Handbook of North American Birds Edited by Ralph S. Palmer. Vol. 1: Loons through Flamingos. Pp. vii + 567 + 6 plates. (New Haven, Conn., and London: Yale University Press, 1962.) 105s.

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Birds of North America

Editors NJ Collar, LP. Gonzaga, N. , Krabbe, A. Madrano Nieto, L.G. Naranjo, T.A. Parker III and D.C. Wege. Smithsonian Institution Press 1992. Price approx. $75.00 U.S. For anyone with an interest in conservation and/or the field status of the endangered birds of the Americas, this book is a must. Work on the book, which began in 1985, had to be halted in 1988 due to a lack of funding but was resumed after the 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage of discovery produced some funds from the Spanish government. While seven authors are listed, the "tome" is actually the result of contributions of several hundred individuals. The book replaces the 1978 publication by W.B. King, "Red data book, 2 Aves," and its subsequent 1981 reprint under the title "Endangered birds of the world; the ICBP bird red data book." While King was able to list the endangered birds of the world, the current revision requires four parts to complete the task. Part one dealt with "Threatened birds of Africa and related islands" (Collar and Stuart 1985) and was followed by the current part two dealing with the Americas. The final parts three and four will deal with birds of Europe and Asia, Australasia and the Pacific. Throughout its 1,150 pages, species after species is profiled as to its distribution, population, and threats. Finally, each profile is concluded with those conservation measures that have been taken as well as those proposed. There are 38 psittacidae listed as threatened and an additional 17 listed in the appendix titled nearthreatened. The majority of the birds listed, however, are small insect, nectar or fruit eating birds. While many are colorful, they are genreally poorly represented in captivity. Due to our lack of experience with these "softbilled" birds, the possibility that aviculture will play a major role in their survival seems remote. To compound the misery, there seems to be a veiy small following of individuals and/or organizations dedicated to the survival of these frequently termed "dicky birds." While habitat protection certainly will grasp many from the hands of extinction, some focused species-specific actions are needed. All aviculturists and pet owners with an interest in conservation should have one or more of the volumes of this important text. Augmented with a copy of the National Wildlife Federation's Conservation Directory, individuals and bird clubs should have the resources necessary to join forces in saving the World's birds.e The Diamond Dove (A beautiful dove for both the novice and experienced aviculturist) by Dale R. Thompson Canyon Country, California The Diamond Dove is found throughout most of Australia except for the southeastern coastal regions. This dove is very popular because of its small size (seven inches), low cost and its readiness to breed under most conditions. It gets its name from the many white spots found on its gray wings. There are several mutations with the silver mutation being the most common. Others include the dark-eyed white mutation and the cinnamon mutation. Diamond Doves can be sexed by observing their behavior. Both sexes will coo but only the male can be seen bowing before the female with its tail raised and fanned. The red of the male's eye-ring is larger and brighter than the female's. The female generally is more brownish in coloration with larger and more numerous white spots on her wings. Diamond Doves are considered free breeders. Since these doves can be pugnacious, they are best kept as sing le pairs. If their housing is large enough (4' x 8' x 12' flight), more than one pair can be kept together. But remember that the success rate for rearing young is much poorer in a colony situation than by single pairs. Sometimes they can be quite aggressive to each other. These doves can breed throughout the year, but should be given a rest during the colder winter months. Often eggs or babies are lost due to the cold and the female is more prone to egg binding.

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Threatened Birds of the Americas (the ICBP/IUCN Red Data Book)

Snakes, the evolution of mystery in nature

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The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas

https://bioone.org/journals/Copeia/volume-2003/issue-1/0045-8511(2001)003[0205:]2.0.CO;2/THE-AMPHIBIANS-AND-REPTILES-OF-COSTA-RICA/10.1643/0045-8511(2001)003[0205:]2.0.CO;2.pdf

The amphibians and reptiles of costa rica

Currently the Cerrado biome is one of the most threatened in the world because high taxes of destruction, mostly by agriculture and cattle. Few assessments of local bird diversity have been made in this biome, particularly in non core areas. The Estacao Ecologica de Itirapina (EEI) maintains one of the last natural grassland savannah remnants of state of Sao Paulo, south-east Brazil. We conducted casual and systematic observations of birds in this reserve between 1998 and 2007, which altogether with additional literature revision yielded 231 species with recent occurrence. We report 38 species (16.4%) threatened with extinction in Sao Paulo and/or endemic to the Cerrado Region, an impressive result in comparison to other cerrado areas in Sao Paulo and even in Central Brazil. These results reinforce the importance of EEI for bird conservation and mean EEI is maintaining its function as a conservation unity. However, as a result of several menaces observed to this reserve during our ten years study, we suggest some management practices for the maintenance or even increasing of bird diversity in this reserve.

