The Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International.
More than 200 renowned specialists and 35 illustrators (including Toni Llobet, Hilary Burn, Chris Rose and H. Douglas Pratt) from more than 40 countries have contributed to the project up to now, as well as 834 photographers from all over the world.
[2] Individual volumes are large, measuring 32 by 25 centimetres (12.6 by 9.8 in), and weighing between 4 and 4.6 kilograms (8.8 and 10.1 lb); it has been commented in a review that "fork-lift truck book" would be a more appropriate title.
It is a free-access, but not free-licensed, on-line audiovisual library[3] of the world's birds with the aim of posting videos, photos and sound recordings showing a variety of biological aspects (e.g. subspecies, plumages, feeding, breeding, etc.)
Since its launch, the taxonomy has been thoroughly revised and updated twice (once for non-passerines and once for passerines), following the publication of the two volumes of the HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World.
Unlike subsequent volumes, it does not have an introductory essay; instead, it has a 38-page overview by Eduardo de Juana of the biology of birds and a foreword welcoming the HBW project, by Christoph Imboden.
It has an introductory essay "The Ecology and Impact of Non-Indigenous Birds" by Daniel Sol, Tim Blackburn, Phillip Cassey, Richard Duncan and Jordi Clavell.
It has an introductory essay "Ecological Significance of Bird Populations" by Cagan Sekercioglu with a preface by Paul R. Ehrlich.
It includes a foreword on bird conservation by Stuart Butchart, Nigel Collar, Alison Stattersfield, and Leon Bennun.
It includes a comprehensive introduction by Jon Fjeldså on changes in bird macrosystematics and a foreword on the history of BirdLife International.
It covers 84 new species published more recently than their corresponding HBW volumes, including 15 scientific descriptions of newly discovered Amazonian birds.