With its striking green-black and white plumage and distinctive pee-wit
call, the Lapwing is one of Britain's best-known birds. Lapwings depend
on agricultural land to breed and are considered a barometer of the
health of this habitat; the population has crashed over recent decades,
partly due to changes in farming practices. In winter, Lapwings switch
to coastal areas and to wetlands, including those in suburban areas,
where large, noisy flocks can gather.
Michael Shrubb's The Lapwing
is a concise yet authoritative monograph of this popular species; a
thorough review of Lapwing biology contains sections on population
dynamics, feeding ecology, habitat use, migration, and conservation;
there is an impressively detailed review of our current understanding
of breeding biology, plus discussion of some other species in the
genus.
The Lapwing is a superb
addition to the Poyser list. Of interest to both amateur naturalists,
who will enjoy insights into the birds' lives, and to academics, who
will appreciate the broad overview of current research, this title will
remain the definitive work on the species for many years to come.
