Zum Hauptinhalt springen Zur Suche springen Zur Hauptnavigation springen
Beschreibung

Imagine a bird as small as a sparrow, which lives most of its life on the open ocean yet can survive for decades. It walks on the water, and migrates half way around the world, returning to remote islands to breed underground, often in exactly the same rock crevice each year. To attract a mate it sings like a fairy and smells aromatic, but it vomits oil onto its enemies. It visits its nest by night, lays a single enormous egg, and feeds its chick until the nestling weighs more than both parents put together. It seems to have little fear of humans, but was itself feared by ancient seafarers. This might sound like the stuff of legend, but is actually the description of the European Storm-petrel, a member of the Hydrobatidae family.

The latest in the Poyser series, with comprehensive text and beautiful illustrations, this follows the remarkable life of the storm-petrel. Focusing on the European species, it tracks their lives from the remote North Atlantic islands, where they breed via the coasts of Africa, to the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, where they spend the northern winter. There is also discussion on other members of the storm-petrel family. We learn about their evolution, behaviour, ecology, and adaptations to a life in the harsh and unpredictable environment of the open ocean, and discover what these enigmatic seabirds can tell us about what humans are doing to our planet.

Imagine a bird as small as a sparrow, which lives most of its life on the open ocean yet can survive for decades. It walks on the water, and migrates half way around the world, returning to remote islands to breed underground, often in exactly the same rock crevice each year. To attract a mate it sings like a fairy and smells aromatic, but it vomits oil onto its enemies. It visits its nest by night, lays a single enormous egg, and feeds its chick until the nestling weighs more than both parents put together. It seems to have little fear of humans, but was itself feared by ancient seafarers. This might sound like the stuff of legend, but is actually the description of the European Storm-petrel, a member of the Hydrobatidae family.

The latest in the Poyser series, with comprehensive text and beautiful illustrations, this follows the remarkable life of the storm-petrel. Focusing on the European species, it tracks their lives from the remote North Atlantic islands, where they breed via the coasts of Africa, to the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, where they spend the northern winter. There is also discussion on other members of the storm-petrel family. We learn about their evolution, behaviour, ecology, and adaptations to a life in the harsh and unpredictable environment of the open ocean, and discover what these enigmatic seabirds can tell us about what humans are doing to our planet.

Über den Autor
Rob Thomas is a Senior Lecturer in Zoology at Cardiff University, where he has been based for more than 20 years. He specialises in bird behaviour and ecology, particularly the behavioural responses of birds to changing environments. Rob has been involved in storm-petrel studies since he was 16, and his research now takes him to islands in Wales, Scotland and the Faroes to study storm-petrel breeding behaviour, and to the coasts of southern Portugal, where he examines their long-distance migration journeys.
Zusammenfassung
Author is the world's leading authority on storm-petrels
Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
1. Introduction: the European Storm-petrel and its relatives
2. What is a storm-petrel?
3. The challenges of survival at sea
4. Diet and foraging behaviour
5. The storm-petrel's sensory world
6. Tracking the tiniest seabirds
7. Communication and mate choice
8. Breeding biology
9. Predators, parasites and pathogens
10. Conservation of storm-petrels
11. The southern storm-petrels
12. The northern storm-petrels
13. Storm-petrels in human culture
14. Encounters with storm-petrels
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
References
Glossary
Index

Details
Erscheinungsjahr: 2024
Fachbereich: Zoologie
Genre: Biologie, Importe
Rubrik: Naturwissenschaften & Technik
Medium: Taschenbuch
Inhalt: Kartoniert / Broschiert
ISBN-13: 9781472985828
ISBN-10: 1472985826
Sprache: Englisch
Einband: Kartoniert / Broschiert
Autor: Thomas, Rob
Hersteller: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Libri GmbH, Europaallee 1, D-36244 Bad Hersfeld, gpsr@libri.de
Maße: 234 x 157 x 23 mm
Von/Mit: Rob Thomas
Erscheinungsdatum: 18.07.2024
Gewicht: 0,758 kg
Artikel-ID: 125629045

Ähnliche Produkte

Taschenbuch