Overview

This text presents the tundra plovers, comprising of the grey plover and the Eurasian, Pacific, and American golden plovers. Breeding on tundra or northern heaths and moorland, they migrate far south to coastal mudflats, saltings and agricultural landscapes. The text examines the taxonomy, appearance, behaviour, ecology and conservation of golden and grey plovers, and compares and contrasts their natural history and biogeography. It also gives accounts on all aspects of their lifestyle including feeding, mating, parental care, moults, migration and avoidance of predators.

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9780856611094

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Reviews

A well-researched book packed with information. It should appeal to all shorebird enthusiasts, as well as anybody concerned with the ecology of Arctic regions. -- Martin K. McNicholl North American Bird Bander Everything known about these birds is summarized in a very readable way, and the numerous appendices and tables testify to the massive amount of information, with great attention to detail, that has been researched... Birders will appreciate the very detailed discussions of variation, plumage, and molt in the four species. I recommend Tunda Plovers highly, especially to birders with a serious interest in shorebird biology. -- Dennis Paulson Birding There is plenty for the statistically-minded, and the serious researcher, as well as for the general wader-watcher. If you can't buy it, request it from the library! -- Geoff Gibbs Essex Birding Tundra Plovers is an ambitious and rewarding comparative treatment of the four species in the genus Pluvialis. [It] is an extraordinarily attractive book for one so filled with hard ornithological information. -- Peter G. Connors Auk Byrkjedal and Thompson, research scientists from Norway and Scotland, respectively, have melded their specialties of ecology and animal behavior to produce a thoroughly comprehensive analysis of four species of closely related northern hemisphere shorebirds. Choice This is a highly informative book, well presented and in an attractive format. The authors should be congratulated for producing such an easily readable, yet highly informative text which, I believe, will be the key reference for these birds for many years to come. -- Mark Whittingham Ibis It is a deeply inspired book, the labour of love from a gifted Norwegian/Scottish duo. The book is beautiful for its many original drawings by Ingvar Byrkjedal and for its text, and it provides an incredible, worldwide, compilation of data on the birds' morphology, distribution, population sizes, breeding schedules, breeding behaviour, migration patterns and schedules and diets. If you love, or even just like, plovers and the habitats in which they occur, this is a book for you. -- Theunis Piersma Ardea [A] comprehensive review of ecology, behaviour, migrations and biogeography of the genus. The large format and the ... technique of including extensive detail in appendices and tables at the back of the book allow a wealth of information to be presented; the text is well supported by the numerous photographs and drawings. Arctic and mountain regions fascinate many people; so do shorebirds; not only such specialists but many other birdwatchers will get much use and pleasure from this book. -- Jeremy J.D. Greenwood Habitat Written by two authors with over 50 years experience studying tundra plovers between them, this book is as complete an account of their biology as the current state of our knowledge will allow. Every aspect of the ecology of the four species involved is considered in detai... [A] treasure to students and researchers alike... All in all a very nice book. Highly recommended. Earthlife Web

Author Information

As a boy, Des Thompson first encountered the Eurasian Golden Plover whilst bird-watching in the wet, desolate wilds of northern Scotland with his father, the late Desmond Nethersole-Thompson. He went on to take his PhD at Nottingham University on the winter ecology and flocking behaviour of gulls and plovers. His particular interests are in mountain and moorland ecology and conservation. He is the Principal Adviser on the uplands in Scottish Natural Heritage, and is a Visiting Professor in Environmental Science at Manchester Metropolitan University. Ingvar Byrkjedal is Curator of Vertebrates at the Museum of Zoology, University of Bergen, Norway. He took his Cand.real at Bergen on the breeding ecology and plumage variation of Eurasian Golden Plovers. His research has continued on these birds, particularly on their anti-predator behaviour and parental care. He has studied American Golden Plovers in Canada, and Grey Plovers and Pacific Golden in north-west Siberia. His work has touched on little known northern shorebirds, and is presently focused on the mating system of Northern Lapwings.

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