- Hardcover: 361 pages
- Publisher: OUP Oxford (12 May 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 019854653X
- ISBN-13: 978-0198546535
- Product Dimensions: 24.6 x 19.4 x 2.6 cm
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
1,367,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #76 in Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Taxonomy & Systematics
- See Complete Table of Contents
The Hawaiian Honeycreepers
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Product Description
Product Description
The Hawaiian Honeycreepers are typified by nectar feeding, their bright colouration, and canary-like songs. They are considered one of the finest examples of adaptive radiation, even more diverse than Darwin's Galapagos finches, as a wide array of different species has evolved in all the different niches provided by the Hawaiian archipelago. The book will therefore be of interest to evolutionary biologists and ecologists, as well as professional ornithologists and amateur bird watchers. As with the other books in the Bird Family of the World series, the work is divided into two main sections. Part I is an overview of the Hawaiian Honeycreeper evolution and natural history and Part II comprises accounts of each species. The author has produced his own outstanding illustrations of these birds to accompany his text.
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First Sentence
The most important defining fact for Hawaiian honeycreepers is that they are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands in the tropical N. Pacific Ocean. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
The most important defining fact for Hawaiian honeycreepers is that they are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands in the tropical N. Pacific Ocean. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
The avian wonders of Hawa'ii and their fate
31 Jan 2008
Format:Hardcover
This long-awaited book is the definitive study of the extraordinary family of endemic Hawaiian birds known as honeycreepers, all evolved from a single species of finch and providing textbook examples of adaptive radiation, evolution and extinction.
The book consists of two parts: chapters on general issues such as habitats, classification and behavior are followed by detailed features on each species (including historically known extinct species and even those known only from subfossils). Illustrations are mostly black and white photographs but the birds are also depicted in fine colour plates drawn by the author, allowing him to bring to life extinct species such as the black mamo and scarlet kakawahie of Moloka'i.
Pratt's career, as revealed in occasional autobiographical comments, renders him uniquely equipped for the task. As a child, he discovered the exotic honeycreepers by chance through a bird book. His 1979 PhD thesis focused on Hawaiian birds, and brilliant insights from it permeate the book: for example, based on the song of the tui of New Zealand, he hypothesises that the songs of the i'iwi and apapane still mimic those of long-extinct Hawaiian honeyeaters such as the o'o. Puzzling features such as the strange odour of some species and the tendency of young apanane to jump out of the nest when disturbed are interpreted as adaptive defenses against extinct predators (notably a harrier and a stilt owl).
Pratt was privileged to be among the last to see, for example, the once ubiquitous o'u (a grainy photograph from 1975 appears in black and white here, and in colour in some of his other books) and record its song. Having lived through a crucial period of decline, he has already witnessed the extinction of numerous species, largely through habitat loss and mosquito-borne disease which leave the remaining honeycreepers confined to high-elevation forests. Despite glimmers of hope such as emerging resistance to malaria in the amakihi and apapane, the author wonders how many of the honeycreepers will outlive him. As a postscript, the po'uli, first discovered on Maui in 1973, became extinct following attempts to introduce the last three individuals to each other, and eventually to capture them for captive breeding. Perhaps the crimson apapane, featured on the cover along with the sacred 'ohi'a lehua tree, will live on as testament to the honeycreepers that once were.
The book consists of two parts: chapters on general issues such as habitats, classification and behavior are followed by detailed features on each species (including historically known extinct species and even those known only from subfossils). Illustrations are mostly black and white photographs but the birds are also depicted in fine colour plates drawn by the author, allowing him to bring to life extinct species such as the black mamo and scarlet kakawahie of Moloka'i.
Pratt's career, as revealed in occasional autobiographical comments, renders him uniquely equipped for the task. As a child, he discovered the exotic honeycreepers by chance through a bird book. His 1979 PhD thesis focused on Hawaiian birds, and brilliant insights from it permeate the book: for example, based on the song of the tui of New Zealand, he hypothesises that the songs of the i'iwi and apapane still mimic those of long-extinct Hawaiian honeyeaters such as the o'o. Puzzling features such as the strange odour of some species and the tendency of young apanane to jump out of the nest when disturbed are interpreted as adaptive defenses against extinct predators (notably a harrier and a stilt owl).
Pratt was privileged to be among the last to see, for example, the once ubiquitous o'u (a grainy photograph from 1975 appears in black and white here, and in colour in some of his other books) and record its song. Having lived through a crucial period of decline, he has already witnessed the extinction of numerous species, largely through habitat loss and mosquito-borne disease which leave the remaining honeycreepers confined to high-elevation forests. Despite glimmers of hope such as emerging resistance to malaria in the amakihi and apapane, the author wonders how many of the honeycreepers will outlive him. As a postscript, the po'uli, first discovered on Maui in 1973, became extinct following attempts to introduce the last three individuals to each other, and eventually to capture them for captive breeding. Perhaps the crimson apapane, featured on the cover along with the sacred 'ohi'a lehua tree, will live on as testament to the honeycreepers that once were.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Great reference, one flaw
10 Mar 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an wonderful reference for everyone with an interest in this amazing family of birds. The information is exhaustive and the color plates are lovely. My only disappointment are the photos in the text (of plants, landscapes, natural areas). They are in black and white and are of the most wretched quality. Really, for a book of this price to print such substandard photos is unacceptable. If those are the only photos the author had to offer, then he should get someone else to take his pictures. Really poor. Overall a good book in any case.
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