Pelicans, Cormorants, and their Relatives
Pelicans, Cormorants, and their Relatives

Author: J. Bryan Nelson

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2006-01-26

Total Pages: 680

ISBN-13: 0191547263

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The pelecaniformes are a large and important group of seabirds, containing many spectacular species. This book addresses the breeding biology of the six pelecaniform families, which comprise the closely-related core groups (pelicans, cormorants/shags, darters, gannets/boobies) and their more distant relatives, the frigate birds and tropic birds. Many fundamental questions can be addressed through the pelecaniformes: Why do they breed in colonies? What are the links between their feeding methods and their reproduction? What part does territorial and pairing behaviour play in their life-cycles? These and scores of comparable issues, including those related to man, are woven here into a richly interpretative text. The author's approach to the subject is threefold. First, the pelecaniformes are placed within the framework of four discrete disciplines, with chapters on evolutionary relationships, comparative behaviour, ecology, and the birds' relationship with humans. Secondly, each of the six families is discussed, elucidating the range of taxonomy, behaviour, and ecology within each. Finally, we progress to specific level, using the same structure as for the family accounts. In this way, each of the 60-odd species can be understood not just as discrete units, but as part of their family and order. The book is unique in its coverage of the entire order and in its combination of facts and interpretation. Pelicans, Cormorants, and their Allies will enable readers not only to identify the many spectacular species which make up this large and important group of seabirds, but also to understand their breeding biology.

The Birds of Africa: Volume I
The Birds of Africa: Volume I

Author:

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-06-25

Total Pages: 568

ISBN-13: 1408189089

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Universally recognised as by far the most authoritative work ever published on the subject, The Birds of Africa is a superb multi-contributor reference work, with encyclopaedic species texts, stunning paintings of all species and numerous subspecies, hundreds of informative line drawings, detailed range maps, and extensive bibliographies. Each volume contains an Introduction that brings the reader up to date with the latest developments in African ornithology, including the evolution and biogeography of African birds. Diagnoses of the families and genera, often with superspecies maps, are followed by the comprehensive species accounts themselves. These include descriptions of range and status, field characters, voice, general habits, food, and breeding habits. Full bibliographies, acoustic references, and indexes complete this scholarly work of reference. This first volume in the series deals comprehensively with Ostrich, albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, storm-petrels, penguins, divers, grebes, tropicbirds, boobies, cormorants, darter, pelicans, frigatebirds, herons, Hamerkop, storks, Shoebill, ibises and spoonbills, flamingos, swans, geese and ducks, and diurnal birds of prey. The editors and artists have worked closely with other authors - all acknowledged experts in their field - to produce a superb reference in which comprehensive texts on every species are complemented by accurate and detailed paintings and drawings of the birds themselves.

The Gannet
The Gannet

Author: Bryan Nelson

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2010-11-30

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1408138573

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This work is a distillation of the studies and researches on Sula bassana in Europe and North America, with frequent reference to the African and Australasian gannets. The author is internationally known for his work on the North Atlantic gannet and the boobies. His studies of the gannetry on the Bass Rock over many years have formed the basis for most of our knowledge of the gannet's ecology, its breeding cycle and behaviour. There is also a chapter on the boobies, all of which have been studied at first hand by the author. Chapter topics are plumage, shape, structure and voice; numbers and distribution; behaviour; ecology; the bird at sea; the gannet family and the order; the gannet and man. There are many tables, maps and a full bibliography. The authoritative text is complemented by John Busby's brilliant and evocative drawings, plus 32 pages of photographs, many unpublished hitherto.

African Islands
African Islands

Author: Toyin Falola

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 158046954X

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Explores the culturally complex and cosmopolitan histories of islands off the African coast

Conservation of Marine Birds
Conservation of Marine Birds

Author: Lindsay Young

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2022-09-27

Total Pages: 626

ISBN-13: 0323885403

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Conservation of Marine Birds is the first book to outline and synthesize the myriad of threats faced by one of the most imperiled groups of birds on earth. With more than half of all 346 seabird species worldwide experiencing population declines and 29% of species recognized as globally threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the timing to determine solutions to threats could not be more urgent. Written by a diverse team of international experts on marine birds, this book explores the environmental and biogeographical factors that influence seabird conservation and provides concrete recommendations for mounting climate change issues. This book will be an important resource for researchers and conservationists, as well as ecologists and students who want to understand seabirds, the threats they are facing, and tactics to help conserve and protect them. - Outlines both threats and solutions in the marine and terrestrial realm - Synthesizes information to provide a comprehensive strategy moving forward, especially considering climate change - Created by a team of experts with the latest and most comprehensive knowledge of seabird conservation

West African Soldiers in Britain's Colonial Army (1860-1960)
West African Soldiers in Britain's Colonial Army (1860-1960)

Author: Timothy Stapleton

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 1648250254

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"West African Soldiers in Britain's Colonial Army, 1860-1960 explores the history of Britain's West African colonial army based in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Gambia placing it within a broader social context and emphasizing, as far as possible, the experience of the ordinary soldier. The aim is not to describe the many battles and campaigns fought by this force but to look at the development of the West African colonial army as an institution over the course of about a century. In pursuing this goal, it is sometimes useful to employ the lens of military culture defined differently by scholars but essentially meaning a set of shared ideas and behaviors that inform daily life in the military. While other locally recruited colonial militaries in Africa have attracted considerable attention from historians as they served as an essential pillar supporting European rule, this book represents the first comprehensive scholarly study of Britain's West African army which was the largest such British-led force south of the Sahara. The study is based on extensive archival research conducted in nine archives located in five countries"--

The Ecology and Management of Biological Invasions in Southern Africa
The Ecology and Management of Biological Invasions in Southern Africa

Author: I. A. W. Macdonald

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13:

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Based on a symposium held by the South African National Programme for Ecosystem Research, this book has been compiled in response to the increasing realization worldwide, but notably in South Africa, that introduced species pose a true ecological and economic threat to agricultural and conservation activities. The authors review current knowledge and management practice in response to the invasive spread of introduced species in South Africa, and focus on the study of species which have invaded non-agricultural regions, thereby disrupting natural ecosystem processes. The ecological processes involved are described, as are basic principles of management of invasive species in protected ecosystems and grazing lands. Using case studies to demonstrate timing location rate, extent of spread, mode and motivation of introduction, impact, and control strategies for a variety of South African species, this unique work offers helpful guidelines for management and ecological understanding that can be applied internationally.