Lynx Edicions is fast becoming my favourite publishers of high-quality
wildlife literature. I have been collecting their Handbook of the Mammals of
the World series, a landmark 9 volume series detailing every single mammal
known to science at the time of writing.
Lynx’s first epic work was the 16 volume Handbook to the
Birds of the World. Priced at about £120 per volume this was a little rich for
my blood and so I was delighted that this year they released a book entitled
All the Birds of the World. This mighty tome is not as hefty as one might as
imagine, given that it includes a colour plate drawing of every species known to
science. By focusing on the image of the bird and removing all written information
Lynx have managed to distil each bird to the essential information outlined by
Josep del Hoyo Calduch’s full works.
Each species is rendered in a beautiful illustration which
is accompanied by its approximate size, nomenclature, taxonomy, number of sub-species,
IUCN status and a simple map of its distribution. The genius part of the book
is the inclusion of a QR code for each species. This offloads a wealth of
images, sound clips and videos to the online resources of the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology that can be used to supplement the sparse text.
Lynx products excel in their presentation. Each page is a
work of art and scrupulously researched by experts. The paper is heavy duty and
close. The cover is hardback with a protective sturdy gloss dustjacket and with
a strong binding. You also get a large laminated bookmark with an explanation
of the information provided and a list of the country codes.
With images taking centre stage the book very much illustrates
the beauty and diversity of the avian world. The nuances of speciation are laid
out on each page and provide a powerful representation of Wallace and Darwin’s
principles of natural selection.
Lynx books are not the cheapest, but they are most definitely
of the highest quality. I am biased as a lover of books, but this volume is first
rate and a welcome addition to my slowly bending bookshelf.
All the Birds of the World can be purchased from Lynx Edicions
