Birds: A Complete Guide to their Biology and Behavior

by Jonathan Elphick

The World of Birds focused primarily on the taxonomy of birds with coverage of the 32 orders and 195 families of birds. It included information on avian biology but not comprehensive coverage. A Complete Guide to their Biology and Behavior does exactly that, in a shorter, more affordable book. Highly respected ornithologist and wildlife expert Jonathan Elphick begins by defining the distinguishing features of birds before going on to describe their evolution since the age of the dinosaurs. With the aid of fact boxes and clear photographs, he explores in greater detail each of the significant elements of bird He also considers human attitudes towards birds through the ages. With special photography from award-winning wildlife photographer David Tipling and many other top bird photographers, this book is a unique insight into the world of birds and essential reading for all ornithologists, bird watchers and natural history enthusiasts.

Genres: Birds, Science, Nonfiction, Animals, Nature, Natural History, Reference

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2016

Reviews

[Laura Flett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this book is phenomenol. There is more knowledge in it then the average person will ever need. The book has carefully considered photographs that are in themselves amazing. The author also does an excellent job of ensuring that common terms utilized for birds also found in Britain are correctly interchanged to North American common names where appropriate. I especially loved the information on the first bird (chapter 1).

What misses the mark for me are things that are small in significance but in themselves, add up to me not giving this book five stars. The first is that the author assumes that the reader knows human anatomy and physiology along with plane aerodynamics. If you do not, some areas of this book may be confusing at times. Furthermore, when the author lists names of birds with both their common and scientific names, the sentence(s) can become confusing to follow. The anatomy and physiology section, taking the bulk of the book should be split into more chapters. Again very minor details that could use some work.

If your a ornithology enthusiast looking for a well written thorough book that concentrates on adaptations, physiology and anatomy this book is for you.