Særlig det store bildematerialet gjør det lett å sammenligne fjærene på fugler i hånden direkte med alderseksempler på bildene. 2. utgave er en helt ny og revidert utgave.
The moult strategies of birds are not only of importance in their impact on a
species’ ecology and energetics, but as a valuable tool for anyone studying
the migration and population dynamics of bird species. A proper understanding of
how feathers are replaced, and the precise differences in appearance of the
various feather generations, can allow ringers, scientists and the keen
birdwatcher to age first-year and adult birds and to detect the moult strategy
of the bird in question.
Lukas Jenni and Raffael Winkler have combined these themes and produced a book
which will be valuable both to the professional ornithologist and the bird
ringer. The first part gives an up to date summary of the moult strategies and
moult sequences of European passerines and discusses the ecological consequences
of moult. Throughout the book, the authors draw on the enormous amount of data
on moult collected by them over 15 years of study which, combined with data from
the literature, allow them to present a new synthesis of the subject.
The second part of the book is of particular value to ringers. Following a
general introduction to ageing, detailed moult profiles are given for 58 species
of European passerines representing all the major moult strategies, backed up
with useful summary statistics, schematic diagrams of the extent of moult and
indications of the variation within each species. For the first time, the extent
of partial and suspended moults is presented in detail.
The crowning feature of this book is the 480 plus full colour photographs of
extended wings which show the entire range of moult patterns and of plumage
ageing criteria. An appendix gives supplementary information on ageing birds by
the degree of pneumatization of the skull.
About the Author(s)
Lukas Jenni was a volunteer at the Swiss
Ornithological Institute while studying zoology, botany, geology and chemistry
at Basel University. His interest in moult and ageing arose while working with
Raffael Winkler. His main research interests are in ecology and the physiology
of bird migration, as well as moult biology.
Raffael Winkler graduated with a PhD
thesis on the pneumatization of the skull roof in birds. In 1980 he was elected
curator of the bird collection at the Natural History Museum, Basel. Since then,
he has edited the Avifauna of Switzerland
and carried on the Museum’s own tradition in moult research.
