This concept has gone through various versions over the years as I
learned more about some of the world's great birds, and as I refined my
thinking on the topic. I created a loose-leaf notebook before my first
world birding trip (to Colombia in 1975) with my initial choices, each
one represented with a page that included a photo of some artwork and hand-written
details and a map. [I couldn't find a picture of Hose's (Magnificent Green)
Broadbill, so I tried painting my own.] I considered this my "most wanted
world birds" list, and as I saw early choices (e.g., Andean Cock-of-the-Rock)
they dropped off the list and new selections were added. Since it was a
loose-leaf notebook, the choices could be rearranged as my thoughts changed
over the years.
In the next major incarnation of the list, placed here on my web site
in 1999, whether or not I'd personally seen a bird became irrelevant (except
to me!) in evaluating the "best birds" of the world. Otherwise my general
concept remained similar but I added a layer of "requirements" that forced
diversity across the glove, limiting myself to only 10 "best birds" each
from Asia and the Neotropics, 7 each from Africa & Australasia &
the Oceanic Island (Madagascar etc.), 3 each from the Nearctic & the
Western Palearctic, 2 pelagics in the Ocean realm, and 1 in Antarctica.
But forcing myself to include a certain number of North American or European
species, instead of some tropical birds that capture my imagination more,
eventually became tiresome. These restrictions have been abandoned.
For this current version, I assigned points between 0-5 in five separate
categories: (1) how impressive, (2) how unique, (3) how rare,
(4) how hard to find and (5) special circumstances, and tallied
the points on a spreadsheet. Here's a bit more on the system:
-
Impressive? Big powerful raptors, huge
albatrosses and cranes, and gorgeous tropical birds are "more impressive"
to me than cisticolas or Cookilaria petrels (and I love cisticolas
and have done research on the small Pterodromas).
-
Unique? The Kagu and Shoebill are unique
birds and rate "5" in that category. Contrast that with the 7 blue cotingas
the genus Cotinga. Each is an absolutely stunning bird but none
is "unique" with six close relatives looking equally beautiful. When it
narrows down to just two or three similar birds, however, I begin to think
of them as almost unique. To facilitate the list and create diversity,
I permitted myself the choice of "any" of three closely-related species
when (a) as a group they are indeed unique, (b) together the sibling species
form a superspecies in a similar geographic region, and (c) each of the
three species are scarce and hard to see. You will thus find the choices
any
Kiwi, any Cassowary, and any Crowned-Pigeon on my list;
in a way this makes the project the "top 56" birds, but I can live with
that. However, when there are only two such similar species, each is entitled
to a separate place on the list when they individually score high enough
in the other categories. Such pairs included are both rockfowl, both cock-of-the-rocks,
and both huge white cranes.
-
Rare? Almost all birdwatchers enjoy
rare birds; it is a special feeling to be in the presence of something
rare. I have often referred to BirdLife International's (2000) Threatened
Birds of the World for population estimates. In general, the rarer
a bird is the more it is desired. Note, however, that I have not included
in my consideration those species teetering on the edge of extinction where
a currently extant population is not proven (e.g., Ivory-billed Woodpecker,
Ou, Night Parrot, White-eyed River-Martin).
-
Hard to find? This is not the same
thing as "rare." The Seychelles Magpie-Robin Copsychus sechellarum
was definitely rare when I saw it -- 23 birds left in the world -- but
it was not hard to find. Assuming you have money, you can fly to the Seychelles
easily and no political turmoil prevents that; you can then fly to Frégate
I. in a small plane, land and see the magpie-robin within a short level
10 minute walk. In contrast, while the Kakapo currently exists on only
a couple tiny islets (just as does the magpie-robin), you can't get there.
They are entirely off-limits to non-researchers and even if you volunteered
months of your time, there is no guarantee you'd be allowed to see a wild
one. No amount of time or money will guarantee you a look at a Congo Peafowl.
-
Special circumstance? Almost any bird
considered for the list is special; this category is my own much more subjective
category and may include the bird's history. The Short-tailed Albatross
was almost entirely wiped out a half-century ago; when I began birding
it was considered impossible to see. So when I did see one, it was extra
special for me. The California Condors became extinct the wild in 1987
when the last six were captured for captive breeding, but now two of those
original birds are flying again, and others are attempting to nest. The
Mauritius Kestrel went through an evolutionary bottleneck when only a lone
breeding pair remained in 1974, and they have recovered. I've always wanted
to see these birds. In addition, birds like Great Argus and Long-tailed
Ground-Roller were considered near mythical when I started birding the
world about 1975, and the search for them has been a wonderful quest. This
category is personal and elevates a few birds to the list over some equally
qualified candidates that don't mean as much to me.
 Let
me explain how my system works with two examples. The Palmchat Dulus
dominicus of Hispaniola is generally assigned to its own monotypic
family; it is thus "unique" in some sense and might score at 3 or 4 in
that category. But it is neither "impressive" nor "rare," and it is about
the easiest native bird to see in the Dominican Republic. You just have
to get there. So the points in those categories might be 0, 0, and 1. Without
any special personal connection or history, it will total out at about
4 or 5 points. Or consider my personal web moniker, the Swallow-tailed
Gull Creagrus furcatus (right) of the Galapagos Is., and
wintering in the Peru Current. It is "unique" in its family as a night-feeding
gull but it still is just a gull (give it 2 points). It is rather scarce
(3 points) but surely gulls cannot rate too high as "impressive" (maybe
3 max) and it is easy to see if you get to the Galapagos or off coastal
Peru, in season (say 2 points). So it might max out at about 10 "objective"
points. Even its vagrancy to Monterey Bay, and my special affection for
it, can't kick it up enough to make my "top 50," even though it and Ross's
Gull Rhodostethia rosea might be the world's "best" gulls.
