How-to Study Birds

CONTENTS

Part One
1 SPRING JOURNEY 11
2 ENSURING A PLAGE IN THE SUN 27
3 NUPTIALS AND NESTING 49
4 THE EGG, AND THE YOUNG BIRD 66
5 INHERITANCE AND IMITATION 88
6 AUTUMN FLIGHT 97
7 WATCHING BIRDS IN WINTER I06
Part Two
8 THROUGH THE EYE OF A BIRD Il8
9 COLOUR IN A BIRD'S WORLD 131
10 A BIRD IN THE AIR 144
11 PROBLEMS OF POPULATION 162
12 AIDS TO FIELD WORK 167
13 THE MIND OF A BIRD 169
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 173
REFERENCES 174
BIRDS ON THE BRITISH LIST MENTIONED IN THE TEXT 184
FOREIGN BIRDS MENTIONED IN TEXT 188


CHAPTER 1

SPRING JOURNEY

WATCHING birds, and studying and interpreting their lively ways is, or should be, a round the year hobby, for there is no time when there is not something of interest to see in the world of birds. But there is no doubt that when the year is at the spring, then is the time when most is to be seen, for then events crowd fast, one upon the other, with much coming and going, pairing, nesting, and rearing of families, and all the emotional intensity and physical outlay of the breeding phase of birds. We may therefore with reason decide to start our study of a bird's year at the advent of spring, and to this end let us begin our observations on birds with the return of the summer migrants, and see what we can gain from days spent in the fields, or by the sea-shore armed with nothing but binoculars, note-book and most important of all, an inquiring mind.

In the spring, about the middle of April, we go out of doors and find that the woods and fields are becoming populated, in ever increasing numbers, by birds which were not present during the winter. Most probably it is their songs which first attract our attention ; willow-warblers, chiff-chaffs, cuckoos, and many more are all back and pro¬claiming to everyone that there they are. They have come northwards for over 2000 miles to breed in the same area in which they were born in some previous spring. How this migratory urge came into being has long been a source of speculation among ornithologists, from the curious theory of a bishop Godwin of Hereford, who held that birds migrated to the moon, and that a man might be carried there by harnessing a number of large birds, to the modern theories based on carefully controlled experiments in aviary-laboratories. A favourite theory with the later nineteenth century ornithologists was that known as the " glacial epoch " theory. According to the more extreme interpreta¬tions of this theory, migration arose from the successive advance and retreat of the northern ice-cap, the birds retreating before the ice as it pushed southwards, and returning north again as the ice retracted. In this way, over a succession of ice-ages, birds were said to have evolved a north-south swing which became an inherited faculty. There are many factors which are opposed to this view, not the least of which is the length of time during which the ice-cap covered northern Europe before retreating again. This was a matter of some millions of years, and the retention of an .urge in the birds to return to their original home during so long a period of time is unlikely. It is probable that more can be gained by studying present-day conditions than by invoking prehistoric ones, in attempting to explain the origin of migration. The matter is one of immense complexity and so far as we know, no single factor is likely to offer a discrete or clear-cut explanation. In asking why certain birds migrate, the answer that they do so because, under conditions prevailing in the cold season, the normal food supply is not available, appears on the surface to be adequate. But investigation shows that many species are what we know as " partial migrants " ; that is, while certain members of the species stay in the breeding area all "the year round, others perform long and arduous migrations of a thousand miles or more. It has even been shown that, in certain partial migrants, some of the birds from a single brood may migrate in the autumn, whilst others from the same brood remain at home. The British song-thrush, pied wagtail, and robin are examples of" partial-migrants," and here the food problem cannot explain their migration. Complexities and anomalies thus face the would-be student of migration at every turn. The first thing he must decide on, is a sound definition of migration. Perhaps the best is one which states that " migration is a movement of population in which there is a definite shift in the centre of gravity of the population."

And The Best Part Is That You Can Be Reading This e-Book In Less Than 90 Seconds From Now!

It doesn't matter if it's 2 AM in the morning, you'll be downloading and reading "How-to Study Birds" within just a few minutes. There's absolutely no risk to you - so what are you waiting for?

	100% "Better-Than-Risk-Free" Guarantee If you take my book now, and are not satisfied with it for any reason or find any better offer, just contact me during the next 30 days and tell me. I'll gladly and promptly refund your purchase. Without any questions.

Here's how to order

How-to Study Birds is delivered in PDF format and is viewable on any computer. All you need is "Adobe Reader" or "Acrobat eBook Reader" which is available free and already on most computers. to get the software. They are both Free.

Click below for an INSTANT download of the How-to Study Birds (.PDF, 6305 KB) ebook.

The cost of this ebook is only $3.00 $1.99

get the ebook INSTANTLY

Add to Cart!

The charge will show on your billing statement as CLKBANK*COM or PayPal

OR
Gain Silver Membership ($29.95)
and read this and 100 other ebooks (priced for $29.95 or less).
Click here to see the long list of these ebooks.

OR
Gain Gold Membership ($49.95)
and read this and 2500+ other ebooks.
Click here to see the long list of these ebooks.

Affiliate URL