Universally recognised as by far the most authoritative work ever published on the subject, The Birds of Africa is a superb multi-contributor reference work, with encyclopaedic species texts, stunning paintings of all species and numerous subspecies, hundreds of informative line drawings, detailed range maps, and extensive bibliographies. Each volume contains an Introduction that brings the reader up to date with the latest developments in African ornithology, including the evolution and biogeography of African birds. Diagnoses of the families and genera, often with superspecies maps, are followed by the comprehensive species accounts themselves. These include descriptions of range and status, field characters, voice, general habits, food, and breeding habits. Full bibliographies, acoustic references, and indexes complete this scholarly work of reference. This seventh and final volume in the series deals comprehensively with 309 species. These comprise all the seed-eating families, from sparrows to buntings and including weavers, widowbirds, whydahs and waxbills. The editors and artists have worked closely with other authors - all acknowledged experts in their field - to produce a superb reference in which comprehensive texts on every species are complemented by accurate and detailed paintings and drawings of the birds themselves.

Universally recognised as by far the most authoritative work ever published on the subject, The Birds of Africa is a superb multi-contributor reference work, with encyclopaedic species texts, stunning paintings of all species and numerous subspecies, hundreds of informative line drawings, detailed range maps, and extensive bibliographies. Each volume contains an Introduction that brings the reader up to date with the latest developments in African ornithology, including the evolution and biogeography of African birds. Diagnoses of the families and genera, often with superspecies maps, are followed by the comprehensive species accounts themselves. These include descriptions of range and status, field characters, voice, general habits, food, and breeding habits. Full bibliographies, acoustic references, and indexes complete this scholarly work of reference. This sixth volume in the series deals comprehensively with picathartes, babblers, long-tailed tits, tits, penduline tits, nuthatches, creepers, sunbirds, white-eyes, sugarbirds, true shrikes, bush-shrikes, bulbuls, helmet-shrikes, orioles, drongos, crows, starlings and oxpeckers. The editors and artists have worked closely with other authors - all acknowledged experts in their field - to produce a superb reference in which comprehensive texts on every species are complemented by accurate and detailed paintings and drawings of the birds themselves.

Publisher Description

A comprehensive treatment of the birds of the genus Saxicola. The genus Saxicola contains about 13 species, depending on taxonomy. They are a distinctive and popular group of birds, and include two very familiar and attractive British species - the Stonechat and Whinchat. This volume is primarily an identification guide, using colour plates and photographs to illustrate the various races and plumages, but the text also covers the biology, habitat and range of each species. DNA data is presented, and there are distribution maps for each species.

This book examines the current literature and knowledge on the evolution and ecology of all the birds named as eagles, with particular emphasis on the larger species. It also examines the past and current relations between eagles and people, including habitat change and conservation issues. Eagle ecologies and conservation are currently seriously impacted by human activities such as industrialization, urbanization, pollution, deforestation and hunting. Some eagle species have consequently experienced extreme population changes. There are, however, some positive developments. Eagles have a strong, historic bond with human civilization, due to their status as the world’s most charismatic birds. Conservation policies have also been successful in repopulating some ecosystems with breeding eagles. Therefore, despite the complexity of this relationship, there may yet be hope for this unique species group, frequently rated as the kings of birds, and symbolic of human power, ambition, royalty, nationality, and even concepts of God. It is hoped that this book will contribute to the further understanding of these unique and fantastic birds.

This Scientific Bibliography of the “Far Northern Drakensberg” is a continuation by the Afromontane Research Unit of the University of the Free State (ARU) to document published and other similar works on the mountains of the summer rainfall area of South Africa. It follows “A Scientific Bibliography of the Drakensberg, Maloti and Adjacent Lowlands” which was published in 2020 (Moffett 2020), and which covered the area between the North-Eastern Cape and the North-Eastern Free State. The current work extends this northward by including articles and publications dating back to 1875 (E.Cohen, on the Lydenburg goldfields) reaching as far as the Wolkberg and Woodbush near Tzaneen in Limpopo Province. Figure 1 shows the boundary of the area covered, and although referred to as the Far Northern Drakensberg in this work, it is identical to that described as the LMEE, Limpopo, Mpumalanga & Eswatini Escarpment by Clarke et al (2022). Although slightly separate from the “lower” escarpment, the mountainous Barberton and adjacent Eswatini area, as well as the Leolo Mountains in eastern Sekhukhuneland are also included. Details on how the boundary in figure 1 was determined are given in Clark et al (2022). Bibliographies on two further ranges in the summer rainfall area, viz. the Magaliesberg in Gauteng province and the Soutpansberg in Limpopo province are to be the subject of future compilations.