I also wanted diversity around the globe, and across the bird families.
There are many tropical birds included but also some long-distance migrants,
some species of the cold north, and one from deepest Antarctica. Several
birds have ranges across several continents or oceans, but my choices essentially
fall as 14 in Asia, 11 in the Neotropics (Central & South America),
7 each in Africa & Australasia, 5 in the Pacific and one in the Indian
Ocean, 5 in North America/Caribbean, and 1 in Antarctica. They include
4 birds-of-paradise, 4 pheasants, 3 raptors (hawks, falcons, owls), 3 parrots,
3 cotingas, 2 seabirds (inc. penguins), 2 broadbills, 2 pittas, 2 tanagers,
2 cranes, 2 rockfowl, a condor, a bustard, a wader, a trogon, a barbet,
a hummingbird, a swallow, and 4 species assigned to their own monotypic
families. Three of the choices are in the "any of 3 sibling species" category:
any cassowary, any kiwi, any crowned-pigeon.
|
In the descriptive text on the linked pages, I mention about 30 other species
that could easily be on someone's "top 50" list using the criteria described
here. Most of them would received totals of 12 or 13 points from me, right
at my cut-off line [e.g., my 50th choice received 13 points]. A fine selection
of other great birds are also right on the cusp. The Diademed Sandpiper-Plover
Phegornis
mitchelli (left) of high elevation bogs from s. Peru to Chile,
nominated by several world birders, scored 12 on my spreadsheet. Also scoring
12-13 points were several species from previous versions of my list: Northern
Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita, Great Bustard Otis tarda, Slender-billed
Curlew Numenius tenuirostris, Standard-winged Nightjar Macrodipteryx
longipennis, Calfbird Perissocephalus tricolor, Helmeted Vanga
Euryceros
prevostii, and Arfak Astrapia
Astrapia nigra. In the same category
are such wonderful birds as Pel's Fishing Owl Scotopelia peli, Shovel-billed
Kingfisher Clytoceyx rex, Bornean Bristlehead Pityriasis gymnocephala,
and Akohekohe (Crested Honeycreeper) Palmeria dolei.
Update: In Nov 2003, I made slight
revisions to choices 41-50; dropping two and adding two, and somewhat reording
these last picks. As noted above, a lot of other birds are also in the
running for the "Top 50" and these final choices are somewhat agonizing....
|
| Links to the "Top 50" birds:
If you are impatient or have a slow dial-up, you can skip all my pretty
pictures and detailed reasons, and go to "just the list, thanks" by clicking
this link:
For more fun, read what others thought about these picks:
CREDITS:
All the artworks are copyrighted by the artist (as detailed
below) and are either used with permission or are posted here in reliance
on the non-commercial "fair use" doctrine; all rights are reserved by the
artist
Arthur Singer painted the King of Saxony Bird of Paradise;
from Birds of the World (1961) by Austin & Singer (Golden Press)
Walter Weber painted the Ivory-billed Woodpecker; from National Geographic's
Song
and Garden Birds (1964)
All the photographs are copyrighted by the photographer (as detailed
below) and are used with permission; all rights are reserved to the photographer
Chris Carpenter photographed the Diademed Sandpiper-Plover
(Chile)
Don Roberson photographed the Seychelles Brush-Warbler (Seychelles)
and Swallow-tailed Gull (off Peru)
All other credits are on the individual linked pages, and I am grateful
to the photographers and artists who made this project possible. I am also
indebted to the many world birders who shared their thoughts on this topic,
including Rita Carratello, S.F. Bailey, Victor Emanuel, Armas Hill, Jon
Hornbuckle, Stuart Keith, Jon King, Harold Lebo, Murray Lord, Blake Matheson,
Phil Rostron, Dan Singer, and Arnold Small.
Finally, should you wish to see the "old" version of this list that
was on my website from 1999-April 2002, click HERE
TOP
TO HOME PAGE
TO LIST OF BIRD
FAMILIES OF THE WORLD
|
The
pages linked to this introduction show my choices for the "50
best birds in the world," an idea with which I have been playing
for over 25 years. This is my third major version of the list. The concept
is to weigh and balance how impressive, how unique, how rare,
and how hard to find each extant bird is, consider any special
circumstances surrounding that species (e.g., almost went extinct or
a history of mystery), and ensure a diverse selection across continents
and oceans, and throughout the spectrum of bird families. My original "top
50" list in 1975, for example, included 10 pheasants and 4 curassows. Although
all were wonderful birds, that was just "too many chickens" and the current
choices are limited to 4 pheasants and one curassow. By the same token,
this is not a list of the "rarest birds" on earth. If it were, species
like Seychelles Brush-Warbler
Acrocephalus sechellensis (right;
once down to <50 birds) or Raso Lark
Alauda razae (only 20 pairs
on Cape Verde Is. some years), would have been considered. It would be
great to see such rarities but there are dozens of Acrocephalus
warblers and several Alauda larks in the world, many of which are
very similar and none of which are very impressive compared to, say, a
Harpy Eagle or Resplendent Quetzal. I'd love to see all the world's birds
but if I could only have one view of either a Harpy Eagle or a Raso Lark,
well, I'll chose the eagle any day. That is the sort of analysis that went
into my choices. Although I am very keen on "little brown jobs," there
are no brush-warblers, larks, cisticolas or Empidonax flycatchers
in my "top 50" birds.
