Product Description

New Naturalist Wildfowl provides a much-anticipated overview of the fascinating birds that have become icons of our diminishing wilderness areas. Wildfowl -- swans, geese and ducks -- have been the subject of poetry, fables, folklore and music, and a source of inspiration to writers, artists, historians and naturalists alike. Historically, they have featured prominently in our diet -- more recently they have become the most widely domesticated group of birds. Wildfowl have been scientifically studied more intensively than any other group of birds and were one of the first groups to highlight more general issues of conservation. Their status as the most popular group of birds is underlined by the success of the original Wildfowl Trust (now the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust). David Cabot has been obsessed with wildfowl for nearly sixty years. In this seminal new work, he discusses the 56 species of wildfowl that have been recorded either in a natural state, or that have been introduced and now maintain self-sustaining populations in Britain and Ireland. He focuses on their social behaviour, feeding ecology and population dynamics, and in particular their seasonal migration patterns. He also explores the evolution and history of wildfowl and our long relationship with them, through popular mythology and legends, which continue to fascinate us with a sense of mystery and awe.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51134 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
'Superb photographs and paintings' The Irish Times Praise for David Cabot's previous New Naturalist: Ireland 'Ireland is a monumental, near-definitive natural history of this country ! a valuable, scientifically-based, professionally-indexed and accessible study !' The Irish Times 'An outstanding reference work as well as a compendium of fascinating detail. It deserves an honoured place on the library shelves of every home and school.' Sunday Independent Dublin Praise for the New Naturalist series: 'The series is an amazing achievement.' The Times Literary Supplement 'The books are glorious to own.' Independent

About the Author
Dr David Cabot has been involved with nature in Ireland for the last forty years, initially at Trinity College, Dublin, then at the University of Galway and then in numerous government positions, culminating in being the special adviser to the Irish Prime Minister.

Customer Reviews

Good, but not quite great
Wildfowl is the latest in the New Naturalist series, and is written by David Cabot, who was also the author of the volume on Ireland. Given the interest in ducks, geese and swans it is perhaps surprising that this is the first specialist volume on the group within the series.

The bulk of the book is taken up with a review of 56 species in the UK, comprising native wildfowl plus established escaped species. There are also chapters on wildfowl and people, social behaviour, food and feeding ecology, population dynamics and wildfowl conservation. Identification is not especially well covered, but that is not the purpose of the book, nor indeed of the New Naturalist series.

Has the author risen to his task? Yes, this follows the majority of recent New Naturalists in being readable, and enabling the reader to come away feeling better informed on the subject. Niggles? Yes, a few. Sadly, numbers in the text just refer to endnotes, which then refer on to the bibliography, meaning that double handling is necessary to get to a reference. I had hoped that after the complaints about this system in the volume on Dragonflies the publishers would abandon it, but apparently not. The author has also opted to use international names rather than those familiar in the UK, for example goosander becomes common merganser. Given that this book is aimed at the UK market, I would have preferred the familiar names to be retained. Lastly, although the book is copiously illustrated in colour, many of the plates are either very dark, very contrasty, or both.

These minor niggles apart, this is a fine addition to the series.

wildfowl
Excellent edition of the outstanding series of new naturalist.
These books are beautifully presented and a pleasure to own.I would highly recomend this book to anyone who enjoys owning high quality books and of course has an interest in nature.