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Essential Ornithology provides the reader with a concise but comprehensive introduction to the biology of birds, one of the most widely studied taxonomic groups. The book begins by considering the dinosaur origins of birds and their subsequent evolution. Development, anatomy, and physiology are then discussed followed by chapters devoted to avian reproduction, migration, ecology, and conservation. Sections dealing with aspects of bird/human relationships and bird conservation give the book an applied context. This new edition has been thoroughly updated, providing new information from rapidly-developing fields including the avian fossil record, urban and agricultural ecology, responses to climate change, invasive species biology, technologies to track movement, avian disease, and the role of citizen scientists. There is also a greater focus on North American ornithology. Drawing extensively upon the wider scientific literature, this engaging text places the results of classical studies of avian biology alongside the most recent scientific breakthroughs. Useful case studies are presented in a concise and engaging style with the student reader foremost in mind. Key points are highlighted and suggestions for guided reading and key references are included throughout. Essential Ornithology is a companion textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in avian science, as well as a useful reference for professional researchers and consultants. Amateur ornithologists will also find this book offers a scientifically rigorous and accessible overview for a more general readership.

Volume 5 of this series continues its coverage of currently active re search fields in ornithology. Because an editor can never be a disin terested observer of his or her own editorial efforts, any claim for su periority of this volume is not without conflict of interest. Even so, Volume 5 has certain merits that even a parent should acknowledge, and I find the current chapters not merely timely and authoritative but compelling in their demand for a reader's attention. Wolfgang and Roswitha Wiltschko provide a perceptive review of magnetic orientation in birds, a piece dedicated to Fritz Merkel, the pioneer in studies of magnetic orientation. Sergei Kharitonov and Doug las Siegel-Causey are concerned with the behavioral ecology of seabird coloniality, emphasizing their field experiences in the USSR and the United States. Ted Miller examines the application of studies of bird behavior to comparative biology, pursuing the interface of behavior and evolutionary biology adumbrated by Konrad Lorenz in the 1930s. Jeremy Raynor gives us a summary of the work over the past decade on bird flight, which is not, by turns, as complex or as simple as we had formerly believed. Carrol Henderson describes recent develop ments in nongame bird conservation, based on his pioneering work in the State of Minnesota. Alan Kamil discusses optimal experimental design for research in ornithology, a field in which experimental work is frequently difficult to pursue.