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Aves da Estação Ecológica de Itirapina, estado de São Paulo, Brasil

Sixteen opportunistic field observations of eight species of Brazilian raptors (Falconiformes and Strigiformes) are reported here as a contribution to the knowledge of the natural history of these poorly studied birds in Brazil. The observations are related to the food habits (Buteo albicaudatus, Herpetotheres cachinnans, Milvago chimachima, Falco femoralis), reproduction (Asio stygius, Megascops choliba), mobbing behaviour elicited in other birds (Geranospiza caerulescens, H. cachinnans, F. femoralis, A. stygius, Athene cunicularia) and a rare case of leucism in owls (A. cunicularia).

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Miscellaneous ecological notes on Brazilian birds of prey and owls

We analyzed diet and prey selection of the relatively unknown albicaudatus subspecies of the White-tailed Hawk (Buteo albicaudatus). Our study was based on an analysis of 259 pellets collected from September 2000 to September 2001 in the municipality of Juiz de Fora in southeastern Brazil. We also assessed the abundance of small mammals with pitfall traps (2,160 trap-nights). Small mammals composed 52.5% of the estimated biomass consumed by the hawks, and selection appeared to be mediated by abundance. The Bonferroni confidence intervals procedure revealed that when abundance of small mammals was higher, the hawks were selective, preying on Calomys tener more than would be expected by chance (P < 0.05); other rodents were consumed less than expected. Oligoryzomys nigripes, Oxymycterus sp., and Gracilinanus spp. were taken in the same proportion as they were found in the field. During reduced prey abundance (October–March), White-tailed Hawks preyed opportunistically on small mammals. Differences ...

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Small mammal selection by the white-tailed hawk in southeastern brazil

Diet of the American Kestrel, Falco sparverius (Aves: Falconiformes), in the Ecological Station of Itirapina, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. The American Kestrel is one of the smallest raptors of the world and occurs all over the Western Hemisphere in a great variety of habitat types. Although several studies on its diet have been published, there is no quantitative study on the food habit of this species in the Cerrado biome. The aim of this study was to analyze quantitative and qualitatively the diet of the American Kestrel in savannah and grassland-savannah at Itirapina Ecological Station, southeastern Brazil. Pellets found near American Kestrel's nests and roosting sites were collected from October 1999 to July 2002. The analysis of 108 pellets revealed 849 occurrences of food itens of which Acrididae (11.4%), unidentified Arthropoda (10.7%), Mantidae (9.8%), Blattidae (8.7%) and Araneomorphae (8.5%) were the most frequent. Vertebrates yielded 9.5%, with Squamata representing 7.5% of occurrences. In terms of number of prey ingested, we detected a total of 4,560 individuals, of which the most representative were unidentified Arthropoda (23.1%), Termitidae (19.0%), Acrididae (16.4%) and Formicidae (10.0%). Only 1.8% of the preys were vertebrates. We noted a significant seasonality in the diet (χ 2 = 241.1; df = 29; p < 0.001). Acrididae, Tettigoniidae and Blattidae were more consumed in the dry season, whereas Formicidae, Gryllotalpidae and Gryllacrididae were more preyed on wet season. The standardized Levins food niche breadth index revealed that the raptor tends to be relatively specialist both in dry (Bp = 0.270) and wet seasons (Bp = 0.234). The results showed that arthropods represented the bulk of the American Kestrel's diet, corroborating with other studies in North and Central America, Venezuela, Chile and Argentina. However, in tropical areas like Brazil, the Ameri- can Kestrel apparently displayed a higher consumption of insects and other arthropods than in temperate zones.

Marco Antonio Monteiro Granzinolli

Papers

Aves da Estação Ecológica de Itirapina, estado de São Paulo, Brasil

Miscellaneous ecological notes on Brazilian birds of prey and owls

Small mammal selection by the white-tailed hawk in southeastern brazil

Dieta do quiriquiri, Falco sparverius (Aves: Falconiformes), na Estação Ecológica de Itirapina, SP

Annual profile of fecal androgen and glucocorticoid levels in free-living male American kestrels from southern mid-latitude areas.