Red Data Birds in Britain: (Poyser Monographs)

The various Red Data Books prepared by the IUCN and ICBP have set the standards for recognizing birds close to or at risk of extinction worldwide. This book, by focusing on vulnerable species living in or visiting Britain, sets out to define the British situation and to clearly establish both the importance of British populations and our own responsibilities for contributing to bird conservation. Compiled by an editorial team drawn from the Nature Conservancy Council and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, it identifies 117 species that demand our care and attention. It includes species that breed in or visit Britain in small numbers and whose populations are threatened by natural or man-made circumstances. It also deals with birds that are common or numerous but which, due to their localized distribution worldwide, have the greater part of their European populations in British sites. Each of the species accounts provides up-to-date information on current populations, basic ecology, threats to the species and the legal protection and conservation measures now in force. General chapters deal with the state of Britain's various habitats, legal matters and conservation action for the future. This book should mean that no-one, whether ornithologist, land manager or bureaucrat, can plead ignorance when future land-use changes or management decisions threaten an endangered, vulnerable or important bird species. Illustrated by Ian Willis.

Table of Contents:
List of photographs of bird habitats Acknowledgements Key abbreviations used in this book Introduction - Area of coverage - The British avifauna - The criteria selection of Red Data species - The species selected and future candidates - The contents of species texts Species texts Bird habitats in Britain Threats to bird survival in Britain Bird conservation in Britain Future action for birds Appendices: Population estimates of British breeding and wintering birds Red Data birds species list: criteria for selection and index to species accounts Red Data Bird candidate species Index

About the Author :
This book is compiled by an editorial team drawn from the Nature Conservancy Council and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and includes contributions from L.A Batten, C.J Bibby, P. Clement, G.D Elliott and R.F Porter. Ian Willis is the illustrator.