The World’s Rarest Birds

A comprehensive review of the threat status of every bird species is undertaken every four years by Birdlife International, who are the Red List authority for the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The outcome of the most recent review was published in May 2012 and from this assessment has come the publication of this new large-format glossy book which is incredibly comprehensive.

Erik Hirschfield and Andy Swash have had the challenge of producing the book detailing the 650 species – 197 critically endangered species and 389 categorised as endangered, with another four now only existing in captivity. In...