Handbook of Western Paleartic Birds

Handbook of Western Paleartic Birds

Netfugl har fået en e-mail fra Hadoram Shirihai, der sammen med Lars Svensson er i gang med et to-binds værk om VPs fugle kaldet Handbook of Western Paleartic Birds.

Hadoram skriver bl.a følgende:

The first volume (passerines) of the HANDBOOK OF WESTERN PALEARCTIC BIRDS (HWPB) by Hadoram Shirihai & Lars Svensson is being readied for publication. Most of the text and photographic content is now complete. René Pop from Dutch Birding is the photographic editor. Magnus Ullman is producing the maps, while Nigel Redman and Jim Martin are commissioning editor and project editor respectively at A&C Black.

The Handbook, treating just over 900 species, will provide an unrivalled collection of about 3,000 top quality photographs of the birds of the Western Palearctic, and reviews all recent taxonomic changes in the region with emphasis on subspecific differentiation, as well as field identification and plumage variation, especially for the purposes of ageing and sexing and for identification to subspecies. Some species will have as many as six pages, and all will have a number of spectacular photographs illustrating a range of plumages and races. The Western Palearctic is extended to cover all of Arabia and Iran, and hence several poorly known species will gain from a modern treatment. There will be summaries of vocalisations and distribution, too, with all-new, detailed range maps for each species from the latest data and, for the first time, these will show the distribution of most subspecies. As you can imagine, the text is very detailed, better than any field guide and more advanced than any published handbook for the region. HWPB will be published in two volumes, with the first (covering passerines) appearing in 2009.

Et af de mere specielle emner, som bøgerne vil omhandle, er de racer, der findes i VP. Om dette skriver Steve Gantlett, redaktør af Birding World, følgende:

One key aspect of the new handbook will be a comprehensive review of Western Palearctic forms. In general, the authors believe that rather too many forms are described in the WP, and that this often confuses the overall picture. Weak taxa are often based on marginal differences that can only be seen in large series of museum skins, but the authors consider that these are often better described as simply slight local differences within a race, rather than as full, clear, diagnosable races. Short-toed Lark is one classic example of this, where recognising fewer races should actually make the picture clearer. Clearly describing the differences and variations, the authors plan to treat Short-toed Lark as having just three WP races: C. b. brachydactyla (S Europe, Turkey), C. b. rubiginosa (NW Africa, Malta, Sinai, Levant) and C. b. longipennis (Russian steppes east).

Et uddrag fra bogen kan ses her.

Som det kan læses er ambitionerne store og i den forbindelse efterspørger Hadoram hjælp fra Netfugls brugere og specielt fra de mange dygtige fotografer, der leverer billeder til Galleriet.

Indtil videre har mere end 100 fotografer leveret billeder til værket, men da der fortsat efterspørges flere billeder vil enhver hjælp fra Netfugls brugere være mere end velkommen. Fotografer der bidrager med billeder til værket vil naturligvis blive krediteret for arbejde samt få betaling for billeder anvendt.

Næsten alle billeder vil kunne bruges og især af racer og dragter, der kun er begrænset kendskab til. Hadoram skriver” We are aiming to illustrate as much of the plumage and racial variation as possible for all species. We are particularly interested in images of unknown young/autumn plumages, or of extreme races.

De billeder der efterspørges kan findes her.

Ligger den enkelte fotograf inde med rigtig gode billeder af en art, som ikke er nævnt, så er det også noget som efterspørges.

Har man billeder som kan bruges, bør de sendes i lav opløsning til Renè Pop på pop.texel@texel.com. René Pop vil så kontakte den enkelte fotograf.

Listen over fugle, der søges billeder af ses her:
http://www.acblack.com/Department/Article.asp?article%5Fid=285&dept%5Fid=2

Fotografer der har allerede leveret billeder til bogen:
http://www.acblack.com/Department/Article.asp?article%5Fid=283&dept%5Fid=2

Mere information om bogens ses her:
http://www.acblack.com/Department/Article.asp?article%5Fid=282&dept%5Fid=2