A Rat S Nest Of Rails

Clapper rails (Rallus longirostris) are widely distributed in coastal marshes and river valleys of North and South America and the Caribbean. Seven of the 26 subspecies currently recognized by various authorities occur in the western portions of the United States and Mexico. Three races are classified by both the Department of Fish and Game as "endangered". These subspecies are the California clapper rail, the Light-footd clapper rail, and the Yuma clapper rail. Our investigations of these endangered forms included a review of pertinent literature and an examination of specimen data in selected museum collections. This paper deals with primarily with the endangered forms but also attempts to describe the general relationships of all western clapper rails.

« This report is a compilation and analysis of the results of nearly 10 years of testing the lethal dietary toxicities of pesticidal and industrial chemicals to young bobwhites (Colinus virginianus), Japanese quail (Coturnix c. japonica), ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), and mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). A total of 131 compounds were tested. » --

A comprehensive review of the hundreds of bird species that have become extinct over the last 1,000 years of habitat degradation, over-hunting and rat introduction. Extinct Birds has become the standard text on this subject, covering both familiar icons of extinction as well as more obscure birds, some known from just one specimen or from travellers' tales. This second edition is expanded to include dozens of new species, as more are constantly added to the list, either through extinction or through new subfossil discoveries. The book is the result of decades of research into literature and museum drawers, as well as caves and subfossil deposits, which often reveal birds long-gone that disappeared without ever being recorded by scientists while they lived. From Great Auks, Carolina Parakeets and Dodos to the amazing yet almost completely vanished bird radiations of Hawaii and New Zealand via rafts of extinction in the Pacific and elsewhere, this book is both a sumptuous reference and astounding testament to humanity's devastating impact on wildlife.

This is a guide to rails, a relatively homogeneous family of birds spread throughout the world. Barry Taylor and Ber van Perlo have described and illustrated 145 species of rails, including two that are newly described, and also ten that are recently extinct and two that are almost certainly extinct. The book, based on up-to-date references and on new observations, is the first to give comprehensive information on field identification (including voice), covering all species and races for which details are known. It is also the first to provide descriptions of the immature and juvenile plumages of many species. The authors provide a detailed summary of current knowledge of all aspects of rail biology and their often complex behaviour, social structure, and family life. They explain how such apparently poorly flying birds can undertake intercontinental migrations and are such widespread and successful colonists of remote oceanic islands. They also discuss the remarkable ease and speed with which species on such islands have evolved into flightless forms in the absence of predators, a fact that has led to the rapid extinction of numerous island taxa following the arrival of man. Rail habitats are fast disappearing, say the authors, and many rails become endangered before enough is known about them to plan effective conservation measures. The book provides information on distribution, status, habitat requirements, and current threats, and it gives conservation priorities for threatened species.