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The Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB) is one of the world's major ornithological projects. This seven volume set, realises the vision to publish a comprehensive summary of our knowledge of all the known bird species that have been recorded in Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica.

HANZAB is arguably the most important scientific natural history publication ever produced in Australia. It draws together, analyses and synthesizes our knowledge of the abundance, habitat and behaviour of all the birds of the region. As such it is the most comprehensive and reliable source of information on birds currently available for anyone working towards the conservation of this environment.

The contents of each volume is as follows (the volumes are also available separately):
Volume 1: Ratites to Ducks
Volume 2: Raptors to Lapwings
Volume 3: Snipe to Pigeons
Volume 4: Parrots to Dollarbird
Volume 5: Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats
Volume 6: Pardalotes to Shrike-thrushes
Volume 7: Boatbill to Starlings


HANZAB is of great value to a wide readership and is used by research establishments, universities, government departments, conservationists, environmental consultancies, ornithologists and amateur naturalists. The last comprehensive handbooks for Australia and New Zealand were Gregory Mathews' Birds of Australia, published between 1912 and 1927, and W.R.B. Oliver's New Zealand Birds, last published in 1955. HANZAB incorporates the enormous amount of scientific research done since Mathews' and Oliver's books were published, and widens the regional scope to include Antarctica, the subantarctic islands, and Christmas, Cocos-Keeling, Lord Howe, Norfolk, Chatham and Kermadec Islands.

The species-by-species accounts provide a complete reference to all aspects of the ecology and behaviour of each bird, as well as full descriptions of their plumages and field identification characters. The paintings provide a unique, beautiful and scientifically accurate record of the full range of each species' plumages. Comprehensive lists of references with the species accounts and the results of new research make HANZAB an indispensable research tool.