BOU CHECKLIST REVIEWS
 The Birds of Morocco
by Michel Thévenot, Rae Vernon c and Patrick Bergier. 2003.
BOU. 594 pages, two 2 coloured maps and 74 colour photographs.
Hardback, £45.00.
Readers unfamiliar with the BOU’s series of checklists may not
visualise the scope of this outstanding work. It is as detailed, thorough,
and authoritative as any ‘Birds of’ volume (of any county or country)
so far produced. Morocco is an amazing and exciting country, as beautiful
and diverse in its habitats, and therefore in its avifauna, as any area in
the Western Palearctic. In fact, even in these days of long- distance
travel, many birders still regard it as the most exotic of destinations.
It has long deserved a single volume devoted to its birds. This book does
it justice and has been worth the wait.
Up to 1960, information on the birds of Morocco was summarised by Heirn
de Balsac & Mayand in their Les Oiseaux du Noord-Ouest de l'Afrique
(1962) but, since then, there has been no comprehensive checklist
published - although Etchecopar & HUe's Les Oiseaux du Nord de
l'Afrique (1964, English version 1967) and Heinzel, Fitter &
Parslow's Birds of Britain, Europe, North Africa & the
Middle East (1972) focused the attention of many European
birdwatchers, an increasing number of whom have been visiting the country
for the past 30 years - including the present reviewer. During all this
time, a small group of ornithologists (including Michel Thévenot and
Patrick Bergier) has worked in Morocco, published a number of papers and
annual reports, and painstakingly gathered all the available (published
and unpublished) data on Morocco birds up to the end of 1999. Their
diligence is quite remarkable and it is greatly to their credit that they
have included not only accepted records, but details of rejected species,
possible accidental visitors, and unsuccessfully (or not yet established)
introduced species. The result of their labours is this invaluable
publication which will certainly provide the most reliable of databases
for future workers.
The species accounts in the systematic list, whose 416 pages form the
bulk of the book, are a model of clarity and comprehensiveness, beginning
with a short sentence summarising the species’ status and abundance in
Morocco and, where applicable, the names of races or subspecies and
highlighting future taxonomic problems. Also itemised are breeding details
(distribution, habitat and nesting data), movements and migration, winter
distribution and ringing recoveries. Helpful appendices cover a summary of
the status of bird species in Morocco, a list of omitted species, ringing
and recoveries, and a gazetteer listing all the localities and
geographical features which are mentioned in the text.
Introductory chapters deal with the history of Moroccan ornithology,
geology, climate, flora and vegetation, geographical divisions and
habitats, breeding birds, migration and movement, endemism,
biogeographical affinities of the Moroccan avifauna, changes in status,
and conservation. The 52 scenic and 22 bird photographs give as
representative a selection as one could wish of the country and its
specialities; colour maps clearly show the geology and habitats; five
figures in the text show the geographical position of Morocco in the
context of the Mediterranean Basin and northwest Africa, the topography,
bioclimatic zones, geographical divisions and subdivisions, and the most
important bird localities; and 16 tables cover everything from the total
nubmer of endemic subspecies in Morocco only and in the Maghreb to the
distribution of the main tree species. There are no line drawings of birds
enlivening the text. No matter. The words need no such icing – and Dave
Nurney’s cover painting of Moussier’s Redstart, that most attractive
of northwest African endemics, says it all.
In short, all three authors are to be congratulations on the successful
conclusion of three decades of research into published information and
private notebooks which has produced an invaluable and fascinating
reference work for all Morocco buffs and the definitive database for
future ornithologists.
Bryan Bland
Birding World 16: 483
Published with permission of Birding World
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