Identify migrants at dusk or at night with this book, containing detailed text on flight and contact calls, annotated sonograms and QR codes to the calls themselves.
Every spring and autumn, millions of birds fly over us to en route to their summer or winter quarters, with these migratory flights often being at night. A profusion of sounds fills the air, making it possible to put a name to these fleeting silhouettes – because the best way to identify these migrants is by sound. Often neglected in traditional identification guides, these calls are described in this book with precision. Annotated sonograms make it possible to visualise, identify and better memorise the flight and contact calls of all European migratory species.
- 450 species described, with detailed text, photographs and sonograms.
- Features essential criteria for effective identification of calls in the field.
- Covers migratory behaviour and where and when to encounter each species.
- Contains QR codes linking to more than 1,000 downloadable sounds to listen to at home or on your smartphone.
Originally published in French in 2020 by Delachaux et Niestle as Identifier les Oiseaux Migrateurs par le Son.
Scope and purpose of this book
Aerial migration
Hop migration
Migration of waterbirds
Migration of raptors
A few marine migrants
Index
Acknowledgements
Stanislas Wroza runs France's National Biodiversity Observatory and is a member of the French Avifauna Commission and the editorial board of the journal Ornithos. He founded the soundbirding.org project – an acoustic exploration of wildlife. Since then, he has focused on the search for new sounds. In 2019, Stanislas's first book Birds by Sound was published, the first practical work to allow the reader to master the recording of bird songs and calls.