Digitalt nytrykk av original fra 1986 (print on demand)
Forlagets egen omtale:
Dr
Newton is now a senior ornithologist with the Natural Environment Research
Council and the book draws on his wide knowledge of the Sparrowhawk, as well as
that of other workers in Britain and abroad, to give a detailed account of all
aspects of its lifestyle, population levels and trends and the impact of man and
environment on the species in recent times. The book also has the benefit of Dr
Newton’s particular interest in population regulation and breeding
performance, and in the remarkable contrast in size between the Sparrowhawk
sexes (males being half the weight of females), which means that they diverge,
almost as separate species, in habitat preference, diet and in response to
circumstance.
The narrative is fully supported by diagrams, tables and photographs, and is
embellished by Keith Brockie’s evocative and accomplished drawings.
As a boy in a Derbyshire village, Ian Newton discovered his first Sparrowhawk
nest and so began a continuing fascination with this relatively common but often
elusive bird of prey.
Many years later as a scientist with the Nature Conservancy Council he embarked
on a 14-year study of the species in two areas of SW Scotland, attempting each
year to trap and ring all Sparrowhawks present and to find all of their nests.
As a result many individuals were closely studied throughout their lives.
