A Colour Guide to Familiar Sea and Coastal Birds

This book acquaints the reader with sixty-four species of birds inhabiting the open seas, sea islands, seacoasts and in part also bodies of freshwater near the sea. The selection of the birds shown in this book was determined first and foremost by their occurrence at sea or on the seacoasts and was by no means simple or straightforward. Besides birds that spend their entire life on or near the sea we have included also certain species that breed in the northern tundras but otherwise are found at sea as well as certain typical birds of inland waters and swamps that migrate along the seacoasts or over the sea.
In the first part of this book the reader will learn about the body structure of sea birds, their biology, unusual aspects of their migration, as well as about 'bird cliffs', 'bird islands', and the like.
The pictorial section depicts the individual species either the male in his nuptial plumage or both the male and female in cases of marked sexual dimorphism, the characteristic egg, and in some species also the nest. The text on the facing page acquaints the reader with the biological characteristics and habits of the bird, the nest structure, etc. The brief marginal note accompanying each colour plate offers a transcription of the individual bird's voice or song, size of the egg, the average length of its body measured from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, and in some instances also the wingspan, plus the flight silhouette.

Text: English, Czech (translation)