Gavia Science is a small publishing company founded in 2002. Our company's main aim is to make recent scientific results achieved by professional ornithologists quickly accessible for birders and amateur naturalists. Our main fields of activity are avian ethology, ecology and behavioural ecology.

Our new successful book on bird behaviour

Gábor Michl: A Birders' Guide to the Behaviour of European and North American Birds

About the author

Dr. Gábor Michl is a behavioural ecologist and ornithologist. His main field of interest is sperm competition and decision-making mechanisms in birds. His scientific papers have been published in leading journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Animal Behaviour, Behavioral Ecology and Oecologia.
Dr. Michl was fascinated by the beauty and diversity of birds already as a child. Besides his research work, birdwatching continues to be his favourite hobby. He has participated in numerous birding trips around the world, including South Africa, Botswana, Cuba, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, India, China and Tibet. Dr. Michl was one of the first western ornithologists who surveyed the wonderful birdlife of Mongolia on several long journeys in the 1980s.

Artwork

S. Kokay, the illustrator of this book, is a young wildlife artist who has already won several awards, including British Birds magazine: Bird Illustrator of the Year Competition, the PJC Award (2000); Birdwatch magazine: Artist of the Year Competition, Identification Section Winner (2002)

Introduction

When young people begin to show interest in birds, they first become fascinated by their beauty and diversity. To get a clearer picture, they learn identification techniques within a few years through field guides and their own field experiences. In the meantime, their knowledge and insight grows in avian ecology as well, as they become familiar with habitat requirements, the arrival and departure dates of migratory birds and how certain species forage. In the process of learning about birds, behaviour can only come after the above, being the most complex component in their natural history.

Serious birders or amateur naturalists possessing sufficient background information may begin to ask: What messages are encoded in the song of Chestnut-sided Warbler males? What does the white forehead patch signal on male Collared Flycatchers? Are Barn Swallow pairs formed by chance, and if not, what mechanisms influence them? Why is rape common among waterfowl? Do Reed Bunting parents always raise their own genetic offspring?

Our new book answers these questions!

Our title aims to bridge the gap between the level of knowledge of professional ornithologists and serious birders or amateur naturalists. In addition to other topics, by summarising field studies of the past two decades, it discusses:

• Functions of bird song, dawn chorus, singing in territorial systems, eavesdroppers, neighbour-stranger discrimination, alarm calls, mobbing calls;
• Origin and functions of plumage colouration, communication by bare skin, functions of behavioural displays;
• Signalling dominance by body size, plumage colouration and acoustic traits, queuing for reproduction, female contests, endurance rivalry;
• Female choice and good-quality resources, attractive males with good genes, male and mutual mate choice;
• Sperm competition, last-male sperm precedence rule, conflicts of interest over fertilisations, paternity guards, extra-pair paternity;
• Killing offspring for reproductive benefits, rape; and
• Behaviour of 48 non-passerine bird families.

REVIEWS

"I think many British Birds readers would enjoy this book and few could fail to learn something new and interesting about bird behaviour. If you were looking for a topic or methodological ideas for a behavioural study, this would be a particularly good read." (Colin Bibby, October issue of British Birds, 2003)

"There are more facts that one can shake a tripod at and whether you attempt a read through or leave it on your bedside table to dip into you will be rewarded with new and, sometimes surprising, knowledge. [For example, did you know that some birds seem to have plumage which deters predators in the same way as, for example, a wasp has black and yellow stripes? Or, that some birds have gaudy colours to tell potential predators that they are actually poisonous if ingested?] Doubtless those who want to have it by them to explain behaviour they observe will also learn a great deal.
Natural History Book Service says of the book, it concisely bridges the gap between the knowledge of a professional ornithologist and the serious birder and I concur. Whilst this may not be a good holiday read, it is certainly a terrific source [with extensive notes on authorship of the facts it houses] and a reference that will be an invaluable addition to any serious birders collection."

(Fatbirder, 10th Aug 2003)

Our title is distributed by the well-known Natural History Book Service (www.nhbs.com), which placed it in their Distribution Highlights section in their 2003 Summer Catalogue. The success of the book is proved by the fact that NHBS has higlighted it on the front page of their web site since August 2003.

We do hope that you will also enjoy reading this book!

ORDER: www.nhbs.com or orders@nhbs.com