Wheatears of Palearctic
Ecology, Behaviour & Evolution of the Genus

By E.N. Panov
March 2005
Pensoft Publishers
ISBN: 9546422266
439 pages, Illustrated, 6 ½" x 9 ½"
$167.50 Hardcover


Wheatears are elegant and colorful birds often found in wild and beautiful settings and appeal to ornithologists and birders alike. This new book by an acknowledged expert is unique in its detailed treatment of the 14 Palearctic species. Richly illustrated, it presents a wealth of information, largely derived from studies in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union, on a variety of subjects: taxonomic questions; flamboyant displays and highly varied, sometimes mimetic, songs; the construction of stone platforms at the nest; the striking polymorphism of the Eastern Pied (or Variable) Wheatear; range expansion by the Northern Wheatear and its impressively long migrations; the burrow-nesting habits of the Isabelline Wheatear, and on many other topics.

The author, an exceptionally skilled observer and interpreter of bird behavior, has drawn on his immense experience of many hours spent watching wheatears in the field; he has reared young wheatears in captivity, and has studied the wheatear literature, including that on species distributed outside the Palearctic. The book's thought-provoking text is well supported by an array of diagrams, tables, drawings by the author, and color photographs of birds and habitats.

Contents: Foreword * Acknowledgements * Introduction * 1. General features of wheatear biology * 2. Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina (Temminck, 1829) * 3. Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe (Linnaeus, 1758) * 4. Superspecies Red-tailed Wheatear Oenanthe xanthoprymna (Hemprich et Ehrenberg, 1833); O. chrysopygia (de Fillipi, 1863) * 5. Red-rumped Wheatear Oenanthe moesta (Lichtenstein, 1823) * 6. Finsch's Wheatear Oenanthe finschii (Heuglin, 1869) * 7. Superspecies Mourning Wheatear Oenanthe lugens (Lichtenstein, 1823) * 8. Eastern Pied Wheatear Oenanthe picata (Blyth, 1847) * 9. Hume's Wheatear Oenanthe alboniger (Hume, 1872) * 10. White-crowned Black Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga (Brehm, 1855) * 11. Black Wheatear Oenanthe leucura (Gmelin, 1789) * 12. Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe hispanica (Linnaeus, 1758) * 13. Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka (Lepechin, 1770) * 14. Hybrid populations in secondary contact zones of the Black-eared and Pied Wheatears (O. hispanica x O. pleschanka) * 15. Hooded Wheatear Oenanthe monacha (Temminck, 1825) * 16. Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti (Temminck, 1825) * Conclusion * Plates * References * Subject Index * Index of Animal Names

Ornithology
Pensoft Series Faunistica No. 40

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