Flamingos are among the most familiar and popular of all the world's birds. This book summarises the available understanding of flamingo biology, with discussions of population dynamics, ecology, movements, feeding, breeding biology, and conservation. It a

Dr Newton is now a senior ornithologist with the Natural Environment Research Council and the book draws on his wide knowledge of the Sparrowhawk, as well as that of other workers in Britain and abroad, to give a detailed account of all aspects of its lifestyle, population levels and trends and the impact of man and environment on the species in recent times. The book also has the benefit of Dr Newton's particular interest in population regulation and breeding performance, and in the remarkable contrast in size between the Sparrowhawk sexes (males being half the weight of females), which...

Dr Hilary Fry's study of the bee-eaters covers all 24 species of this colourful Family, which ranges from southern Europe, Africa and the Middle East to India, China, south-east Asia and Australia. A major part of the book comprises the species accounts, with complementary colour plates of 42 species and sub-species and detailed maps depicting the geography of their evolution. In addition there are chapters on the bee-eaters' evolutionary development, their food and foraging behaviour, and relationships with apiculture; of particular interest are chapters on social and reproductive life, the...

The Strait of Gibraltar is famous as a major point of passage for Palaearctic birds migrating between their European breeding grounds and their winter quarters in Africa. Clive Finlayson, a native of the Rock and a trained ornithologist, presents a fascinating account of the region and its resident and transitory bird life. The first chapter of the book describes the area, which broadly defined includes the Coto Donana in the north and the Merja Zerga in the south, and the geographic and climatological characteristics which make it a suitable crossing place. In scope this book goes beyond the...

The involvement of humans with ducks, geese and swans has probably been closer than with any other group of birds, today and for several millenia past. This involvement, in its many aspects, is the theme of this compelling and readable account by an Assistant Director of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. Dr Kear ranges widely, from a summary of the taxonomy and natural history of wildfowl, through a history of domestication world wide, to wildfowling, decoys, conservation and captive breeding, conflicts with agriculture, and wildfowl in legend and literature. Throughout, the text abounds with...

Estuaries are rightly of great interest and concern to the birdwatcher. Most teem with thousands of waders, geese, ducks, gulls and other species that use them at times throughout the year; they are also among the last of the wild places left in Britain and Europe. The 'Birds of Estuaries Enquiry' (sponsored by the Nature Conservancy Council and organised by the BTO, RSPB and the Wildfowl Trust) spanned six years, and Tony Prater's report now provides a detailed insight into the birds which use and, in many cases, depend on this special habitat. Of great interest to birdwatchers, the book...

Dr Janet Kear, Assistant Director of the Wildfowl Trust and Curator of its Martin Mere Reserve, and Professor Andrew Berger of the University of Hawaii, have written a timely and absorbing account of the recent history of the Hawaiian Goose, or Nene, its descent to near extinction, its eleventh hour rescue and current restoration to the wild. The species declined from an estimated population of 25,000 in Hawaii in the 18th century to less than fifty birds in the 1940s. Today, thanks largely to the extended breeding programmes at Slimbridge and Pohakuloa, there are probably more than 2000...

In range, Wild Geese covers the geese of North America, Europe and Asia, and thus the world species except for the Hawaiian Goose or Ne-Ne. The plan of the book is similar to the author's Ducks of Britain and Europe but distribution, status and migration rightly assume a more extensive role in Wild Geese and the detailed text on those subjects is fully complemented by migration and distribution maps. Comprehensive chapters are also devoted to classification, ecology, breeding, identification, and to exploitation and conservation. The identification chapter is especially helpful with sections...

An authoritative yet highly readable monograph on one of Britain's rarest yet most spectacular breeding birds, the Golden Oriole. This is the latest title in the acclaimed series of Poyser monographs.

This revised edition of the late James Fisher's much praised Watching Birds is the work of Dr Jim Flegg, Director of the British Trust for Ornithology. In his Preface Dr Flegg writes: It is a daunting task to revise the bird book on which you cut your teeth: it is the surest measure of the man who wrote it that what is needed, after thirty-odd years, is an updating and not a sweeping revision. Among James Fisher's deservedly popular writings Watching Birds was probably the most read and consulted. After several reprints (published by Penguin Books) he planned to re-write it, and it is wholly...