Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palearctic Volume VI: Warblers [Hardcover]

the late Stanley Cramp (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198575092 | ISBN-13: 978-0198575092 | Publication Date: January 28, 1993

This new and authoritative reference work takes into account the great advances made in ornithology since the publication of the Handbook of British Birds (1938-41), which for many years provided the basis on which ornithological research was built. Ornithologists now work on a wider geographical basis and this new Handbook covers the whole of the western Palearctic. The eight volumes together contain descriptions of over 760 species of birds, of which about 600 are breeding species. Each breeding species is described in full, with sections on field characters, habitat, distribution, mortality and longevity, population (with maps showing the breeding and wintering areas), social pattern and behavior, breeding, food, voice, plumages, moults, measurements, weights, structure, and geographical variation. Regular migration and accidental species are treated under these headings where relevant. This volume, the sixth in the series, contains descriptions of 64 species. Each volume features specially commissioned color plates of each species, showing the full range of normal plumage together with more distant flight views. Color plates of eggs, black-and-white illustrations, and many text-figures showing such features as display postures, voice sonograms and melograms, and annual cycles are also in abundance. The Handbook is an indispensable work of reference, both for the professional scientist and for the ever-growing body of amateur ornithologists whose range of interests is expanding every year.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`This sixth volume will certainly be required by everyone who has already purchased the earlier volumes, but will also have a worldwide appeal to birdwatchers interested in the group which sets some of the trickiest identification problems. A single volume dealing with all the species of Western Palearctic warblers cannot fail to have a very wide appeal.' Dr J.T.R. Sharrock, British Birds

'the year's most important bird book, the 736-page 6th volume of the Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa ... Two more will later complete this classic, #500 authority on the Western Palearctic ... a necessity on every serious ornithologist's bookshelf.' Eric Hardy, Daily Post

'the long-awaited sixth volume in the Birds of the Western Palearctic series ... This is the essential book for anyone who has the series - or it's an opportunity to start collecting them.' Venue

'something close to the Encyclopaedia Britannica in its early days ... For biologists as well as birders there is nothing to compare with the BWP ... the most comprehensive study of the avifauna - or any animal group - that has ever been attempted.' John Hillaby, City Recorder

'BWP continues to provide essential, in-depth treatment of all the birds of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East BWP gets more detailed with every volume: all the more for us to dig into and discover more reasons why we think birds are so wonderful.' Birds Magazine, Spring 1993

'The five previous volumes of BWP, as it is widely known, have received excellent reviews and it is clear that volume 6 is of the same high standard ... an indispensable reference work' John Coveney, Irish Wildbird Conservancy Newsletter, Number 74, Spring 1993

'the most comprehensive study of the avifauna - or any animal group - that has ever been attempted' John Hillaby, Ham and High

'The presentation of the work is up to the high standard expected from Oxford University Press and, of course, it matches the rest of the set in your bookcase. This volume is worth buying.' Colin Bradshaw, British Birds, Vol. 86, No. 3, March 1993

'this is a milestone in modern ornithology which contains observations from an army of fieldworkers' Stan da Prato, Scottish Bird News

From reviews of previous volumes: `. . . A wholly praiseworthy project, unique within this half century.' New Scientist

Product Details

• Hardcover: 760 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 28, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198575092
• ISBN-13: 978-0198575092
• Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 8.8 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,937,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)