Des Thompson, Ingvar Byrkjedal

Tundra Plovers (eBook, PDF)

The Eurasian, Pacific and American Golden Plovers and Grey Plover

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

There are four species of tundra plover: the Grey Plover, and the Eurasian, Pacific, and American golden plovers.

They breed only in the northern hemisphere, principally on tundra, and migrate far south to coastal mudflats, saltings and agricultural landscapes. They have attracted avid interest from birdwatchers and researchers worldwide, not least the authors who have studied all four species. The Eurasian Golden Plover has a special claim to fame as questions over its flight speed first prompted the compilation of the world bestseller the Guinness Book of Records!

This ground-breaking book on shorebirds (waders) examines the taxonomy, appearance, behaviour, ecology and conservation of Golden and Grey plovers, and compares and contrasts their natural history and biogeography. There are detailed accounts on all aspects of their lifestyle including feeding, mating, parental care, moults, migration and avoidance of predators. The personal touches in this book add immensely to its value, not least the authors' first hand experiences of the birds and their haunts. Most of their work presented here has not been published before, adding to the significance of this highly original book.

Long-awaited considerations of differences in plumage, vocalisations, habitat use, breeding, movements and food are included. The links between phylogeny, biogeography and behaviour are bound to excite interest. The comparative approach is highly detailed and refreshing, and marks the book as a classic.

Ingvar Byrkjedal has also contributed all of the wonderful colour and line illustrations. Over fifty-five photographs, over one hundred and twenty tables and figures, and many other embellishments complete this definitive book.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury eBooks UK
• Seitenzahl: 456
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. November 2011
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781408146149
• Artikelnr.: 39452367

Autorenporträt

Ingvar Byrkjedal is Curator of Vertebrates at the Museum of Zoology, University of Bergen, Norway. He took his Cand.real at Bergen on the breeding ecology and plumage variation of Eurasian Golden Plovers. His research has continued on these birds, particularly on their anti-predator behaviour and parental care. He has studied American Golden Plovers in Canada, and Grey Plovers and Pacific Golden in north-west Siberia. His work has recently touched on little known northern shorebirds, and is presently focused on the mating system of Northern Lapwings.

As a boy, Des Thompson first encountered the Eurasian Golden Plover whilst bird-watching in the wet, desolate wilds of northern Scotland with his father, the late Desmond Nethersole-Thompson. he went on to take his PhD at Nottingham University on the winter ecology and flocking behaviour of gulls and plovers. His particular interests are in mountain and moorland ecology and conservation. He is the Principal Adviser on the uplands in Scottish Natural Heritage, and is a Visiting Professor in Environmental Science at Manchester Metropolitan University. This is his fifth book.

The authors met in Autumn 1981, and have since sustained a mutual friendship and interest in shorebirds particularly those breeding in the northern hemisphere. They bring together 50 years of personal work on the tundra plovers, as well as the research of others working in the New and Old Worlds. The book is a tribute to the studies of hundreds of field workers as well as to the painstaking efforts of collaborative research by the authors.