A comprehensive guide to the true jewels of the tropical Old World undergrowth


Inhabiting tropical and subtropical forests of the Old World, pittas, broadbills and asities include some of the most beautiful, elusive and sought-after birds on the planet. Pittas are medium-sized, insectivorous terrestrial birds that are rather thrushlike in their behaviour. Most are brilliantly coloured, generally solitary, and have a well-deserved reputation for secretive, skulking habits, adding to the challenge of seeing them in their often dark environment. The 52 species of pitta largely occur from Asia through Wallacea to New Guinea and Australia, with two (perhaps three) species in Africa.


Broadbills are very different to pittas, being typically chunky birds with large heads, broad flattened beaks and short legs. The majority are colourful and sociable, but none are terrestrial. Three are highly frugivorous, but the others are largely insectivorous. They form a diverse group of 18 species in nine genera, of which four species are confined to Africa, with the rest in Asia.


The four species of asities form an endemic Madagascan family. Two species are similar to broadbills, but the other two resemble sunbirds, even in their feeding habits. Breeding males have facial wattles (as do two broadbill species).


The first monograph of these three groups was published in 1996; this book, by the same author, is its follow-up. Completely revised and updated, it draws together a wealth of material from the literature and from online and unpublished sources to provide the ultimate reference to these fascinating birds, from taxonomy and identification to habitat requirements, biology and ecology, accompanied by a stunning photographic selection, and the art of Martin Woodcock.

Frank Lambert studied birds in the rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia for his doctorate and in Borneo during subsequent research. As an avid world birder since his teens, Frank has travelled the world in search of birds. He started his career working for conservation NGOs such as BirdLife International, but in recent years has mainly worked as an international bird guide. During his travels, Frank has seen almost all the species featured in this book. Apart from seeing birds, Frank's main passion is to capture the sounds that they make. He has recorded the songs and calls of more than 5,000 bird species, most of which are freely available at xeno-canto.org.

The late Martin Woodcock was one of Britain's leading bird artists. A former chair of the African Bird Club, his greatest work was the art for the monumental Birds of Africa series, published between 1981 and 2007. Martin was a great student of tropical birds, and his other work included the plates for the first edition of this book. Martin completed the cover art before his passing in 2019.