Tony Clarke - A Field Guide to the Birds of the Atlantic Islands

First published in 2006, by Christopher Helm, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Reprinted in 2010, 2014

Copyright 2006 text by Tony Clarke

Copyright 2006 illustrations by Chris Orgill and Tony Disley

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ISBN: 978-0-7136-6023-4 (PB)
ISBN: 978-1-4729-8288-9 (eBook)

The publishers and author would like to thank the following for permission to use their photographs: Gaspar Avila Photography, (top).

Front cover: Laurel Pigeon

Back cover (in descending order): Canary Islands Chat, Zinos Petrel, Azores Bullfinch, Raso Lark

Title page: Zinos Petrel (top), Feas Petrel (bottom)

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C ONTENTS

Dedicated to the memory of Luis Monteiro and Alec Zino, two men who furthered the ornithological knowledge of the region immensely. Their loss has left a great void in the Azores and Madeira respectively, but their work will forever be their legacy in the region.

Also dedicated to the memory of Brian Johnson, with whom I spent many hours in the field on the Canary Islands; he was a personal friend and will be greatly missed.

P REFACE

T HE IDEA FOR THIS GUIDE first stirred in my mind in 1988 when I visited the Canary Islands for the first time. My initial stay on Tenerife quickly made me aware that the available literature in English was somewhat limited and rather outdated. I was surprised, to say the least, that the first species of pipit I recorded on the island was actually Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinusand not the near-endemic Berthelots Pipit Anthus berthelotiias one would have expected. After my visit I was unable to find a single reference to Red-throated Pipit having occurred in the Canary Islands. What was even more amazing was that I had seen a group of about fifteen individuals. Obviously, a publication updating the status of all species within the Canary Islands was clearly needed to assist the visiting birdwatcher. However, it was not until a few years later, when I was approached by the publishers, that the idea came to fruition and work began in earnest.

It was decided from the beginning that a wider region should be covered, and it was agreed to base the book on the pioneering four-volume work Birds of the Atlantic Islandsby David Bannerman, which was published between 1963 and 1968. This meant that the book would include not only the Canary Islands but the Azores, Madeira and the Cape Verde islands as well. Since the start of work on this guide, the number of observers visiting the various archipelagos has increased dramatically, particularly in the Azores and Cape Verde, both of which were severely underwatched in the past.