« Think about how we know about past events in human history (e.g., the expansion of the Roman Empire, or the American Revolution). What types of records document those events? Now think about Earth's history, specifically the past environmental or climatic conditions at times before recorded human history. What records might there be of such conditions? Make a list of your ideas. n assemblage of five major types of natural archives of Earth's environmental and climatic history. What common feature(s) do each of these paleoclimate archives share? an assemblage of 5 major types of natural records, or archives, of Earth's environmental and climatic history. Just like a diary or other historical document, the layers in these natural archives contain indirect evidence (i.e., proxies) about past conditions and events, recorded in a sequential order. The evidence is specific to a certain time period and may be general or very detailed, depending on the rate that information was recorded. The faster the rate at which the recorder grew (trees and corals), accumulated (snow and ice), or was deposited (sedimentary sequences), the more detailed the record is, and the higher its resolution. For example, a record in which an annual signal can observed has a very high resolution. In contrast, if the finest observable details are on the order of a million years, then that record would have a low resolution. »--

Are you curious about the remains of an animal you have found? This compilation of the most likely found body parts of animals eaten by raptors will help you identify your discovery. Including over 100 species of bird and mammal prey of raptors such as sparrowhawks, peregrines and hen harriers, this photographic guide highlights the common feathers, fur and other body parts found at raptor nests, roosts, plucking posts and other opportunistic spots. Discovering what raptors eat is an important part of confirming their feeding ecology and how this might change over time, vary on a local level or in response to changing prey populations, as well as dispelling myths and assumptions about what certain raptor species eat. Diet studies are vital for the conservation of raptor species; the more we know about what they need for survival the more we can predict and plan long-term for the protection and survival of raptors that may be vulnerable and in decline. This is the first book to show in detail the actual parts of a bird, mammal or other animal that you are likely to find in a garden, woodland or beneath a raptor roost. As more people take an interest in raptors and watch species such as peregrines via webcams and through watch groups, there is greater opportunity for finding prey remains. This book provides the first and most important step in identifying a prey species.

Until recently, surprisingly little has been known about the biology and behavior of tropical forest raptors, including such basic aspects as diets, breeding biology, habitat requirements, and population ecology, information critical to the development of conservation efforts. The Peregrine Fund conducted a significant eight-year-long research program on the raptor species, including owls, in Tikal National Park in Guatemala to learn more about Neotropical birds of prey. Impressive and unprecedented in scale, this pioneering research also involved the development of new methods for detecting, enumerating, and studying these magnificent but often elusive birds in their forest home. Beautifully illustrated with photographs of previously little-known species, the resulting book is the most important single source for information on the lowland tropical forest raptor species found in Central America.Neotropical Birds of Prey covers twenty specific species in depth, including the Ornate Hawk-Eagle, the Barred Forest-Falcon, the Bat Falcon, and the Mexican Wood Owl, offering thorough synopses of all current knowledge regarding breeding biology and behavior, diet, habitat use, and spatial needs. Contributors to this landmark work also show how the populations fit together as a community with overlapping habitat and prey needs that can put them in competition with reptiles and mammalian carnivores as well, yet differ from one another in their nesting or feeding behaviors and population dynamics. The work's substantive original data offer interesting comparisons between tropical and temperate zone species, and provide a basis for establishing conservation measures based on firsthand research. Making available for the first time new data on the biology, ecology, behavior, and conservation of the majestic owls and raptors of the New World tropics, this book will appeal to a wide ornithological readership, especially the many raptor enthusiasts around the world.

Applied Raptor Ecology provides raptor researchers with the blueprint to determine which questions should be asked, record consistent data usable by researchers worldwide, apply appropriate analysis of those data, and break down the obstacles to collaboration. Editors Dr. David Anderson and Dr. Christopher McClure of The Peregrine Fund and Dr. Alastair Franke of the Arctic Raptors Project recruited 13 raptor ecology experts from around the world to contribute chapters ranging in scope from terminology to systematic data management to home range estimation: examples of estimator effects. Anderson states, "This book is designed to be almost like a cookbook to enable readers to collect data in a standardized, well-organized manner and run analyses based on the questions they want to answer. The gyrfalcon is the species we chose as a case study to illustrate raptor biology techniques, but these methods and questions can be applied to almost any raptor species around the world."Applied Raptor Ecology is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of every biologist, whether in the field for many years or as an entry level graduate planning a thesis project. Additional features of this book include:* a companion website for users to download computer code to perform analyses in R that are adaptable to individual research needs and questions* a photographic and morphometric guide to aging Gyrfalcon nestlings* guidelines for conducting a camera study of nesting raptors

This book is the ultimate flight-identification guide for the raptors of the Western Palaearctic, covering Europe, North Africa, the Middle East (including Arabia) to Central Asia. Raptors are notoriously hard to identify, even if seen well, and represent perhaps the toughest of all ID challenges for birders. This guide provides identification information for all 60 species that regularly occur in the region, to subspecific level. The text covers every plumage and age in detail, with each species account accompanied by a range of photographs covering all the principal plumages. Based on this stunning photographic coverage, most of which has never been published before, this book represents a landmark in bird identification books and a major work for all raptor enthusiasts.

Monitoring protocols are presented for: landbirds; raptors; small, medium and large mammals; bats; terrestrial amphibians and reptiles; vertebrates in aquatic ecosystems; plant species, and habitats.