Thrushes

Book excerpt: This book is devoted to the 162 species of thrush, one of the most widespread and well-known families of birds in the world. This is the first book for almost a century solely devoted to thrushes, one of the most widespread and well-known bird families. It is a comprehensive treatment of the world's 162 species of true thrush and includes many of the most familiar garden species, as well as some of the rarest, most elusive and least known of all birds. This family also includes, as may be expected, some of the bird world's most accomplished songsters. Thrushes contains detailed information on identification and distribution, with a full description of each species, including reference to all recognised races, with emphasis given to vocalisations, which are often of key importance in determining speciation. Other sections deal with habitat and range, movements (many species are long-distance migrants), and breeding behaviour. For the first time, all species in the family Turdidae are illustrated in full colour, with a series of supplementary line drawings depicting particular aspects of shape or plumage. The 60 colour plates comprise approximately 540 images, illustrating adults, immatures, and most of the distinctive races. The plates are accompanied by colour maps showing the breeding and wintering range for each species. Thrushes is a wonderful addition to the award-winning Helm Identification Guide series, and will surely become the standard reference work to these birds.