The Bird Collectors - Hardcover

Mearns, Barbara; Mearns, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0124874401 ISBN 13: 9780124874404

Publisher: Academic Pr, 1998

Synopsis

This book examines the history and uses of bird skin collections and the many colorful explorers involved in their development. It is the first and only treatment of the subject, and appeals to a worldwide audience. The book covers all parts of the world, with particular focus on Europe, USA, and Africa. The Bird Collectors contains more than 160 period photographs, many never before published, showing famous collectors and ornithological expeditions.

Key Features
* Presents the first and only treatment of this subject
* Considers the history and uses of bird skin collections and the many explorers involved
* Contains over 160 photographs, many never before published
* Appeals to a worldwide audience, as it covers all parts of the world
* Provides a vital source of information for taxonomists and field guide authors and artists

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Every birdwatcher and ornithologist owes a debt to the bird collectors. Their skin collections and associated data have provided essential material for basic ornithological studies on classification, evolution, conservation and the geographical distribution of species. All the great bird artists worked from skin collections and today, skins are still used by artists who illustrate modern field guides, as well as by ringers, rarities committees and research scientists.
Despite this, the collectors are now more often reviled than praised. In this book, Barbara and Richard Mearns discuss the importance of skin collections both in the past and the present and ponder their future role. They challenge people's negative perceptions of collecting and assess it in its proper historical perspective. Many of the great field collectors are little known, yet they often risked or even lost their lives in the pursuit of birds. The Mearnses show the importance and variety of their worn, as well as telling great tales of exploration and adventure in pursuit of a better knowledge of the world's birds.

About the Author:

Barbara and Richard Mearns are life-long birdwatchers who have pursued their interest in many parts of Europe, the Middle East and North America. They also share an interest in the butterflies, moths and dragonflies of Southwest Scotland. Barbara is an occupational therapist by profession but in recent years she has concentrated on biohistorical research. She is now the UK Administrator for the A Rocha Trust (Christians in Conservation).Their first book Biographies for Birdwatchers (1988) contained over ninety biographies of naturalists and other people who have been commemorated in Western Palearctic bird names. This was followed by a similar work on North American eponyms entitled Audubon to Xantus (1992), celebrating the lives of over a hundred individuals.In The Bird Collectors they have built on their knowledge of the early ornithologists to review bird collecting from the late eighteenth century up to the present day. They strongly believe that the important role of the scientific collectors should not be forgotten and that their collections should not be undervalued.

Barbara and Richard Mearns are life-long birdwatchers who have pursued their interest in many parts of Europe, the Middle East and North America. They also share an interest in the butterflies, moths and dragonflies of Southwest Scotland. Richard has undertaken a nine-year population study of Peregrines in Southern Scotland; he has also carried out fieldwork on waders on the Solway, Corncrakes in South Uist and Peregrines in West Greenland. He currently works as the Senior Countryside Ranger with Dumfries and Galloway Council.Their first book Biographies for Birdwatchers (1988) contained over ninety biographies of naturalists and other people who have been commemorated in Western Palearctic bird names. This was followed by a similar work on North American eponyms entitled Audubon to Xantus (1992), celebrating the lives of over a hundred individuals.In The Bird Collectors they have built on their knowledge of the early ornithologists to review bird collecting from the late eighteenth century up to the present day. They strongly believe that the important role of the scientific collectors should not be forgotten and that their collections should not be undervalued.

About this edition

• Publisher: Academic Pr
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0124874401
• ISBN 13: 9780124874404
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 472