Nightjars, Potoos, Frogmouths, Oilbird, and Owlet-nightjars of the World [Hardcover]

Basics: hardcover, 2010, 464pp; 580+ very good color photographs of all 135 species; 16 species shown only as museum specimens and only 15 shown in flight; limited text on identification, voice, habitat, and other natural history features; nice color range map tailored to each species with subspecies noted

If you've been looking for a good book to shed light on those notoriously hard-to-see nocturnal Caprimulgids, you'll be impressed with this book. The book's strength is its hundreds of quality photos that show all 135 species of nightjars, nighthawks, et al. As demonstrated by the pictures inside, this is a photo guide; however, what this book is not is an identification or a field guide. This larger format work (10.5 x 7.5 inches) is almost 1.5 inches thick and 2 pounds in weight, meaning it'll be most effectively used at your desk or armchair.

Each of the species is shown with 2-7 photographs. The majority of these photos are at least a half-page in size if not a full page. The lighting and colors are very good, too. This collection of high quality photographs is to be commended. No species suffers from being shown with only dim, grainy, or out of focus photos. There are many additional smaller photos shown for most species.

As for the selection of photos, two points stand out that should be mentioned. One, 16 of the species are represented by only museum skins. These birds are typically the rarer of species, newly described species or, those represented by single reports from many decades ago such as Vaurie's Nightjar (1929) and the Prigogine's Nightjar (1955). Newly recognized species such as Solomon's Nightjar and Todd's Nightjar are shown only as skins. What I can't explained is the not uncommon Tawny-collared Nightjar of Mexico which is shown by only four skins.

The second note about the selection of photos is only 15 out of the 135 are shown in flight or with the tail/wing exposed. All others birds are shown only as perched. Now, it is fair to point out that if these birds are seen at all in the field, this perched position is how they're likely to be encountered. For the birds that are known for being more active in daylight, such as the nighthawks, 7 of the 10 nighthawk species are shown with their wings open. One of those, the Plain-tailed, is shown only as a museum skin.

The text provided with each bird takes a secondary role with this photographic book. For many birds, the information is limited, if not even scant. The "Identification" section receives the most attention with 5-10 short lines. I would not really classify this material as identification, but rather as "description" due to its brevity and, too often, due to generalities (e.g., female lacks white markings in wings and tail; immature and juvenile are paler than adults.) At first, I was slightly disappointed with this ID material but, after considering the many species of nightjars and how very similar they appear, it would take some very detailed -- and extensive -- descriptions to do the job properly. I reminded myself this book is a photo guide and, considering only that, I recognized this is a very good book, filling a niche that cannot be found anywhere else.

The rest of the text provides a quick mention of potential confusing or similar species in the region and the briefest notes on habitat, breeding, range, and status. I found the notes on vocalizations to be a bit thin, often with a dozen or fewer words. Considering vocalizations can be one of the key, if not only, means of identifying these hidden birds, this particular section is relatively lacking. Again, to be fair, it should be pointed out that identification and vocalization material is presented in much greater depth in the author's earlier "Nightjars" book.

Perhaps it is wise to consider this newest photo guide as a compliment to the earlier text/plate publication.

Lastly, two other good points about this book are its updated taxonomy and its range maps. This book covers 135 species versus the earlier "Nightjars" book that discussed only 119 species. This newer book reveals 13 new species (e.g., Mexican and Eastern Whip-poor-will), provides recommended changes in family arrangement and with modifying the Genus name for many birds. Additional taxonomic notes are presented at the bottom on the page for many species.

The second praise regards the range maps. I like the attention given to tailoring the maps to each bird. These maps show political boundaries and rivers for greater geographic detail. These maps are also of a nice size and are shown in color.

No doubt, this is an impressive collection of 580+ photographs for a formidable group of birds to be captured on camera. I eagerly awaited this book's release when I first heard about it nearly 2 years ago. I found this book to be worth the wait. - (written by Jack at Avian Review / Avian Books, July 2010)

I've listed several related books below...
1) Nightjars: A Guide to Nightjars and Related Nightbirds by Cleere
2) A Sound Guide to Nightjars: CD by Cleere
3) Nightjars and their Allies: The Caprimulgiformes (Bird Families of the World) by Holyoak
4) Systematic of Smaller Asian Night Birds Based on Voice by Marshall
5) Birds by Night by Martin

› Go to Amazon.com to see the review  4.0 out of 5 stars