The Tanagers. Natural History, Distribution, and Identification - Hardcover

Isler, Morton L.; Isler, Phyllis R.

9780874745528: The Tanagers. Natural History, Distribution, and Identification

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0874745527 ISBN 13: 9780874745528

Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987

Tanagers are found in virtually all wooded tropical habitats, on the shaded streets of major South American cities, in the streaming rainforests and at the cold treeline of the high Andes. This is a guide to the 242 highly colourful species of tanager found in the Americas. The 32 colour plates show 551 tanager plumages, illustrating every species, as well as 263 distribution maps.

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Review:

The tanagers of the Western Hemisphere, write ornithologists Morton and Phyllis Isler, belong to a rather fluid category of birds known as the "nine-primaried oscines," songbirds whose tiny outermost wing primary is concealed. That category includes many kinds of birds--cardinals, buntings, and warblers among them--and, the Islers suggest, the old taxonomies simply will not do. Even so, for the time being tanagers enjoy separate status as a monophyletic group, and one interesting enough to warrant not only birdwatchers' attention, but also the authors' compilation of this thoroughgoing reference book. It takes in some 240 fructivorous and insectivorous species distributed widely in space, from Alaska to southern Chile, offering detailed notes on their habitat, behavior, range, breeding habits, and vocalizations. Some tanager species, the authors explain, are intensely localized; Orchesticus abeillei, for example, inhabits only a few montane forests in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Others are far more wide-ranging, among them the northern hepatic tanager, Piranga flava, which is found from Central America to as far north as Illinois. Admirers of these beautiful birds will find much of value in the Islers' pages, and they'll want to have this well-illustrated guidebook in their backpacks or bookshelves. --Gregory McNamee

From Library Journal:

The tanagers ( Thraupinae ) are among the most colorful of songbirds. Limited to the New World, they are most numerous in tropical forests, often forming large, conspicuous, multi-species feeding flocks. All 242 currently recognized species are described and illustrated in this definitive compendium. The authors emphasize field identification, biology, and distribution. They do not attempt to solve all the taxonomic questions posed by this subfamily, pointing out instead where further research is needed. An important and beautiful book for all ornithology collections. Paul B. Cors, Univ. of Wyoming Lib., Laramie
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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