Vagrancy in Birds - by Alexander Lees & James Gilroy (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Avian vagrancy--the appearance of birds outside of their expected habitat--is a phenomenon that has fascinated natural historians for centuries, from Victorian collectors willing to spend fortunes on a rare specimen to today's bird-chasing "twitchers." Yet despite the obsessions of countless ornithologists, what do we actually know about the enigma of vagrancy? In Vagrancy in Birds, Alexander Lees and James Gilroy explore the causes, patterns, and processes behind the occurrences of these unique birds. Lees and Gilroy draw on recent research to answer fundamental questions: What causes avian vagrancy? Why do some places attract so many vagrant birds? Why are some species more predisposed to long-range vagrancy than others? The authors present readers with everything known about the subject, and bring together different lines of evidence to make the case for vagrancy as a biological phenomenon with important implications for avian ecology and evolution. Filled with a wealth of photographs, Vagrancy in Birds will fascinate avian enthusiasts everywhere."--Amazon.ca.

Book Synopsis

An exploration of the causes and patterns of avian vagrancy

Avian vagrancy--the appearance of birds outside of their expected habitat--is a phenomenon that has fascinated natural historians for centuries, from Victorian collectors willing to spend fortunes on a rare specimen to today's bird-chasing "twitchers." Yet despite the obsessions of countless ornithologists, what do we actually know about the enigma of vagrancy? In Vagrancy in Birds, Alexander Lees and James Gilroy explore the causes, patterns, and processes behind the occurrences of these unique birds.

Lees and Gilroy draw on recent research to answer fundamental questions: What causes avian vagrancy? Why do some places attract so many vagrant birds? Why are some species more predisposed to long-range vagrancy than others? The authors present readers with everything known about the subject, and bring together different lines of evidence to make the case for vagrancy as a biological phenomenon with important implications for avian ecology and evolution.

Filled with a wealth of photographs, Vagrancy in Birds will fascinate avian enthusiasts everywhere.

Review Quotes

"I recommend this work to anyone with even a passing interest in migration and the reasons why it sometimes goes awry. It is a highly readable and important contribution to the literature on this topic."---David Gascoigne, Travels with Birds

"The authors of this impressive book present readers with everything known about the subject, and they bring together different lines of evidence to make the case for vagrancy as a biological phenomenon with important implications for avian ecology and evolution."-- "BirdWatching"

"This attractive, engaging work offers an excellent overview of a subject on which there are few other monographs."---H.T. Armistead, CHOICE

About the Author

Alexander Lees is senior lecturer in biodiversity at Manchester Metropolitan University and lab associate of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Twitter @Alexander_Lees James Gilroy is lecturer in ecology at the University of East Anglia. Twitter @j_gilroy1 Both Lees and Gilroy serve on the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC).