Review Of "Owls: A Guide To The Owls Of The World" By C. König, F. Weick, And J.-H. Becking

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

6-1-2000

Published In

Choice

Abstract

König (Stuttgart Univ.) and colleagues offer a worldwide catalog of the order Strigiformes (owls), laid out as a field guide with 64 plates in full color illustrating 212 species, followed by species accounts with distribution maps. There is a 34-page overview of the biology of owls concentrating primarily on European species and an extensive review of the molecular evolution and taxonomy of this group. A surprisingly brief bibliography and index round out the volume. The book highlights how little is known about many if not most of these nocturnal birds, with frequent comments of "more research needs to be done," especially for the tropical species. General and undergraduate libraries will probably find regional field guides more useful to their readers, although the authors have made a successful effort to avoid technical terminology whenever possible and nonspecialists can easily read the book. This important work should find a place in libraries specializing in ornithology and taxonomy. General readers; graduate students; faculty; professionals.

Comments

This work is freely available courtesy of Choice Reviews. The review has been reproduced in full in the abstract field.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS