Publisher's Synopsis
Bird Families of the World is a new multivolume series of handbooks, intended to serve the interests of both the professional scientist and the ever-growing body of amateur ornithologists. Each volume will provide a comprehensive and accurate synthesis of our knowledge of one bird family or several related families. In each book the reader will find:;*Six to eight general chapters on the biology, feeding ecology, breeding behaviour, evolutionary relationships, and conservation of the birds in the family;*Specially commissioned colour plates by a leading artist, showing adults and juveniles of all species and many subspecies;Black-and-white drawings illustrating special features and behaviour;*Descriptions of each species individually, including appearance, weights, and measurements; field characters; voice; habitat and food; breeding behaviour; life cycle; and range and status (with distribution map). these will provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date species-level information available.;*Full bibliography and index;This first volume, The Hornbills , comprises the first-ever comprehensive account of all 54 species of these fascinating birds. They are an Old World family, found in sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and throughout southeast Asia and Indonesia to Papua New Guinea. Birds of the forest, their diet is mainly fruit and insects, and they have large, distinctively shaped bills which of course give them their name. They are also known for interesting social behaviour and nesting habits.;Alan Kemp first introduces the hornbill group in seven chapters, illustrated by two colour plates of hornbill habitats and nesting behaviour and many line drawings. These chapters give an overview of the family as a whole, summarizing a wide range of literature and describing all the facets of hornbill life with a wealth of examples. They combine a readable style with the author's scientific grasp of his subject.
