Customer Reviews

Bird Census Techniques, Second Edition

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This is an extremely useful guide to anyone thinking about doing a serious bird count. I myself have counted birds on many habitats and for many reasons, and I had to review a large number of papers before adopting a counting method. Now, with this book in hand, all essential techniques of counting birds, whether in the tropics or temperate regions, are within minutes reach! I found this title highly useful for my bird census studies. It is a highly practical work. I recommend it for anyone who counts birds, whether for serious scientific work or just as a simple hobby.

This book is probably the standard reference for bird census techniques. It's the first that I consult when planning a field study, with good summaries of the pros and cons of different methods. I feel that some of the recommendations are more relevant to summer breeding censuses in the northern hemisphere, however, where forest passerines are strongly territorial and density is a meaningful concept.

The binding is poor, made in England. It's a rather compact book and costs a considerable sum of money, but Bird Census Techniques is a reference that any serious field ornithologist must have.

Stephen.

This book has a very good step by step approach to determining different ways in which to count birds. Each chapter closes with a good list of the pros and cons of different types of sampling. Very useful
Bruce

As someone who has worked with the public to do bird conservation, I have found this book to be helpful in helping to explain the techniques & issues that scientists face when doing ecological censusing.

Other than the fact that most of the species that are mentioned are Old World species (a moot point since the topics & techniques are universal), this is a good book. One thing I would like to see, is a North American version that uses examples based on New World species, & how these censuses & projects relate to our conservation laws in the U.S. The authors make mention of several British or European laws dealing with habitat conservation and restoration. It would be interesting to see U.S. examples based on our laws.

Overall, a good read for anyone getting into citizen-based bird science & conservation, or introductory-level college ecology students.