Kansas knows how to attract birds. Located in the very center of the North American continent, it straddles the Central Flyway, one of the primary migration "highways" between Canada and South America. It also contains a broad spectrum of habitats, including deciduous forest, grassland, sagebrush, and a remarkable system of internationally important wetlands. As a result of this unique combination of natural features, Kansas attracts most of the eastern bird fauna and many of the western and southern species, as well as those northern birds that either winter on the central plains or pass through during their migratory flights. The number of bird species recorded in the states is 424a total that places Kansas among the top five birding states in the country.

Note for the electronic edition: This draft has been assembled from information prepared by authors from around the world. It has been submitted for editing and production by the USDA Agricultural Research Service Information Staff and should be cited as an electronic draft of a forthcoming publication. Because the 1986 edition is out of print, because we have added much new and updated information, and because the time to publication for so massive a project is still many months away, we are making this draft widely available for comment from industry stakeholders, as well as university research, teaching and extension staff.

The processing of fruits continues to undergo rapid change. In the Handbook of Fruits and Fruit Processing, Dr. Y.H. Hui and his editorial team have assembled over forty respected academicians and industry professionals to create an indispensable resource on the scientific principles and technological methods for processing fruits of all types. The book describes the processing of fruits from four perspectives: a scientific basis, manufacturing and engineering principles, production techniques, and processing of individual fruits. A scientific knowledge of the horticulture, biology, chemistry, and nutrition of fruits forms the foundation. A presentation of technological and engineering principles involved in processing fruits is a prelude to their commercial production. As examples, the manufacture of several categories of fruit products is discussed. The final part of the book discusses individual fruits, covering their harvest to a finished product in a retail market. As a professional reference book replete with the latest research or as a practical textbook filled with example after example of commodity applications, the Handbook of Fruits and Fruit Processing is the current, comprehensive, yet compact resource ideal for the fruit industry.