Vol 53, 2001 - Northern State University

...--- -rsong? To what extent is song learned or inherited? How do birds learn dialects?What are the evolutionary and ecological consequences of dialects? How dobirds learn new dialects and why should they do so? What about mimicry? Didyou know that White-crowned Sparrows can be tricked into learning other birdsongs, if the new song is preceded by a species-specific song-learning whistle?Live teachers are more effective than loud speakers for teaching baby birds; ifbirds are raised by humans, then a person with a loud speaker around his or herneck is more effective than a speaker alone.The essay continues to discuss the function and evolution of calls and songsas they relate to territory, mate choice, pair maintenance, fitness, advertisement,and intelligence. After the introduction, the text continues, in the superb style towhich we have become accustomed in the previous volumes, with stunninglyillustrated (photos and plates) family discussions and species accounts. Thefamily accounts cover the systematics, morphology, habitats, behavior, voices,and migrations of the species within the family. These discussions end with thefamily's relationship with humans and the status of conservation needs of thegroup. The species accounts list the species in each family and includeinformation on taxonomy, morphology, ecology, breeding, migration, andconservation status, and include a bibliography of works on the species. Ofspecial interest to many birders are lists of subspecies of each species,information that is otherwise increasingly hard to locate, especially for all thebirds of the world.The color plates and photographs are uniformly superb. Among the best ofthe photographs are a series of diving European Kingfishers, as they hit the waterafter minnows. A close-up of a White-throated Bee-eater atop a Water Buffalo'shorn is almost poetic in its beauty. The fact of the matter is that all the photographsare wonderful. Although illustrated by a number of different artists, thecolor plates are remarkably uniform in their excellence. Some of the kingfisherplates are especially elegant in their attention to detail. One small improvementfor future volumes might be the inclusion of juvenile plumages with these plates.Clearly this handbook is beyond the financial bounds of some of our readers.Nevertheless, if you can afford this series, I urge you to purchase these books. Ifthey are beyond your means, you should recommend them to your local library.This series of volumes stands as a hallmark to ornithological knowledge of thebirdsof theworld.Dan Tallman,NorthernStateUniversity,AberdeenSD57401.SYLVIA WARBLERS. 2001. Hadoram Shirihai, Gabriel Gargallo, and AndreasHelbig. Princeton University Press, Princeton. Hardcover. 576 pp. $75.00THRUSHES. 2000. Peter Cement. Princeton University Press, Princeton. Hardcover.463 pp. $These two books are similar in appearance (the covers are designed identically)and format. Since the family is found in the state, Thrushes is probably ofmost interest to South Dakota birders. On the other hand, Sylvia Warblers coversSOUTH DAKOTA BIRD NOTES 53(3): 50 SEPTEMBER 2001