Miles McMullan (born William Niall McMullan, [1] 1 August 1967 in Bangor) is an author, conservationist and naturalist from Northern Ireland, who has made innovative books on neotropical wildlife.
McMullan studied at Our Lady and St. Patrick's College, Ulster University and Trinity College, Dublin. [2] He worked as a prize-winning landscape and portrait painter in his early years. [3] [4] He qualified as an editor and worked for several years writing academic texts before concentrating in the wildlife field guides that he has made since 2008. [5] [4] [6]
McMullan has specialised in making nature guidebooks for the most diverse countries of tropical South American countries [3] including Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, where he has also worked as a naturalist guide, birding tourguide and author. [7] His influential guide to the birds of Colombia was named second best bird book of 2010, [8] second only to the acclaimed Collins Birds of Europe, [9] and Neotropical Bird Club named his guides among the 25 best books of the past 25 years, [10] noting their concise treatment of very large avifaunas.
His Colombia book, with over 5000 illustrations and 2000 range distribution maps has been described as among the largest books ever made by a single author/illustrator. [11] His books marked a divergence from the style used in previous national guidebooks. [8] [12] [7]
His titles include Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia (with Thomas Donegan) [13] [6] [14] [15] [5] (2010, updates in 2014 and 2018), Fieldbook of the Birds of Ecuador (with Lelis Navarrete) [16] (2013, updated 2017), Field Guide to the Hummingbirds [17] (2016), Field Guide to the Galapagos Islands [18] (2017), Birds of the Colombian Andes [19] (2019), Birds of Meta and the Colombian Llanos [20] (2019), Birds of the Western Cordillera [21] (2019), Birds and Common Mammals of Ecuadorian Amazon (with Andrés Vásquez) [22] (2012), Birds of Northwest Ecuador (with Andrés Vásquez) [23] and many other titles such as regional and reserve guides. He has published many smaller guidebooks and has spoken of the importance of smaller local guidebooks and pamphlets in developing a strong rural economy that supports conservation and ecology. [24]
Additionally, he has been author or co-author of several research papers, magazine and journal articles. [25] [26] His illustrations have appeared in several other books, articles, publications, including forming part of the natural history collection of the Luis Angel Arango Library of the National Bank of Colombia. [27] [28] [1]
McMullan has worked with a number of conservation organizations and foundations, especially in bird conservation in the tropical Americas. [29] [7] [30] He is a devoted environmentalist and advocate of low-impact wildlife-watching - he has spoken in favor of more local birding as a more sustainable alternative, and voiced concerns about the impacts of the travel involved in global birding. [4] [24] [31] He is involved with indigenous communities such as the Awá of southwestern Colombia and the conservation of their lands [4] and is an active campaigner and donor in the battle to combat climate change. [24]
In August 2022 he received a special recognition of his work with women's groups in rural Colombia from the Ministry of Science of Colombia. [32]
He is a regular speaker at birding and conservation fairs and conferences, [33] [34] [35] occasional exhibitor of his paintings [36] and has appeared on television programs broadcast in UK, Spain, [37] Australia and Colombia, where programs have been made exclusively about his work. [31] [38] [39]
The sapayoa or broad-billed sapayoa is a suboscine passerine bird found Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama.
The rainbow-bearded thornbill is a species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The bamboo foliage-gleaner, also known as the crested foliage-gleaner or dusky-cheeked foliage-gleaner, is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The many-striped canastero is a species of passerine bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The brown-rumped foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The chestnut-crowned foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
The white-browed spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
The star-chested treerunner or fulvous-dotted treerunner is a Near Threatened species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.
The apical flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is endemic to Colombia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and arid and semi-arid open areas.
The spectacled whitestart or spectacled redstart is a species of bird in the family Parulidae. It is found in humid Andean forests, woodland and scrub from southern Colombia to Bolivia
The cinnamon-rumped foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Parguay, and Uruguay.
The rufous-tailed foliage-gleaner is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela, and possibly French Guiana.
The rusty-winged barbtail is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
The flammulated treehunter is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
The uniform treehunter is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.
The black-billed treehunter is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The great thrush is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. It is considered as the largest thrush in South America. The great thrush's size distinguishes it from the several other uniform slaty-colored thrushes in its range. It inhabits subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and high-altitude shrubland, but can also make use of degraded forest and urban areas.
The slender-billed xenops is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
The white-mantled barbet is a species of bird in the family Capitonidae. It is endemic to Colombia.
Veronica Bonilla is a children's writer, illustrator, and graphic designer from Ecuador. She was born on 11 June 1962 in Quito D.M. and has published children's literature since 2012. She has 71 international book registers ISBN in several formats, in paper as well as in digital format. She publishes in both Spanish and English, and she also has produced audiobooks.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)