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Birds of the Western Palearctic (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter s. james
- Start date
Depends what you want. Obviously it omits huge amounts of information, particularly on the 'ornithological' side; but it does summarise quite well what was known about each species at the time it was published. I find it handy for summaries about distribution, subspecies, etc. And the pics aren't bad.
If you want an ID handbook, then Collins is much better; but I guess you knew that.
If you want an ID handbook, then Collins is much better; but I guess you knew that.
Steve Lister
Senior Birder, ex County Recorder, Garden Moths.
Is it really very expensive? A few years ago it was almost remaindered.
Have you thought about the disc version? Birdguides.
Steve
Steve Lister
Senior Birder, ex County Recorder, Garden Moths.
Just looked it up on Amazon:
I will sell mine for $1234 if anyone wants it.
Steve
I will sell mine for $1234 if anyone wants it.
Steve
rob stoff
Well-known member
Thanks rob it looks very good. Checked it out on bird guides there and think I'll order it.
You won't regret getting BWPi Stephen, the very best bit of the range of DVD Roms that Birdguides offer. I have this and the Birdguides DVD Rom, All the Birds of Europe. I cannot remember the last time I used the latter program, but BWPi is used almost daily.
You're right Keith! It's absolutely brilliant! Been on it for hours, took a wee break to post this and now I'm going back to it. See you all in about 5 years, I've 6 million+ words, plus videos and pictures to get through here!
Thanks again Rob for suggesting it. It's worth every penny to anyone thinking about it.
It really is excellent I've learnt a load of great facts. Here's an example I'm particularly pleased with...
Last June I posted this on bird forum...
"On one of the warm, calm days last week I noticed some interesting behaviour from two swallows.
The first bird was carrying a white feather in it's bill. The swallow let go of the feather, which floated downwards, whereupon the swallow wheeled round and caught it again in mid-air, like it was catching a large insect. The bird repeated this action three times.
When the swallow dropped the feather for a fourth time another swallow swooped in and caught it. This looked like it was a pre-meditated aerial pass! This bird too then dropped the feather and the original bird re-claimed it just before it hit the ground.
Has anyone ever seen behaviour like this? I know swallows collect feathers for their nests, so perhaps this one was simply too big for them to handle? Is it too fanciful to suggest the birds might have been playing or practising their hunting skills?"
BWPi gave me this tantalising line which reminded me of this swallow sighting, "For feather-'play' by flock of 30–40 birds while feeding and bathing, see Kliebe 1970."
I couldn't find Kliebe 1970 on Google but decided to check house martins, sand martins etc. on BWPi to see if it said anything similar for these closely related species. And sure enough it states that sand martins will, "Commonly play with feathers, dropping them in flight and retrieving them (C J Mead)."
This is exactly what "my" swallows were doing and I suspect what Kliebe was on about as well.
I'm half hoping that Kliebe's "feather-play" is something completely different and I've discovered new swallow behaviour!
Anyway just an example of the pleasure I'm getting from this BWPi.
Last June I posted this on bird forum...
"On one of the warm, calm days last week I noticed some interesting behaviour from two swallows.
The first bird was carrying a white feather in it's bill. The swallow let go of the feather, which floated downwards, whereupon the swallow wheeled round and caught it again in mid-air, like it was catching a large insect. The bird repeated this action three times.
When the swallow dropped the feather for a fourth time another swallow swooped in and caught it. This looked like it was a pre-meditated aerial pass! This bird too then dropped the feather and the original bird re-claimed it just before it hit the ground.
Has anyone ever seen behaviour like this? I know swallows collect feathers for their nests, so perhaps this one was simply too big for them to handle? Is it too fanciful to suggest the birds might have been playing or practising their hunting skills?"
BWPi gave me this tantalising line which reminded me of this swallow sighting, "For feather-'play' by flock of 30–40 birds while feeding and bathing, see Kliebe 1970."
I couldn't find Kliebe 1970 on Google but decided to check house martins, sand martins etc. on BWPi to see if it said anything similar for these closely related species. And sure enough it states that sand martins will, "Commonly play with feathers, dropping them in flight and retrieving them (C J Mead)."
This is exactly what "my" swallows were doing and I suspect what Kliebe was on about as well.
I'm half hoping that Kliebe's "feather-play" is something completely different and I've discovered new swallow behaviour!
Anyway just an example of the pleasure I'm getting from this BWPi.
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