Sunbirds of the World: Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Spiderhunters and Sugarbirds, Second Edition

by Clive F. Mann, Robert A. Cheke, Richard Allen (Artist)

Overview

'This is a gorgeous book about some of the world's most gorgeous birds.' JARED DIAMOND

Sunbirds are some of the most striking of all bird families; their dazzling iridescent plumage and long curved bills are conspicuous when the birds visit garden flowers on sunny days to feed on nectar. Some species - especially the females - are duller in appearance and harder to spot, feeding mostly on insects high up in forest canopies. Spiderhunters, as their name suggests, feed extensively on spiders, while sunbirds' other close relatives, the flowerpeckers, are especially partial to mistletoe berries.

This new edition has been fully revised and updated to reflect the many developments that have occurred in sunbird taxonomy, as well as the new research that has been published on their biology. It now covers all 218 currently recognised species, providing details of key identification features, voice, habitat, distribution, conservation status, movements, food and behaviour. New colour plates by award-winning artist Richard Allen have been added, and hundreds of high-quality colour photographs beautifully capture both sexes of every species. Maps for each of the subspecies depict geographical distributions for the first time.

This beautiful book remains the definitive guide to the sunbirds, flowerpeckers, spiderhunters and sugarbirds of the world, and is essential reading for researchers, birders and conservationists alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472937438
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	08/12/2025
Series:	Helm Identification Guides
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	608
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.45(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

The late Clive F. Mann (1942–2022) taught biology in schools in Africa, South-east Asia and England. During the course of extensive fieldwork carried out during long sojourns in the tropics, he studied the population dynamics, breeding cycles, zoogeography and migration of birds, and the subject of his PhD was the taxonomy of passerines. Clive was a Fellow of the Linnean Society and a member of the British Ornithologists' Union, and he served for many years on the Committee of the British Ornithologists' Club, becoming its chairman from 2001 to 2005. He was also a trustee of the Trust for Avian Systematics (previously the Trust for Oriental Ornithology) for more than 20 years. He wrote numerous papers in scientific journals, The Birds of Borneo BOU Checklist and was a co-author of the Helm Identification Guide: Cuckoos of the World.

Robert A. Cheke is Professor of Tropical Zoology at the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich. Before university, he qualified as a grade A bird ringer and worked as a field assistant at the British Trust for Ornithology. After graduating with a PhD in zoology at the University of Leeds, he held various posts in academia before becoming employed at the Centre for Overseas Pest Research (then part of the Ministry for Overseas Development). Robert's work has frequently taken him to sub-Saharan Africa, where he has been able to follow his passion for sunbirds. He is the co-author of The Birds of Togo (1996), has edited or co-edited six further books and published more than 500 scientific papers. Robert was awarded a DSc by the University of Greenwich for his extensive research work in 2021.

Richard Allen won the British Birds Bird Illustrator of the Year award in 1993, and since then his work has appeared in various books and journals including Sunbirds, Cuckoos of the World and Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds. He lives on the Essex coast and often escapes the studio to sketch the waders and wildfowl that throng the local estuaries. Richard was elected to the Society of Wildlife Artists in 2016 and he won the Birdwatch and Swarovski Optik Artist of the Year award in 2023.

Table of Contents

Systematic List

Preface to the second edition

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Style and Layout of the Species Accounts

Topography

Morphology

Relationships and Taxonomy

Behaviour

Breeding

Distribution and Habitat

Parasites

Mortality and Predators

Physiology

Migration and other Movements

Economic Importance

Conservation

Colour Plates

Systematic Section

References

Index

Editorial Reviews

This is a gorgeous book about some of the world's most gorgeous birds: sunbirds and their allies. They are often compared to jewels because of their small size and bright or iridescent colors. As striking as their appearances are their behaviors – flowerpeckers skin mistletoe berries as neatly as waiters in Michelin 3-star restaurants peel fruit. Read this updated volume, enjoy its photos and maps and text, and then go see these jewels for yourself!” —Jared Diamond

From the Publisher