Grebes are unusual and fascinating birds, with spectacular courtship behavior and floating nests which enable them to spend their entire lives in water. In Grebes, Fjeldsa provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of their origin and evolution, biology, and how they have adapted to exploit their environment, beautifally illustrated with maps, line figures, and his own stunning full-color paintings.

The cuckoos are the most variable birds in social behavior and parental care: a few cuckoos are among the most social of all birds and rear their young in a common nest; most cuckoos are caring parents that rear their own young with some females laying a few eggs in the nests of others; while many cuckoo species are brood parasites who leave their eggs in the nests of other birds to rear, with their young maturing to kill their foster nestmates. In The Cuckoos, Robert B. Payne presents a new evolutionary history of the family based on molecular genetics, and uses the family tree to explore...

Wildfowl and screamers belong to a highly diverse family of birds, confined to watery habitats. They are amongst the most attractive of birds and are very well-known to man, who has domesticated them, used their feathers for warm clothing and ornamentation, admired their flight, courtship and migration, caught them for food, maintained them in captivity for pleasure, and written about their doings in delightful children's stories, from Mother Goose to Jemima Puddleduck and Donald Duck. They occur throughout the world except Antarctica. Some are faithful to the same partner for life, others...

The Hawaiian Honeycreepers are typified by nectar feeding, their bright colouration and canary-like songs. They are considered one of the finest examples of adaptive radiation, even more diverse than Darwin's Galapagos finches, as a wide array of different species has evolved in all the different niches provided by the Hawaiian archipelago. The book will therefore be of interest to evolutionary biologists and ecologists as well as professional ornithologists and amateur bird watchers. As with the other books in the Bird Family of the World series, the work is divided into two main sections....

This book covers in unmatched detail the life history, relationships, biology, and conservation of all the world's toucans, barbets, and honeyguides. These number 133 species, found in tropical regions around the world. The toucans are especially well-known because of their dramatic bills and their association with the Amazon rainforest. The authors have been working with these birds for over 20 years, and their knowledge and expertise in these groups is unrivalled. Much of the information in this book has never previously been published. The color plates, painted by well-known US artist...

The bowerbirds are unique in the avian world in that the males build elaborate 'bowers': structures of sticks, grasses or other plant stems on or close to the ground, often incorporating objects such as colourful fruits, flowers, feathers, bones, stones, shells, insect skeletons, and numerous other natural (and human-made) objects.
The highly sophisticated building, decorating, arranging, singing, and courtship posturing and dancing by males is primarily to attract and impress females. As much of it is performed in the absence of females, however, some consider it possible that males may...

Herons and their close relatives, the egrets and bitterns, comprise sixty species in total and are found all over the world except in polar regions, and are a strikingly beautiful part of the wetlands they inhabit. They are particularly abundant and popular in South West USA, especially Florida. Herons are a diverse group, easily recognized by their long legs, necks and bills. Many species are notable for their sociality as they feed, roost, and nest together in single or mixed species assemblages. The authors have extensive experience of research and observation of these birds and this book...

Nightjars and their allies are a curious, fascinating, and remarkably varied group of birds that are found throughout the world. This largely nocturnal group has many specific adaptations for night time activity and some species have unique associations with bats. Until now, the existing literature has lacked information about their biology or evolution. This book rectifies these omissions in a comprehensive account. The 118 species accounts provide details of coloration, plumage, moults, geographical variation, body measurements, habitats, behavior, conservation, and evolution and are backed...

The book covers the evolution, biology and natural history of the group of flightless birds that includes ostriches, emus, cassowaries and kiwis - the Ratites and their relatives, the Tinamous. It reviews the scientific studies that have been made of their ecology, behaviour, physiology, husbandry, evolution, mythology and conservation. Each of the 55 species is described in detail, with maps of the present known distribution, accounts of their food and nesting habits, calls, field identification, habitat and relationship with humans, including farming. It is the first such comprehensive...

The pelecaniformes are a large and important group of seabirds, containing many spectacular species. This book addresses the breeding biology of the six pelecaniform families, which comprise the closely-related core groups (pelicans, cormorants/shags, darters, gannets/boobies) and their more distant relatives, the frigate birds and tropic birds. Many fundamental questions can be addressed through the pelecaniformes: Why do they breed in colonies? What are the links between their feeding methods and their reproduction? What part does territorial and pairing behavior play in their life-cycles?...