Abstract

This book should be of value to anyone interested in bird evolution and taxonomy, biogeography, distributional history, dispersal and migration patterns. It provides an up-to-date synthesis of current knowledge on species formation, and the factors influencing current distribution patterns. It draws heavily on new information on Earth history, including past glacial and other climatic changes, on new developments in molecular biology and palaeontology, and on recent studies of bird distribution and migration patterns, to produce a coherent account of the factors that have influenced bird species diversity and distribution patterns worldwide.
Received the Best Bird Book of the Year award for 2004 from British Birds magazine.
* Winner of the British Birds/British Trust for Ornithology, Bird Book of the Year 2004!
* The first book to deal comprehensively with bird speciation and biogeography
* Up-to-date synthesis of new information
* Clearly written
* No previous book covers the same ground
* Many maps and diagrams
* Makes difficult and widely scattered information accessible and easily understood
* A sound base for future research
* Takes full account of recent developments in molecular biology
"...the work that Newton has done in compiling the basic information will make comparative studies easier."
-The Auk, Robert M. Zink and Andrew W. Jones, Bell Museum and Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, U.S.A.
"...a masterful achievement. The information content is phenomenal and the easy reading style and logical layout make it a pleasure to work through..."
-Rauri CK Bowie, Center of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa
"...provides the best available overview of the origin, distribution, and extinction of bird species on a global scale."
-A. Townsend Peterson, SCIENCE
"This is an impressive work... a monumental achievement, unlikely to be superseded for a long time."
-BRITISH ORNITHOLOGIST'S UNION
"...a readable, balanced and comprehensive review that will become a standard textbook for courses in avian biogeography."
-TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
"... integrates the latest information from the fields making up biogeography and incorporates advances in molecular biology that influence our understanding of speciation."
-SOUTHEASTERN NATURALIST