FEATURED TITLE

                                                                              
1) Hume, Julian P. and Michael Walters. Extinct Birds. 2011. T & A D Poyser. Hardbound: 544 pages. Price: 50.00 GBP (about $78.46 U.S.).

SUMMARY: This is the first comprehensive review of the hundreds of bird species and subspecies that have become extinct over the last 1,000 years of habitat degradation, over-hunting and rat introduction. Covering both familiar icons of extinction as well as more obscure birds, some known from just one specimen or from traveller's tales, the book also looks at hundreds of species from the subfossil record – birds that disappeared without ever being recorded. Julian Hume and Michael Walters recreate these lost birds in stunning detail, bringing together an up to date review of the literature for every species. From Great Auks, Carolina Parakeets and Dodos to the amazing yet completely vanished bird radiations of Hawaii and New Zealand, via rafts of extinctions in the Pacific and elsewhere, this book is both a sumptuous reference and an amazing testament to humanity's impact on birds.
     A direct replacement for Greenway's seminal 1958 title Extinct and Vanishing Birds, this book will be the standard reference on the subject for generations to come.
RECOMMENDATION: A must have for anyone with an interest in bird conservation, especially for those with an interest in what we have already lost! For my U.S.A. readers, Hume's Lost Land of the Dodo has been remaindered and is available at http://www.hamiltonbook.com/ for $9.95 (plus shipping)!

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