The Skylark's beautiful song, delivered from its famous towering songflight, can be heard from Ireland to Japan and from the Arctic Circle to the North African deserts. This volume opens with an overview of all the world's larks and, as well as a thorough account of the species biology, migratory patterns, behaviour and habitats, Paul Donald discusses the Skylark's role in history and folklore. This book is from the Poyser Monographs series. Regarded as essential reading by many ornithologists, the Monographs provide an enormous amount of detail on individual species, covering evolution, biology and ecology, breeding and feeding, distribution, and conservation.

Poyser Species Monograph: The Skylark

Science & Math

Paul Donald

Biological Sciences

T & AD Poyser

With its striking green-black and white plumage and distinctive pee-wit call, the Lapwing is one of Britain's best-known birds. Lapwings depend on agricultural land to breed and are considered a barometer of the health of this habitat; the population has crashed over recent decades, partly due to changes in farming practices. In winter, Lapwings switch to coastal areas and to wetlands, including those in suburban areas, where large, noisy flocks can gather. Michael Shrubb's The Lapwing is a concise yet authoritative monograph of this popular species; a thorough review of Lapwing biology contains sections on population dynamics, feeding ecology, habitat use, migration, and conservation; there is an impressively detailed review of our current understanding of breeding biology, plus discussion of some other species in the genus. The Lapwing is a superb addition to the Poyser list. Of interest to both amateur naturalists, who will enjoy insights into the birds' lives, and to academics, who will appreciate the broad overview of current research, this title will remain the definitive work on the species for many years to come.

The Lapwing (Poyser Monographs)

Michael Shrubb

One of Britain's rarest breeding birds, the Golden Oriole is also one of its most charismatic. Females are a vivid green, while the males of this species are a stunning yellow and black, with an extraordinary and unforgettable song. A long-distance migrant, the orioles return to breed in early May at just a few sites, almost all of which are in Suffolk. Jake Allsop and Paul Mason's The Golden Oriole looks in detail at the biology of this spectacular species, with sections on breeding biology, feeding ecology, evolution, population dynamics, mimicry, migration and conservation, as well as a discussion of the biology of other species in the genus. A colour section showcases this photogenic species to full effect, complemented by high-quality black-and-white illustrations throughout. The fascinating history of the bird's distribution is also covered extensively, stemming from the authors' first-hand experience of the battle to help the species retain a toehold in Britain. The Golden Oriole is a much-admired bird, sought by serious and casual birders alike for the beauty of its plumage and song, as well as for its rarity. By bringing the biology of this elusive species to light, this book will prove a popular addition to the Poyser list.

The Golden Oriole (Poyser Monographs)

Jake Allsop

A common sight around the more northerly shores of the British Isles, the Common Eider is the largest duck in the northern hemisphere. The eider is particularly well adapted to cold-water environments; the insulating properties of eider down are iconic. The species is taxonomically interesting, with a range of well-marked subspecies reflecting the patterns of ice coverage during ancient glaciations, and these ducks have also provided the focus for a number of important behavioral studies, especially on feeding ecology and energy budgets.
Eiders have a long association with humans, and have deep cultural significance in many societies. However, modern lifestyles are exposing these ducks to a wide range of new pressures.
This monograph provides a comprehensive portrait of the Common Eider; authors Chris Waltho and John Coulson bring together an extensive and diverse international literature, with sections on taxonomy, habitats, breeding biology, population dynamics, diet and foraging, dispersal and migration, and conservation.

The Common Eider (Poyser Monographs)

Waltho, Chris

Coulson, John

Nature & Ecology

This is the first comprehensive review of the hundreds of bird species and subspecies that have become extinct over the last 1,000 years of habitat degradation, over-hunting and rat introduction. Covering both familiar icons of extinction as well as more obscure birds, some known from just one specimen or from traveller's tales, the book also looks at hundreds of species from the subfossil record - birds that disappeared without ever being recorded. Julian Hume and Michael Walters recreate these lost birds in stunning detail, bringing together an up to date review of the literature for every species. From Great Auks, Carolina Parakeets and Dodos to the amazing yet completely vanished bird radiations of Hawaii and New Zealand, via rafts of extinctions in the Pacific and elsewhere, this book is both a sumptuous reference and an amazing testament to humanity's impact on birds. 
A direct replacement for Greenway's seminal 1958 title Extinct and Vanishing Birds, this book will be the standard reference on the subject for generations to come.

