Breeding along the northern Pacific coast from British Columbia to Japan, this little known bird dwelt in relative obscurity until it became the focus of a conservation debate which has resulted in a new National Park in the Queen Charlotte Islands, where half the world's population breeds. It made the headlines again when a lost, lone bird suddenly appeared at Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel, England, in May 1990 and again in April 1991. The Ancient Murrelet and its three congeners are unique amongst seabirds in that their young are entirely precocial, leaving the nest as soon as they hatch to grow up at sea. Tony Gaston has carried out the only detailed study of the bird, in the fine mature coastal forests of the Queen Charlotte Islands. His work has revealed their complex social behaviour, the song behaviour of the males and the species' response to the variety of predators which they face - from Peregrines to Deer Mice. His story is set against a survey of the species worldwide and the grandeur of the northwest Pacific coast. The illustrations of Ian Jones, who also assisted with the research, capture the bird and its environment beautifully.

“Rare insights into the trials and joys of scientific discovery.” —Publisher’s Weekly

This volume completes the nonpasserine species and contains accounts for the diurnal birds of prey through woodpeckers.

As initially planned in 1939 by Owen J. Gromme, then curator of birds at the Milwaukee Public Museum, Wisconsin Birdlife would not only describe and document every species of bird known to have visited this state, but would also depict each species with his own original paintings. During the next two decades, Gromme concentrated primarily on the latter, resulting in the separate publication in 1963 of his now classic Birds of Wisconsin. Work on the present volume was assumed in the late 1960s by Samuel D. Robbins, whose labors of more than 20 years give us a veritable encyclopedia of the state's ornithological knowledge. A complement and supplement to field guides, picture books, and recordings, the book is designed to enlarge the reader's understanding and appreciation of statewide history, abundance, and habitat preference of every species reliably recorded in Wisconsin. The volume opens with a summary of the ornithological history of the state and an exposition of its ecological setting. The heart of Wisconsin Birdlife ensues: detailed accounts of nearly 400 species, with information on status (population and distribution), habitat, migration dates, breeding data, and wintering presence, followed by extensive discussion and commentary. Dr. James Hall Zimmerman, Senior Lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides a special discussion of bird habitats for the book. In addition, Wisconsin Birdlife features a comprehensive status and seasonal distribution chart, a detailed habitat preference chart, and an exhaustive bibliography. The ultimate resource, Wisconsin Birdlife belongs within easy reach of everyone from armchair appreciators and casual birdwatchers to ardent birders and professional ornithologists.

A mail questionnaire survey of waterfowl hunters is conducted each year in the United States to provide information on waterfowl kill and hunter activity. We carried out a study using data from the 1971-73 and 1972-73 hunting seasons to determine the effectiveness of the present U.S. sampling and estimation techniques, and a number of modifications in both sampling and analysis is recommended.

One egg from each of 440 clutches of eggs of 19 species of Alaskan seabirds collected in 1973-76 was analyzed for organochlorine residues. Both frequency of occurrence and concentration of residues in the eggs differed geographically and by species, apparently reflecting non-uniform distribution of organochlorines in the environment, dissimilar feeding habits and migration patterns of the species, or metabolic differences among the species.