids [...] An exceptional guide even for those better initiated than myself. Bruce Beehler, Thane Pratt and the book's technical editor, Mary LeCroy, have done the ornithological world proud, yet again."
– Guy M. Kirwan, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club
"All around, this is a solid field guide/handbook and one that does justice to the series."
– Mike Toms, British Trust for Ornithology
"This extraordinary and long-awaited work combines deep authority and scholarship with the authors' extensive field experience and museum expertise. The book increases our knowledge of New Guinea's obscure avifauna and offers a superior modern perspective."
– Frank B. Gill, author of Ornithology
"This is an essential reference for anyone interested in the birds of New Guinea, natural resource policy, and conservation practices."
– Christopher Filardi, American Museum of Natural History
