Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America

by Howell, Steve N. G.; Patteson, J. Brian (COL); Sutherland, Kate (CON); Shearwater, Debra L. (COL)

• ISBN13: 9780691142111
• ISBN10: 0691142114
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-01-04
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Petrels, albatrosses, and storm-petrels are among the most beautiful yet least known of all the world's birds, living their lives at sea far from the sight of most people. Largely colored in shades of gray, black, and white, these enigmatic and fast-flying seabirds can be hard to differentiate, particularly from a moving boat. Useful worldwide, not just in North America, this photographic guide is based on unrivaled field experience and combines insightful text and hundreds of full-color images to help you identify these remarkable birds. The first book of its kind, this guide features an introduction that explains ocean habitats and the latest developments in taxonomy. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features such as flight manner, plumage variation related to age and molt, seasonal occurrence patterns, and migration routes. Species accounts are arranged into groups helpful for field identification, and an overview of unique identification challenges is provided for each group. The guide also includes distribution maps for regularly occurring species as well as a bibliography, glossary, and appendixes. The first state-of-the-art photographic guide to these enigmatic seabirds Includes hundreds of full-color photos throughout Features detailed species accounts that describe flight, plumage, distribution, and more Provides overviews of ocean habitats, taxonomy, and conservation Offers tips on how to observe and identify birds at sea

Table of Contents

List of Species Covered	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
How to Use This Book	p. xvii
Format of the Species Accounts	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
What Are Tubenoses?	p. 1
Ocean Habitats	p. 5
Current Systems	p. 6
Thermoclines, Upwelling, and Fronts	p. 6
Habitat Associations	p. 10
Phylogeny, Biogeography, and Vagrancy	p. 13
Taxonomy and an Identification Framework	p. 14
Family Procellariidae: Petrels	p. 17
Family Diomedeidae: Albatrosses	p. 19
Family Hydrobatidae: Northern Storm-Petrels	p. 20
Family Oceanitidae: Southern Storm-Petrels	p. 21
Field Identification of Tubenoses	p. 21
Age, Sex, Individual, and Geographic Variation	p. 21
Flight Manner	p. 24
Environmental Factors	p. 28
Appearance and Topography	p. 30
Molts, Plumages, and Aging	p. 38
How to See Tubenoses	p. 45
Conservation	p. 46
Threats to Seabirds	p. 47
Seabirds as Indicators	p. 48
Species Accounts	p. 454
Abbreviations and Terminology	p. 455
Recently Extinct Species	p. 459
Hypothetical Records	p. 461
Literature Cited	p. 463
Index	p. 481
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