RSPB Seabirds

Seabirds are the living links between land, air and sea. They enjoy a freedom that even humans, with all our technological assistance, can barely imagine. Many species travel mind-boggling distances across the length and breadth of our planet before returning to land to breed in large, deafening and confusingly crowded colonies. Yet within this commotion each mated pair forms a bond of extreme closeness and tenderness that survives separation each winter and may persist for decades. The long and geologically varied coastline of the British Isles provides homes for internationally important numbers of breeding seabirds. Visiting their colonies is always unforgettable, whether they are cliff-faces packed with Guillemots, islands white-capped by clustered Gannets on their nests, flat beaches crowded with screaming Arctic Terns or seaside rooftops overlaid with a second townscape of nesting gulls. The changing fortunes of these seabird cities reveal to us the health of the vast, unseen but incredibly rich marine world that surrounds us. __RSPB Seabirds__ showcases some of our most exciting and enigmatic bird species as vital and living components of one of our greatest natural assets: our coastline. The author presents detailed biographies of all the seabird species that breed in and around the British Isles, and also looks at the many species that breed elsewhere but which, regularly or occasionally, visit British waters. Every page of this sumptuous book features beautiful photographs of wild seabirds engaged in their daily work of hunting, traveling, protecting themselves and their territories, and courting and raising a family. A lavish celebration of the seabirds of the British Isles. Seabirds are the living links between land, air and sea. They enjoy a freedom that even humans, with all our technological assistance, can barely imagine. Many species travel mind-boggling distances across the length and breadth of our planet before returning to land to breed in large, deafening and confusingly crowded colonies. Yet within this commotion each mated pair forms a bond of extreme closeness and tenderness that survives separation each winter and may persist for decades. The long and geologically varied coastline of the British Isles provides homes for internationally important numbers of breeding seabirds. Visiting their colonies is always unforgettable, whether they are cliff-faces packed with Guillemots, islands white-capped by clustered Gannets on their nests, flat beaches crowded with screaming Arctic Terns or seaside rooftops overlaid with a second townscape of nesting gulls. The changing fortunes of these seabird cities reveal to us the health of the vast, unseen but incredibly rich marine world that surrounds us. RSPB Seabirds showcases some of our most exciting and enigmatic bird species as vital and living components of one of our greatest natural assets: our coastline. The author presents detailed biographies of all the seabird species that breed in and around the British Isles, and also looks at the many species that breed elsewhere but which, regularly or occasionally, visit British waters. Every page of this sumptuous book features beautiful photographs of wild seabirds engaged in their daily work of hunting, travelling, protecting themselves and their territories, courting and raising a family. Seabirds showcases and celebrates some of our most exciting and enigmatic bird species as vital and living components of one of our greatest natural assets: our coastline. Our seabird populations are of international importance, and provide some of our richest and most dramatic natural spectacles. Between them seabird species exploit every type of coastline - from flat beach and sheer cliff face to rugged moorland and busy seaside town - and show great diversity in form and behaviour, but they all depend on the coast and open sea for survival. As such, they are highly vulnerable to the many factors affecting the balance of marine life, from climate change and over-fishing to coastal development and erosion. Many of them migrate huge distances around the world outside of the breeding season, visiting the shores of far-flung countries and the open sea hundreds of miles from land, so the time they spend on our coasts is just a part of their far-reaching life stories. Species by species, Seabirds looks in detail at their characteristics, way of life, and their conservation past and present, revealing many new insights into the lives of these familiar but mysterious birds Cover Title Page Contents Introduction Seaducks Eider Common Scoter Red-breasted Merganser Other seaducks Divers and grebes Red-throated Diver Black-throated Diver Great Crested Grebe Slavonian Grebe Other divers and grebes Tubenoses Fulmar Manx Shearwater European Storm-petrel Leach’s Storm-petrel Other tubenoses Gannets, cormorants and relatives Gannet Cormorant Shag Other related species Phalaropes Grey Phalarope Skuas Arctic Skua Great Skua Other skuas Gulls Kittiwake Mediterranean Gull Black-headed Gull Common Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Herring Gull Yellow-legged Gull Great Black-backed Gull Other gulls Terns Little Tern Sandwich Tern Roseate Tern Common Tern Arctic Tern Other terns Auks Guillemot Razorbill Black Guillemot Puffin Other auks Recommended reading Bibliography Acknowledgements Photographic credits eCopyright