Cuckoos of the World

Cuckoos of the World is the very attractive latest addition to the Helm Identification Guides series. The book covers all 144 species of the cuckoo family, ranging from the iconic Common Cuckoo to relative obscurities such as the couas of Madagascar. Like other books in the series, the book includes plates of paintings illustrating all major plumages and detailed species accounts augmented by photographs and range maps. Overall, the paintings, text, photos and maps are of very high quality and provide an authoritative, easily accessible and comprehensive compendium of information on all aspects of cuckoo biology. The photos, in particular, provide an excellent resource as well as being very attractive in their own right. It is clear that exhaustive research has gone into the book – the text is detailed, accurate and generally very well written. Such is the pace of technological advancement, however, that our understanding of the migration of at least the British population of the Common Cuckoo has already been revolutionised since this book was written. Details of the timings, routes and destinations of Cuckoo migration can be found at www.bto.org/cuckoos. 

Book reviewed by Chris Hewson