The Sparrows (t & Ad Poyser)

Dr. Summers-Smith's absorbing monograph is concerned with the world's twenty species of True Sparrows, the genus Passer. An international authority on the sparrows, his earlier monograph, The House Sparrow, first appeared in the Collins New Naturalist series in 1963 and was later reprinted.The True Sparrows have an extensive natural distribution in the Afrotropical, Palaeartic and Oriental regions, but they have been successfully introduced in Nearctic, Neotropical and Australasian regions so that today their distribution is almost worldwide.The twenty species accounts include physical characteristics, distribution, breeding biology, feeding and other aspects of biology and behaviour in a common format that aids comparisons and speculation as to the evolution of the genus. Important additional chapters discuss sparrow characteristics and relationships, their evolution and systematic position.Robert Gillmor provides eight superb colour plates illustrating all the species and a further 62 of his drawings grace the book's pages. In addition, the text is supported by over 100 maps and diagrams.