A review of "Seabirds: A Natural History".
Anthony J. Gaston is an ornithologist who worked for 30 years for the
Canadian Wildlife Service, specializing in the ecology of seabirds. He is
therefore eminently qualified to write a general natural history of birds found
mostly at sea: albatrosses, petrels, auks, boobies, etc.
I admit that I only skimmed his book, since most of it is rather technical and "boring" from the perspective of the general reader. However, I don't doubt that this book could be of considerable interest to students of ornithology, or perhaps very advanced bird-watchers.
All aspects of seabird natural history seem to be covered: coloniality, feeding behaviour, plumage, the life cycle, distribution, extinctions... There are very few illustrations, but the few colour photos are excellent. The author has also thrown in some personal anecdotes from his years as a researcher.
All in all, this looks like a relatively good book on the subject, so I give it four stars. But, as most volumes in the Poyser series, it's mostly for scientists.
I admit that I only skimmed his book, since most of it is rather technical and "boring" from the perspective of the general reader. However, I don't doubt that this book could be of considerable interest to students of ornithology, or perhaps very advanced bird-watchers.
All aspects of seabird natural history seem to be covered: coloniality, feeding behaviour, plumage, the life cycle, distribution, extinctions... There are very few illustrations, but the few colour photos are excellent. The author has also thrown in some personal anecdotes from his years as a researcher.
All in all, this looks like a relatively good book on the subject, so I give it four stars. But, as most volumes in the Poyser series, it's mostly for scientists.
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