All The Birds of the World: Review

Dear Fellow Birders,

So, a few people asked me to write out my comments on the book “All the
Birds of the World” Edited by del Hoyo and published by Lynx. Here they are:

Wow, it’s a huge book! The customs receipt lists it as 5kg. Also, it is
very well-packaged in a pretty much custom cardboard box.

It is also the most beautiful book I’ve ever seen. I’ve owned a lot of
bird books. I’ve seen and photographed all sorts of species. That kind
of thing gives you a good intellectual understanding of bird
biodiversity. But I’ve only ever seen around 500 species of birds.
Flipping through this book really slaps you in the face with the
diversity of birds. It’s a unique experience.

The illustrations are really great. There is at least one per bird, but
two if the male and females are different as is often the case. There
are distribution maps and it comes with a laminated bookmark that also
indicates some of the abbreviations used. The illustrations themselves
are beautiful. Naturally with all the birds in the world you will
definitely not have the same space allocated to each species compared to
a local guide. Also, with some species you do not get a
breeding/nonbreeding illustration like for New World Warblers (family
Parulidae).

It is well organized with drawn lines dividing family and genera. Let’s
just say this book is monumental. I can imagine just browsing throught
his and having it inspire me to plan trips or just do research. It is
really something to browse and discover. Unhindered by boundaries of the
world, it is like a whole new perspective on birds.

There are small checkboxes to use this book as a printed world
checklist, with four boxes (perhaps to be used by families or spouses?).
I’m not going to mark up my copy though because I want to keep it pristine.

It’s my most prized book now.

Happy reading,
Jason