The Birds of British Columbia [Hardcover]

R. Wayne Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997 | Series: Birds of British Columbia (Book 1)

This is the first volume in a 4-volume set, which is the culmination of two decades of research and writing. For the first time, the natural history, migration patterns, habitat requirements, reproductive biology, and distribution of the province's birdlife are combined in one publication. This is a reprint of the original volume published in 1990 by the Royal British Columbia Museum and the Canadian Wildlife Service. No changes or updates in content have been made from the original edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

To me birds have always been an indication of the state of the natural regions of our planet -- like the canary in the coal mine phenomenon. If more people paid attention to the detail of the state of our bird life, we would be much more likely to show wisdom and stewardship towards our environment. The work in this book provides an excellent benchmark which should contribute to the welfare of British Columbia. - Robert Bateman These books will tell amateurs the secrets that until now only scientists have known. (It) will become, without question, the most authoritative, comprehensive book ever written about the birds of B.C. It is more like a bible than a book. - Mark Hume, The Vancouver Sun

About the Author

R. Wayne Campbell was a senior research scientist (Retired) and the British Columbia Wildlife Branch Director at the WBT Wildlife Data Centre, Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia. Neil K. Dawe is a senior wildlife technician at the Canadian Wildlife Service. Ian McTaggart-Cowan is Dean Emeritus (Graduate Studies) at the University of British Columbia. John M. Cooper is a wildlife biologist at Manning, Cooper and Associates. Gary W. Kaiser was a marine bird ecologist (Retired) for the Canadian Wildlife Service. Andrew C. Stewart is a wildlife habitat specialist for the British Columbia Resources Inventory Branch. Michael C.E. McNall is the ornithology collections manager at the Royal British Columbia Museum.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 532 pages
• Publisher: UBC Press (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0774806184
• ISBN-13: 978-0774806183
• Product Dimensions: 14.6 x 9.6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,181,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars TOO MUCH, October 22, 2005

By 

Steven Mlodinow (Everett, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Birds of British Columbia: Volume 4 - Passerines, Wood-Warblers through Old World Sparrows (Hardcover)

This is actually a review of the entire four volume set that is The Birds of British Columbia. Clearly not restrained by limitations on space, the authors drone on endlessly. Finding useful information is like sifting river sand for gold flakes. It's there but requires a lot of work to accumulate. There are innumerable graphs, but these are just information blotted onto the pages without interpretation. One could easily get the idea that Mountain Bluebirds, for instance, are nearly as common on the south coast (where rare) as the interior (where common). Why? Because the graphs show total number of sightings, not adjusted for the overall effort (which is much higher in the populous areas around Vancouver and Victoria. The noteworthy sighting section often contains many sightings that leave me scratching my head as to why they are noteworthy. Pictures often seem included just because an author happened to have them on hand. There are lots of photos of bluebirds or phoebes nesting in manmade sites yet precious few photos of the birds themselves.

Rather than presenting every bit of data obtained, relatively unedited and undeciphered, the authors should have condensed the information into compact statements that focus on important points of status and distribution in British Columbia. The reader is left to do so on his/her own, which is at times is frankly impossible. Making all of this more onerous is the enormous size of the 4 volumes and the concurrent enormous expense.

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for every BC birdwatcher, May 28, 2009

By 

J. Hammond "logsalvor" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Birds of British Columbia: Volume 4 - Passerines, Wood-Warblers through Old World Sparrows (Hardcover)

If you can afford this wonderful book and you already own the previous three in this series, it's a must have.

Even if you've just started with a cheap small bird book and you've not yet reached the obsessive stage, this will undoubtedly show you the way, if not drive you all the way there. It provides everything you'll want to know about BC birds, and is very hard to put down, even though it's HUGE and heavy.

My husband had bought the first three in the series as soon as they were published, and now he has died, I was compelled to complete the set just for his sake. But I'm very glad I did because it has opened a new world for me.