Development of Ornithology and Ornithological Journals—A New Opening by the MDPI with the Birds Journal

Before I started to produce this Editorial article for the new ornithological open access journal, Birds, of the MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute), I read a fascinating book about the history of ornithology by Michael Walters [...]

History of ornithology in Malta

<p>History of ornithology in Malta <br />Joe Sultana, John J. Borg</p><p><br />BirdLife, Malta, 2015 <br />392 pages <br />ISBN 978-99957-818-6-6 <br />€ 49,99</p>

Birds of the Darwin Region

Birds of the Darwin Region is the first comprehensive treatment of the avifauna of Darwin, a city located in Australia's monsoon tropics, where seasons are defined by rainfall rather than by temperature. With its mangrove-lined bays and creeks, tidal mudflats, monsoon rainforests, savanna woodlands and freshwater lagoons, Darwin has retained all of its original habitats in near-pristine condition, and is home or host to 323 bird species. Unlike other Australian cities, it has no established exotic bird species. Following an introduction to the history of ornithology in the region and a detailed appraisal of its avifauna, species accounts describe the habitats, relative abundance, behaviour, ecology and breeding season of 258 regularly occurring species, based on over 500 fully referenced sources, and original observations by the authors. Distribution maps and charts of the seasonality of each species are presented, based on a dataset comprising almost 120,000 records, one-third of which were contributed by the authors. Stunning colour photographs adorn the accounts of most species, including some of the 65 species considered as vagrants to the region. This book is a must-read for professional ornithologists and amateur birders, and an indispensable reference for local biologists, teachers and students, and government and non-government environmental agencies, as well as other people who just like to watch birds.

The Ornithology of the Real Expedición Botánica a Nueva España (1787–1803): An Analysis of the Manuscripts of José Mariano Mociño

Until recently, a major gap has existed in our knowledge regarding Mexican bird information from the Real Expedición Botánica a Nueva España in the late 1700s. This expedition (1787–1803) was commanded by Martín de Sessé; the Mexican scientist José Mariano Mociño joined the group in 1790, but his ornithological findings were never published and have long been considered lost. However, study of the Sessé-Mociño ornithological results began in 1979 with the appearance of a small collection of original paintings, apparently from the expedition. Later, in 1997, unpublished manuscripts were discovered in the library of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid that included descriptions of many bird species, again apparently Sessé-Mociño material. These discoveries, covering an important portion of the overall ornithological results of the expedition, make possible a broader study of the Sessé-Mociño ornithology: a taxonomic list using modern nomenclature, an analysis of the correspondence between the paintings and the manuscripts, and conclusions regarding the provenance of those materials. Of a total of 83 paintings available, we were able to identify 78 to species, and 5 only to family. In the manuscripts, 290 species were treated, but for 27, the descriptions were fragmentary and insufficient for identification; of the remaining 263 species, we arrived at a species-level identification for 242, and identified the remainder to genus (19) or family (2). The recent discovery of these ornithological texts and paintings offers a unique view of the history of ornithology as well as of the environmental history of Mexico.

A recently discovered seventeenth century French encyclopaedia of ornithology

We describe the contents of an unpublished seventeenth century French encyclopaedia of ornithology by Jean-Baptiste Faultrier dated 1660, located in the library of The Earl of Derby at Knowsley Hall, England. The manuscript appears to have escaped the attention of ornithologists and historians and as a result has not previously been evaluated in terms of its contribution to the history of ornithology. The manuscript is based closely on Belon's (1555) encyclopaedia but contains descriptions of many more species or forms. A full evaluation of the ornithological significance of Faultrier's manuscript is needed.