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Ducks, Geese, and Swans
Janet Kear
Mark Hulme
832 pages
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numerous colour plates, maps, tables and line drawings
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246x189mm
978-0-19-854645-0
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Hardback
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05 May 2005
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- The most authoritative and up-to-date survey available of this massive and well-known family of birds; a welcome addition to the Bird Families of the World series that is set to become a classic of ornithology
- Highly illustrated, with specially commissioned colour plates by Mark Hulme, plus numerous maps, halftones, and line figures
- Includes much new and previously unpublished data, compiled by a panel of experts from around the globe
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 for only the few minutes of copulation. In some species, male and female make devoted parents, and yet there is one within the group whose female lays her eggs in
the nests of others and never incubates. Diving as a method of obtaining food has evolved many times within the family. Most nest in the open but others in the tree-hole nests of woodpeckers and some in the ground burrows of rabbits or aardvarks. They may be highly social or solitary, defending a large territory.
Ducks, Geese and Swans begins with eight chapters giving an overview of the family, their taxonomy and evolution, feeding ecology, breeding strategies, social behaviour, movements and migrations, population dynamics, and conservation and management, followed by accounts of 165 species, written by a team of expert wildfowl specialists, describing each bird in its natural state and summarizing the published literature and recent research. Complementing the
accounts are thirty specially commissioned colour plates by Mark Hulme, along with numerous black and white drawings illustrating behaviours, plus distribution maps for each species.Readership: Bird enthusiasts, ornithologists, professional and amateur.
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Janet Kear, Formerly Director, The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Mark Hulme
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"A book that would be a welcome edition to any serious wildfowlers bookshelf." - Biologist, Jean Wilson, Vol 53, 5 "It is a joy to open a book of this quality, whose scholarship is matched by its handsome presentation and stunning illustrations. The London Naturalist, No.84, 2005" "These volumes provide an excellent introduction to wildfowl families of the world and would provide sound reference material for both student and enthusiast, captivating the reader with fine illustrations and well-written material" "Bird books don't come any better than this: The sweep of knowledge and the confidence and clarity of the exposition cannot fail to give pleasure." - James Fleming, The Spectator
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Part I: General chapters
1: Introduction
2: Taxonomy
3: Food and feeding ecology
4: Social behaviour
5: Breeding strategies and biology
6: Movements and migrations
7: Population dynamics
8: Conservation and management
Part II: Species accounts
Detailed accounts of all 165 species of wildfowl and screamers
Glossary
References
Index
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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