del Hoyo's avian volumes

[StephanPickering@cs.com]

       For those seeking a rather breath-taking scholarly examination of all known post-K/T dinosaurs, I strongly recommend the collaborative volumes published by Lynx Ediciones in Barcelona, all edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, and Jordi Sargatal as Handbook of the birds of the world
1992 vol. 1, Ostrich to ducks, 696pp
1994 vol. 2, New World vultures to guineafowl, 638pp
1996 vol. 3, Hoatzin to auks, 752pp
1997 vol. 4, Sandgrouse to cuckoos, 664pp
1999 vol. 5, Barn-owls to hummingbirds, 762pp
2001 vol. 6, Mousebirds to hornbills, 589pp
2002 vol. 7, Jacamars to woodpeckers, 600pp
Used in conjunction with the Sibley volumes, one encounters bibliographies making one's head spin with the realization of how thorough they are, descriptive analyses by dinosaur scholars worldwide, photographs and paintings...in short, volumes which present one with the amazing diversity of the dinosaur clades which survived the K/T event(s). I especially stress that the chapters on New/Old World vultures are inundated with data easily adaptable (with imagination and, need I say, logic) to certain late Cretaceous theropods re: behaviour systems, brooding strategies, pack/flock hunting patterns, sexual size dimorphism, female ornamentation, etc.
Alas, the prices for each volume -- even when bought as an entire set -- are prohibitive for those of us who, as independent scholars, struggle month-to-month. However, if you do have the resources, then I would recommend these as necessary components of dinosaur scholarship. As exciting as unfolding pre-K/T discoveries are for all of us, it is time we also turn as much attention to the dinosaur clades of every continent, as some of these clades are, indeed, preserving the modular paradigms I cite above which existed in other, now extinct theropod clades.