Steve Madge and Phil McGowan. 2002. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, and Oxford. 488 pp., 72 color plates, 245 color maps, and 2 text figures. ISBN 0-691-08908-6. Cloth, $49.50.— Pheasants, Partridges, and Grouse is a comprehensive “guide to Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guinea Fowl, Buttonquails, and Sandgrouse of the world.” This is a handsome book that is very well organized and easy to use. It begins with a systematic list of species organized by family and genus with both common and specific names presented, although neither alphabetically. However, the list makes finding the proper color plate or depiction for any species simple.
The introduction is short (one and a half pages) but makes several important points. The authors provide a brief introduction to “Game Birds,” then discuss the state of our knowledge about some of the least and most studied species. They also include their reasoning for including some groups while excluding others. The fact that a new genus of partridge was formally described just three years ago tells how little is known about a large percentage of the species in that group. The threat of increasing intensification of agriculture, misuse of fire, lack of use of fire, and deforestation are significant conservation issues for more than 50% of the species in this book! As members of a professional group that is developing a regional plan to reverse the 30-year decline of Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), we are awed by the conservation needs that the authors present for this group of birds. Hopefully, their call for additional fieldwork by professionals and amateurs will be answered. We wish the authors had provided detailed personal accounts of their own successes and struggles with conservation around the world.
After a few pages discussing how the book is organized are the two main sections of the book, which include color plates, range maps, and individual species accounts. The 72 color plates, filled with up to 26 illustrations, are not only beautifully executed, but they also demonstrate main identification features. When necessary the plates include in-flight depictions. Many species are shown in multiple color phases that include the main and extreme range-wide variation in addition to their adult and juvenal plumages. For instance, the male Blood Pheasant (Ithaginis cruentus) is shown in green-winged, drab green-winged, crimson, and red-winged races. The attention to detail shows as the artists depict juvenal morphology as well as plumage. That creates a guise of being a field guide, but in fact the book is really a more important desk reference—unless of course someone is a real connoisseur of gamebirds in the wild and wants to carry this along with field guides.
There are 252 species accounts that provide a wealth of information on the systematics of each genus and the identification, description, geographical variation, habitat, voice, habits, breeding behavior, distribution, and conservation status of each species based on Birdlife International (2000) categories. Unlike many guides that attempt to cover a large number of species from around the globe, the accounts of species and their habits are authoritatively written, stemming from field experience of the authors or the acknowledged experts, rather than from citations. That is where the book really excels in our opinion. Habits of the birds are interesting reading with great emphasis on behavior of the bird when flushed or spotted. Typically, the authors provide accounts of how birds escape detection, and readers get a sense of their quest to locate those birds when time is of the essence. Paragraphs on status and conservation of each species remind us of how intricately woven these magnificent birds are with human culture and how tenuously their fates hang on human land use. The authors have provided over 500 citations, making this guide an invaluable resource for anyone interested in further reading.
As a provincial quibble, the North American species section seems dated and “textbook” rather than from personal experience. For instance, it has been known since the early 1990s that Northern Bobwhites are not monogamous. Comments about bobwhites nesting “under fence posts” and male Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) gobbling “incessantly during the breeding season with little time to eat or roost” seem quaint rather than scientific. Important literature (within the last 10 to 20 years) for those species is not cited. That also seems to be the case with some of the other New World quail and appears to reflect a bit of Old World bias of the authors. Overall, this is a minor point, because the real value of the book is its detailed information on species that are in dire need of conservation efforts. We do appreciate the authors’ point that lessons learned from years of research on management and conservation of economically important species should be helpful for guiding some conservation of less charismatic threatened galliforms around the world.
In summary, Madge and McGowan have brought together a timely and much-needed book of information on a highly threatened group of birds. The book is not only carefully and beautifully illustrated, but more importantly, the authors make clear the urgent need for research and conservation efforts for these birds. The gaps in our knowledge, even basic biology, of many species are daunting, especially when paired with details of continued habitat loss. This book is an important addition to the libraries of avid birders, biologists, scientists, and conservationists.
