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Field Guides & Natural History  Ornithology  Passerines

Robins and Chats

Field / Identification Guide Flora / Fauna Monograph
By: Peter Clement(Author), Chris Rose(Illustrator)
688 pages, 62 plates with colour illustrations; 600+ colour photos, 37 b/w illustrations, colour distribution maps
Publisher: Helm
NHBS
Both authoritative and sumptuous, Robins and Chats will be the standard reference for years to come.
Robins and Chats
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  • Robins and Chats ISBN: 9780713639636 Hardback Oct 2015 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 5 days
    £65.00
    #223143
Price: £65.00
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About this book

Robins and chats are a diverse group of birds comprising both highly colourful and visible species, such as the robin-chats of Africa, as well as some of the most skulking and elusive birds, such as the shortwings of Asia. Many species, like the well-known Nightingale, are renowned songsters, some are even familiar garden birds, but a good number are highly sought-after for their extreme rarity or simply because they are hard to see.

This authoritative handbook, part of the Helm Identification Guides series, looks in detail at the world's 175 species of robins and chats. This large group passerines was formerly considered to be part of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now usually treated as a separate family, Muscicapidae, together with the Old World flycatchers. The vast majority of species are Eurasian or African, with only a handful of species straying into the New World or Australasia. The Australian Robins, although superficially similar, have long been regarded as a separate family and are not included in this book.

Robins and Chats discusses the identification and habits of these birds on a species-by-species basis, bringing together the very latest research with accurate range maps, more than 600 colour photographs, and 62 superb colour plates that illustrate age and racial plumage differences. This authoritative and sumptuous book will be indispensable for all chat enthusiasts, and will surely remain the standard reference on the subject for many years to come.

Customer Reviews (1)

  • They used to be Thrushes ..... not any more!
    By Keith 4 Feb 2016 Written for Hardback
    This is the latest in the long-running series of Helm Identification Guides – and like the others it is an impressive and weighty tome. A previous Helm volume by Peter Clement on the Thrushes appeared in 2000. At that time it was thought that Robins and Chats were closely related to Thrushes, but improvements in DNA analysis and a more advanced approach to phylogeny means that we now have a much clearer understanding of how these birds relate to each other. So 15 years on it is now generally accepted that the Robins and Chats are in fact part of a large group called the Muscicapidae – the Old World Flycatchers. But just to add to the potential for confusion, none of the species in this book has the word “flycatcher” in its name because they are in a subfamily. Also I suspect that in a further 15 years our understanding of these family relationships will have advanced further. The one easy thing to know about taxonomic research is that there is no such thing as “the last word”! But who said that taxonomy was easy?!

    So this book takes 168 species that really are Robins and Chats, and adds in a further eight that really are not, but got left out when the Thrushes book was created. Also in this category are the four species of Cochoa and the similar-looking Black-breasted Fruithunter – all from Asia.

    The Robins and Chats are really great birds, most of which are not keen on being approached, and are among the most sought-after by world listers. Indeed some – such as the Akaklats and Alethes – are real skulkers. They range across a wide variety of habitats but most choose scrubby areas or woodland, with just the Forktails preferring to be next to water. They are found from ground level right up to the snowy peaks of the high Himalayas. As a group they are spread across the “Old World” with 67 breeding in Asia, 77 in Africa and the rest being shared with either of these continents and Europe. About half are migratory in a significant way.

    The introductory chapters discuss the family’s characteristics and there is much emphasis on taxonomy. A special chapter by the Swedish taxonomist Per Alström explains how species are linked together and shows how this aspect of ornithology has moved on a long way in a relatively short time.

    For many the highlight will be the 62 colour plates illustrating the family by the internationally renowned artist Chris Rose. These mostly picture the birds perched facing the same way, allowing for direct comparisons to be made. With the exception of the Wheatears (whose tail patterns are often diagnostic), these are not usually shown in flight. There are other line drawings in the main text, depicting specific plumage details.

    The species chapters following this cover everything you need to know – on identification, taxonomy, comparisons with similar species, voice, choice of habitat, behaviour, breeding, status and distribution movements, moult and measurements. These vary in length from about 2000 to 8000 words. There is a large colour distribution map for every species, clearly indicating both breeding and non-breeding areas, but leaving you to work out where the species might occur on passage. The latter is obvious in most cases. However, if you take a migrant such as the Northern Wheatear, the entire world population winters in Africa. That is truly incredible when you consider that the breeding range stretches from eastern Canada and Greenland, across the whole of northern Europe and Asia to Alaska. There is a lengthy text describing these movements, and while I’m sure there are still more questions than answers about this migration, some graphical indication of the routes thought to be taken would have been interesting.

    For me, a highlight of the book is the superb set of over 400 colour photographs illustrating all but one species – the Rubeho Akalat of a remote mountain area in central Tanzania. It was only described for science in 2004 and has proved to be camera-shy ever since! These really make the book for me – and every time I pick it up I start to think about planning a trip to somewhere new to find some of these birds. While that is only one way to assess a book, it has to be one of the better ways to decide whether it is worth buying!
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Biography

Peter Clement is a lifelong and well-travelled birder and tour leader with a particular interest in wheatears and other chats. He is the author of several books including Finches and Sparrows and Thrushes, both in the Helm Identification Guides series

Chris Rose is an acclaimed bird artist and illustrator. His work is highly sought after and he has exhibited widely. He illustrated Swallows and Martins, also in the Helm Identification Guides series, and has been working on the Robins and Chats plates for almost 20 years.

Field / Identification Guide Flora / Fauna Monograph
By: Peter Clement(Author), Chris Rose(Illustrator)
688 pages, 62 plates with colour illustrations; 600+ colour photos, 37 b/w illustrations, colour distribution maps
Publisher: Helm
NHBS
Both authoritative and sumptuous, Robins and Chats will be the standard reference for years to come.
Media reviews

"[...] Progress and changes in relationships and nomenclature will continue, but this book will stand as a mine of information for a very long time, especially for those captivated by this charismatic group of birds. It is beautifully produced and designed, and fully maintains the high standards set by its predecessors in the Helm Identification Guides series."
– Martin Woodcock, Bulletin of the African Bird Club, Volume 23(2)

"[...] The Helm Identification Guides are both authoritative and attractive, and this is one of the best so far – a book not just for the shelf, but for regular exploration to inform and inspire the next trip!"
– Andy Clements, BTO book reviews

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