Hi Tweeters,

I'm not sure if anyone has yet posted about a fairly new publication entitled "Rare Birds Yearbook 2008," but if not, I think that it is worth mentioning. It is associated with BirdLife International. The book provides a brief synopsis of 189 critically endangered bird species (a few of which are probably extinct, but one can always hope). Where possible, they also provide excellent photos. The conservation and status for each species is very up to date, which is not always the case in publications about rare species. In addition to the species discussions, the first 80 or so pages also touches on eclectic topics related to bird conservation.

While it can be depressing to read about one endangered species after another, there are some bright spots as well, in which the population of a species on the brink is now increasing or other species that were thought to be extinct but have been recently rediscovered. It also provided me with some updates about a few species of which I had recently read. For example, In the final chapter of Scott Weidensaul's "The Ghost with Trembling Wings," he describes his unsuccessful search for the Cone-billed Tanager in Brazil, a bird which was only known from the type specimen collected in 1938. Looking it up in the Yearbook, I see that it has since been rediscovered in 2003.

Although I have been interested in conservation work and endangered species protection since I was a child and have done a lot of volunteer work with both endangered plants and animals, I have only thus far seen 1 of the 189 species listed in this book (the Maui Parrotbill). It makes we want to see more, if it can be done without impacting them in a negative manner.

I ordered the book directly from the publishers website for ₤18.95 of which ₤4 goes toward conservation (when I checked last month with Amazon, the going price was $90.00). The URL is rarebirdsyearbook.com. They also plan to publish a yearly update.

Good birding,

Lonnie Somer
Olympia, WA
wheelermombi at comcast.net