HBW Alive

devilfish

devilfish

Well-Known Member
I've long wanted to own the Handbook of the Birds of the World, but was a little concerned that by starting my collection it would already be outdated given that the first volumes are over 20 years old. Even with the updates it wasn't really a satisfactory arrangement.

So this summer someone recommended using HBW alive, the online, updated version of the entire series, and I absolutely love it. I just wanted to recommend it on here. Entire plates are viewable, details in distinguishing subspecies are much more thorough than in the corresponding Mammal handbooks (as might be expected), and you can search by birds according to the countries in which you found them. Combined with links to photos, videos and audio, this is an absolutely amazing resource. Part of the site is free to access, but there are different tiers of subscription which offer more features. The site has become an invaluable resource to me, which I use more and more.

Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | HBW Alive
 
Just as a warning to anyone who still wants to purchase the collection of books - stocks of Volume 11 have sold out and there are no more available from the publisher. Last time I searched none were available online. Stocks are low on several other volumes too.

:p

Hix
 
I would like to echo Devilfish's comment. I use HBW Alive a lot, and I think I've been subscribed for about a year now. Over that time it keeps on improving and updating, and is an absolutely fantastic resource.

I also use HBW Alive for recording and keeping track of my wild bird sightings with their 'My Birding' feature, which I really like. When I first subscribed I just started at the basic subscription level which does not include access to 'My Birding', but after using the site for a few months and loving it, I upgraded to a full membership, and for me it was worth every penny. Best online subscription to anything I have ever bought.
 
Of course, from my point of view even the RRP of the books still in print is a bit absurd :p
 
I have been using HBW Alive quite a bit recently while doing the new Zoochat Photographic Threads.

Today there is a banner across the top of the site which reads: "HBW Alive will end its services on 11 May 2020 and the website will be closed definitively. Please visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of the World website, where the HBW Alive content has been incorporated. Thank you!"

HBW Alive is a subscriber site but there is enough information on there to be useful even if not a subscriber (like me). The Birds of the World website, however, is basically useless unless you pay to view it.
 
Chlidonias said:
I have been using HBW Alive quite a bit recently while doing the new Zoochat Photographic Threads.

Today there is a banner across the top of the site which reads: "HBW Alive will end its services on 11 May 2020 and the website will be closed definitively. Please visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of the World website, where the HBW Alive content has been incorporated. Thank you!"

HBW Alive is a subscriber site but there is enough information on there to be useful even if not a subscriber (like me). The Birds of the World website, however, is basically useless unless you pay to view it.
Click to expand...

I had hopes, that they will release the HMW Alive also, but asked not so long time ago and the answer was, of course negative. It was very useful tool...
 
Chlidonias said:
I have been using HBW Alive quite a bit recently while doing the new Zoochat Photographic Threads.

Today there is a banner across the top of the site which reads: "HBW Alive will end its services on 11 May 2020 and the website will be closed definitively. Please visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of the World website, where the HBW Alive content has been incorporated. Thank you!"

HBW Alive is a subscriber site but there is enough information on there to be useful even if not a subscriber (like me). The Birds of the World website, however, is basically useless unless you pay to view it.
Click to expand...
What information was on the old site that is no in the new one? I just found out about the old one but had moved already.
 
@Chlidonias Interestingly, BOW seems to not be so useless, at least for now! Currently, all accounts of all species are free for viewing, including photos, maps, the full length of HBW Alive text and illustrations! The main differences between this and a full subscription, I think, are that the content is shorter and less detailed. E.g., compare the species accounts of Ara macao (Scarlet Macaw - Ara macao - Birds of the World), a species with only partial, ''HBW Alive'' viewable content and Corythornis cristatus (Malachite Kingfisher - Corythornis cristatus - Birds of the World), one of the currently free, ''full subscription'' accounts.

Personally, if they decide to keep this ''two-sites'' format as a constant rule, I would be more than happy, as it provides those that don't have an account (like me) with some information for the species that were available in HBW Alive after subscription! In fact, this could mean that HBW Alive is indeed released now (in a way)!
 
CatDog said:
Interestingly, BOW seems to not be so useless, at least for now! Currently, all accounts of all species are free for viewing, including photos, maps, the full length of HBW Alive text and illustrations!
Click to expand...
Oh that is interesting. When I posted (just two days ago), the only accessible information on the pages which weren't free previews was a photo and the citation, in between which was the pale pink box saying to subscribe; and the links down the left for each section were non-functioning.
 
What's interesting to me is the two sites use different taxonomies (Birds of the World using Clements/eBird and Handbook of Birds of the World follows IOC) Since Cornell owns it all now does that mean the taxonomy will stay with Clements/eBird?
 
Ituri said:
What's interesting to me is the two sites use different taxonomies (Birds of the World using Clements/eBird and Handbook of Birds of the World follows IOC) Since Cornell owns it all now does that mean the taxonomy will stay with Clements/eBird?
Click to expand...
I'm working on the Rallidae right now for my current Photographic Thread, and the divisions of species between genera is different between the two sites - which because they have moved all the text over but already changed the genera results in some confusing texts! The most noticeable is with BOW's Gallirallus which on HBW Alive was split between multiple genera, and so the BOW texts will say "sometimes placed in Gallirallus" when they have already placed it in Gallirallus.

So, yes, apparently they have changed the taxonomy for the new site (although I don't follow either Clements or IOC, so I don't know what their differences are).
 
Chlidonias said:
I'm working on the Rallidae right now for my current Photographic Thread, and the divisions of species between genera is different between the two sites - which because they have moved all the text over but already changed the genera results in some confusing texts! The most noticeable is with BOW's Gallirallus which on HBW Alive was split between multiple genera, and so the BOW texts will say "sometimes placed in Gallirallus" when they have already placed it in Gallirallus.

So, yes, apparently they have changed the taxonomy for the new site (although I don't follow either Clements or IOC, so I don't know what their differences are).
Click to expand...
What bird taxonomy do you follow? Or do you just go with your own judgement?
 
Ituri said:
What's interesting to me is the two sites use different taxonomies (Birds of the World using Clements/eBird and Handbook of Birds of the World follows IOC) Since Cornell owns it all now does that mean the taxonomy will stay with Clements/eBird?
Click to expand...
HBW was a bit different from IOC. The eBird taxonomy update last year was to bring HBW and Clements more in line with each other in anticipation of the merger.
 
birdsandbats said:
What bird taxonomy do you follow? Or do you just go with your own judgement?
Click to expand...
I don't follow any one specific taxonomic work. But in particular I don't follow the HBW for my own purposes because the Tobias Criteria is nonsense.
 
Chlidonias said:
Oh that is interesting. When I posted (just two days ago), the only accessible information on the pages which weren't free previews was a photo and the citation, in between which was the pale pink box saying to subscribe; and the links down the left for each section were non-functioning.
Click to expand...
Today the BOW site is back to the way it was - just the photo, title, pink box saying to subscribe, and the citation. Nothing more is accessible.
 
I realize that this stuff costs money to maintain, but it still is disappointing that virtually everything is now behind a pay wall. It used to be that Birds of the World, at least when it was BNA and NB, was entirely free and that you could access most of the basic info, including all the taxonomy, on HBW for free. Then BOW went behind a pay wall, and now with HBW merging into BOW, about the only thing you can get free are the names and see a picture. Feels more like one of the academic publishers is running this rather than a university, indeed, one that is partly a public university. If this were private enterprise, it could be investigated as an antitrust violation.
 
I just checked HBW Alive to see if it is gone, or had been archived. The website now just redirects to BOW, which as noted above, is useless unless you pay to see the content.
 
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