- 336 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Storm-petrels
About this book
The first definitive work on the European Storm-petrel and its relatives, by one of the world's leading experts.
Imagine a bird as small as a sparrow, which lives most of its life on the open ocean yet can survive for decades. It walks on water, and migrates half way around the world, returning to remote islands to breed underground, often in the same rock crevice each year. At night it lays an enormous egg, feeding its chick until the nestling weighs more than both parents put together. It seems to have little fear of humans, but was itself feared by ancient seafarers.
This might sound like the stuff of legend but is actually the description of a real creature, the storm-petrel: walker on water, global wanderer, climate sentinel and open-ocean survivor.
In this beautifully written monograph, Rob Thomas explores the remarkable life of the European Storm-petrel, comparing and contrasting its behaviour and ecology across its range, and with the other storm-petrels of the world. We learn about their evolution, taxonomy, migration and adaptations to a life in the harsh open ocean, while also discovering what these enigmatic seabirds are revealing about what humans are doing to our planet.
Illustrated with 150 photographs, and including the author's personal anecdotes and observations, The Storm-petrels highlights some of the most exciting recent research findings and sets a trajectory for future discoveries.
Imagine a bird as small as a sparrow, which lives most of its life on the open ocean yet can survive for decades. It walks on water, and migrates half way around the world, returning to remote islands to breed underground, often in the same rock crevice each year. At night it lays an enormous egg, feeding its chick until the nestling weighs more than both parents put together. It seems to have little fear of humans, but was itself feared by ancient seafarers.
This might sound like the stuff of legend but is actually the description of a real creature, the storm-petrel: walker on water, global wanderer, climate sentinel and open-ocean survivor.
In this beautifully written monograph, Rob Thomas explores the remarkable life of the European Storm-petrel, comparing and contrasting its behaviour and ecology across its range, and with the other storm-petrels of the world. We learn about their evolution, taxonomy, migration and adaptations to a life in the harsh open ocean, while also discovering what these enigmatic seabirds are revealing about what humans are doing to our planet.
Illustrated with 150 photographs, and including the author's personal anecdotes and observations, The Storm-petrels highlights some of the most exciting recent research findings and sets a trajectory for future discoveries.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: the European Storm-petrel and its relatives
- 2 What is a storm-petrel?
- 3 The challenges of survival at sea
- 4 Diet and foraging behaviour
- 5 The storm-petrel’s sensory world
- 6 Tracking the tiniest seabirds
- 7 Communication and mate choice
- 8 Breeding biology
- 9 Predators, parasites and pathogens
- 10 Conservation of storm-petrels
- 11 The southern storm-petrels
- 12 The northern storm-petrels
- 13 Storm-petrels in human culture
- 14 Encounters with storm-petrels
- Epilogue: Other nations
- References
- Glossary
- Acknowledgements
- Index
- eCopyright
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Yes, you can access The Storm-petrels by Rob Thomas in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Zoology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.