Extinct Birds

This is the first comprehensive review of the hundreds of bird speciesthat have become extinct over the last 1,000 years of habitatdegradation, over-hunting and rat introduction. Covering both familiarextinct birds and more obscure species, some known from just onespecimen or from traveller's tales, the book also looks at hundreds ofspecies from the subfossil record - birds that disappeared without everbeing recorded. Julian Hume and Michael Walters recreate these lostbirds in stunning detail, bringing together an up to date review of theliterature for every species. From Great Auks, Carolina Parakeets andDodos to the amazing yet completely vanished bird radiations of Hawaiiand New Zealand, via rafts of extinctions in the Pacific and elsewhere, this book is both a sumptuous reference and a terrifying reminder ofhumanity's impact on birds. A direct replacement for Greenway's seminal 1958 title Extinct and Vanishing Birds, this book will be the standard reference on the subject for generations to come.