Birds of Cites: And How to Identify Them

Basics: 1998, 1st edition; hardcover; 207 pages, 32 color plates; additional 16 b & w photos and a couple of b & w line drawings; 30 species of Pitta; range map for each bird It's hard to resist a bird book featuring a Gurney's Pitta on the cover. It's equally hard to resist this book once you've looked through the fine plates and skimmed through the incredible amount of research provided for each of these colorful birds. A full page is dedicated to each of the 30 species of Pitta around the world as a color plate. These plates display the gender and age differences, where applicable. The artistry is of good quality. One plate depicts an egg from each of the species while another vibrant plate displays all 30 adult males together. The text is to be commended just as much as the plates. Each bird receives between 4-15 pages of extensive information. Each mini-chapter gives an exhaustive account of the subspecies, taxonomic history, recent records, and tables of data that compare physical appearance and measurements. The standard text of description, distribution, habitat, behavior, vocalizations, and breeding biology are very thorough. This monograph is further enhanced with less commonly seen sections of movements, feeding behavior, molting, hybridization, status & conservation, and captivity. The range maps are tailored to each bird, such as the three islands for the Black-faced Pitta and the island-numbered map for the Elegant Pitta in the Moluccas and Sulawesi. As a mark of good research, this book concludes with a bibliography containing over 1,300 references. I've listed another related book below... 1) Pittas, Broadbills and Asities by Lambert

A SUPERB VOLUME ABOUT A LIITLE KNOWN FAMILY OF BIRDS-THE PIITAS. ALTHOUGH THE TEXT IS SCHOLARLY,IT IS ACCESSIBLE.THE AUTHOR MUST HAVE TRACKED DOWN EVERY SCRAP OF PUBLISHED INFORMATION ON THESE BIRDS,BECAUSE THE REFERENCE LIST HAS MORE THAN 1,300 ENTRIES. AND THEN THERE ARE THE COLOR PLATES!THIRTY-TWO MAGNIFICENT FULL PAGE PLATES,A VISUAL FEAST. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ORNITHOLOGISTS OR ANYONE WHO LIKES BEAUTIFUL BIRD BOOKS. BILL NEWTON