Extinct Birds (Poyser Monographs)

Politics & Social Sciences

Walters, Michael

Hume, Julian P.

Social Sciences

The Eagle Owl is one of the largest owls in the world, and is considered the most eclectic in terms of habitat, nest site and diet. An undisputed top predator, it can prey on a range of mammals up to the size of a fox, and almost every species of bird, reptile, amphibian and fish, as well as a wide spectrum of invertebrates. Surprisingly, this owl can breed almost anywhere, the female laying her eggs on a variety of natural and artificial structures over an array of altitudes. Despite being so adaptable, however, it is still a vulnerable species, and has suffered widely from persecution as well as other threats including electrocution on power lines, decreasing prey availability, the effects of pesticides and pollutants, and habitat alteration. 
Vincenzo Penteriani and María del Mar Delgado have studied this fascinating bird extensively across its vast Eurasian range. In this book, they detail its intriguing ecology, covering distribution, foraging and breeding behavior, interspecific interactions, dispersal and conservation issues. The final two chapters provide a remarkable insight into vocal and visual communication. Scientists have long believed that owls and other crepuscular and nocturnal birds forgo the visual signals found in other avian species, but recent research on the Eagle Owl has suggested otherwise.
Bringing together more than 30 years of research, The Eagle Owl tells a story rich in detail of one of the most thrilling and magnificent birds in the world.

The Eagle Owl (Poyser Monographs)

Delgado, María del Mar

Penteriani, Vincenzo

Small, noisy and colorful, the Teal is a familiar duck throughout the wetlands and waterways Europe and Asia. Once hunted extensively for the pot, its numbers have recovered and it is now one of our commonest species of waterfowl. 
A flagship species for wetland conservation, the Teal is also an excellent model species for ecological research, and this forms the spine of this new Poyser monograph. 
The Teal looks at distribution and trends in numbers, foraging ecology, breeding behavior), population dynamics, management and conservation of teal, looking at both the Eurasian Common Teal and its North American equivalent, the Green-winged Teal (which until relatively recently was considered to be the same species). The book provides a scientifically robust account on which wetland managers, research scientists and the ornithological community may rely, with wider implications for the conservation and management of other waterfowl, and for ecological research in general.

The Teal

Guillemain, Matthieu

Elmberg, Johan

The Barnacle Goose, a distinctive, handsome black-and-white bird, gets its name from a medieval myth that the birds hatched from barnacles--how else to explain their sudden appearance each autumn in northern Britain? We now know, of course, that the birds migrate from Arctic Russia, Norway and Svalbard to winter throughout northern Europe. This book represents a culmination of more than 25 years of Barnacle Goose research. It represents the story of one of Europe's most celebrated long-term behavioral studies, detailing the lives of these social and sociable birds.
 Chapters include sections on pair formation and bonding, family and population dynamics, brood parasitism, food and feeding, size and shape in different populations, life cycle, survivorship, dispersal, migration, and conservation, with particular regard to climate change. It is a rigorous and thorough examination of the lives of these birds, in fine Poyser tradition.

The Barnacle Goose

Black, Jeffrey M.

Prop, Jouke

Larsson, Kjell

Sporting a mix of blue, yellow, white, green, and black, the unmistakable Blue Tit echoes the hues of an Earth that is becoming increasingly populated. Blue Tits have adapted well to modern humanity, taking advantage of our propensity to feed birds and provide nest-boxes. In turn, this charismatic species provides an excellent model for research, and currently features in around 100 scientific papers annually. This new Poyser monograph is the result of a personal quest by author Martyn Stenning to bring these discoveries together in one accessible volume.
The text initially invites readers into the intimate life of breeding Blue Tits and describes how nature has shaped their destiny. Moving on to the diversification and classification of Blue Tit variation across their range, the story progresses into population structure, life-time ecology, and mortality, culminating in an exploration of factors that determine breeding success. The book concludes with a genial selection of anecdotes, folklore, and poetry.

The Blue Tit

Stenning, Martyn

The Tawny Owl

MARTIN, Jeff

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