New Titles

1) de Juana, Eduardo and Ernest Garcia. The Birds of the Iberian Peninsula. 2015. Helm/Bloomsbury. Hardbound: 688 pages. Price: $85.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: The Iberian Peninsula is one of Europe's most ornithologically varied regions offering a host of regional specialties. It includes famous birding hotspots such as the Coto Donaña wetlands, mountainous areas such as the Picos de Europa and the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean cork and holm oak forests of the southwest, the migration crossroads of the Strait of Gibraltar and the steppe-like plains of Extremadura and Alentejo. Large numbers of birders from around Europe visit the region to see this wealth of winged wildlife, but to date there has been no comprehensive regional avifauna in English.

     Birds of the Iberian Peninsula is a national avifauna that fills this gap in the ornithological literature. Full-colour throughout, the book begins with authoritative introductory chapters covering subjects such as geography, climate, habitats, the history of Iberian ornithology and the composition of the avifauna. The species accounts then cover every species recorded in mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra, including the many vagrants. For each species there is detailed treatment of distribution--with maps of breeding and wintering ranges--habitat selection, population trends, historical and current status, migration and conservation. 

RECOMMENDATION: A must have for anyone with an interest in the birds of the region.

 

2) Robb, Magnus and the Sound Approach. Undiscovered Owls. 2015. The Sound Approach. Hardbound: 308 pages. Price: £39.95 ($59.50 U.S.).
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Explore the twilight world of owls that you can hear in your garden, the park or woods with this lyrical investigation into their sounds. Listen to previously unpublished digital stereo recordings of the owls of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, illustrated with annotated sonagrams. Enjoy paintings and photographs, often of the individuals recorded. Learn how to research into evolution, behaviour and sounds invite us to recognise a dozen new owl species.

     Share the thrill of closing in on a huge fish owl found only a handful of times before, the rarest owl in our region. Travel to rugged desert mountains, where the authors chanced upon a previously undiscovered owl, the first new Arabian bird species for nearly 80 years. Learn to listen like an owl and maybe you could find the next one.
     Brought to you by the team of obsessives that produced Petrels night and day. 

RECOMMENDATION: A must have for anyone with a serious interest in Old World owls! The book is available here:  http://soundapproach.co.uk/product/undiscovered-owls/ and in North America here: http://www.buteobooks.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BBBAO&Product_Code=14512&Category_Code=NYP