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THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol. 123, No. 1, March 2011 
human history, and conservation concerns. Sur¬ 
prisingly, the controversial issue of hunting 
migratory shorebirds—which has become highly 
publicized in recent years—is relegated to a single 
paragraph. Five maps illustrate the geographical 
position of Barbados, its elevation and bathymetry, 
rainfall, human population density, and land use. 
The introductory sections on the island’s 
natural history are followed by 33 pages of 
detailed discussions on the avifauna of Barbados. 
The obligatory sections on ornithological history 
are followed by a glossary of terms used in the 
book, highlighted by an informative discussion of 
the term “vagrancy.” The composition of the 
avifauna is extensively analyzed and augmented 
by nine tables. The authors make extensive 
comparisons between the avifaunas of Barbados, 
St. Lucia, and the Cayman Islands. However, I 
think comparisons with nearby Grenada, Trinidad, 
and Tobago would have been more relevant and 
interesting. A fascinating panoply of subjects are 
discussed, including vicariance, dispersal, geo¬ 
graphic origins, historical changes (including 
extinctions and introductions), vagrancy, ende¬ 
mism, molecular insights on phylogenetic rela¬ 
tionships, migration (including radar and mist-net 
studies), and fossil birds. The authors note the 
potential role of Barbados as a gateway for 
Palearctic species colonizing the Western Hemi¬ 
sphere. In 1994 the hemisphere’s first breeding 
population of Little Egret ( Egretta garzetta ) 
became established in Barbados and the authors 
suggest that increasing numbers of Grey Heron 
(Ardea cinerea ) and Western Reef Heron (E. 
gularis) arriving in Barbados may soon colonize 
Barbados or nearby regions. A research agenda 
provides a long list of potential ornithological 
projects awaiting researchers. 
The introductory appetizers are followed by the 
main course: an annotated account for each of 261 
species of birds whose occurrence on Barbados is 
considered to be adequately documented-plus an 
additional two species in a “Note added in proof” 
on page 75. Each species account includes sections 
succinctly describing its status in the “World,” 
“West Indies,” and “Barbados,” respectively, 
plus a “Comments” section. A “Breeding” sec¬ 
tion summarizes breeding for resident species and 
the museum acronym is given in a “Specimens” 
section for any species represented by one or more 
specimens. Species of dubious occurrence in 
Barbados are also discussed. 
The English names of birds follow the British 
spelling conventions of F. Gill and M. Wright (2006, 
Birds of the world: recommended English names, 
Princeton University Press), but with several 
exceptions (Appendix 20). Perhaps unsurprising, 
given the instability of avian taxonomy, the authors 
have not followed the current species-level taxon¬ 
omy of the American Ornithologists’ Union’s 
(AOU) North American Classification Committee 
and South American Classification Committee. 
Instead, several taxa recognized as subspecies by 
the AOU are treated as distinct species, including the 
North American (Anas carolinensis) and Eurasian 
(A. crecca) forms of Green-winged Teal, dark and 
white fonns of Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias ). 
eastern and western forms of Willet ( Tringa 
semipalmata ), North American and Eurasian forms 
of Whimbrel ( Numenius phaeopus) and Black Tern 
(Chlidonias niger ), and North American ( Dendroica 
aestiva) and West Indian (Mangrove [D. petechia ]) 
forms of Yellow Warbler. Each of these forms has 
been recorded in Barbados, thus elevating the 
number of species recorded on the island. The 
authors appear to be hedging their bets that these 
forms will all eventually be formally split into 
separate species by the relatively conservative AOU. 
The center of the book includes 40 color plates 
illustrating maps and habitats, and another 38 
color plates illustrate birds, including many 
excellent documentary photos of vagrants. The 
back of the book provides 24 appendices, 
including the number of specimens in each of 12 
museums for 112 species (Appendix 22), recovery 
data for 163 birds of 23 species banded in nine 
other countries (Appendix 23), and a gazetteer of 
localities (Appendix 24). A lengthy list of 
references is followed by separate indices of 
scientific and English bird names. 
The book is an admirable compilation of 
information on the birds of Barbados, and sets a 
high standard that will be difficult to eclipse. The 
authors deserve accolades for their careful schol¬ 
arship. However, I was frustrated with a few 
features of the book’s organization. More than six 
pages near the beginning of the book are devoted 
to summarizing 12 tables, five figures, and 78 
plates, but no page numbers are given. This was 
unfortunate because the tables are not numbered 
sequentially and do not always appear near where 
they are first cited, which makes them difficult to 
locate. For example. Table 2 appears on page 9 
but is not cited until page 31, and Table 12 is cited 
on page 27 but does not appear until page 74. I 
could not find any obvious errors in spelling, 
