The Blue Vesper Ecology and Conservation of the Red-Footed Falcon

Monograph

By: Péter Palatitz(Editor), Szabolcs Solt(Editor), Péter Fehérvári(Editor)

240 pages, colour photos, colour illustrations, colour maps

NHBS

The BB/BTO Best Bird Book of the Year 2019. A book with exceptional production values and photos, The Blue Vesper is an in-depth look at the Red-Footed Falcon in Eastern Europe.

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Average customer review

ISBN: 9786158092548 Hardback Jan 2018 In stock
£44.99
#245759

Price: £44.99

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About this book

Language: English

Based on 15 years of research and conservation work by researchers with Birdlife Hungary, this monograph lays out the basic biology of the Red-Footed Falcon, Falco vespertinus. In 24 chapters, the editors bring together information on reproduction, habitats, diseases and parasites, migration and wintering, and population sizes and trends. A series of chapters looks at ongoing conservation efforts in Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, and Romania, monitoring, creation of nest sites, and habitat management directives. The book is profusely illustrated with remarkable colour photos and numerous colour illustrations and colour maps.

Preface   7

1. Description   9
2. Breeding and behaviour   21
3. Habitat   33
4. Nest sites and associated species   43
5. From arrival to mating   53
6. From egg laying to hatching   63
7. Chick rearing   73
8. Habitat use   83
9. Diseases. parasites   93
10. Dispersion, independence. moult and post-nuptial roosting   101
11. Post-nuptial migration   117
12. Wintering   127
13. Pre-nuptial migration   135
14. Population size and trend   147
15. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in Hungary   155
16. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in Slovakia   165
17. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in Serbia   173
18. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in Western Romania   181
19. Conservation of the Red-footed Falcon in the Transylvanian Basin   191
20. Research and monitoring   199
21. Creation and maintenance of nest sites   207
22. Establishing foraging habitats and its management directives   215
23. Grassland management in the Hevesi Plain   219
24. Protection of Red-footed Falcon habitat in the Vásárhelyi-puszta   227

References   236
Acknowledgement   240

Customer Reviews (2)

Review this book

Professional monograph with stunning photos
By Marton 24 Jan 2019 Written for Hardback

The editors have probably the largest experience worldwide about this wonderful small raptor species, the Red-footed Falcon. The book describes the biology of this globally near-threatened species in never seen details, by summarizing the many published and unpublished results gained through several decades of hard fieldwork and data analyses. Most of the presented studies have been accomplished in Hungary and neighbouring European countries, but the recent Asian and African studies are also presented. The high-level professional information is presented in a nicely edited book full of stunning photographs, informative figures and maps. This monograph will be useful not only for raptor biologists but for all who are interested in birds, ecology or conservation in general.

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Masterpiece and benchmark
By D 16 Nov 2019 Written for Hardback

I have to say, after some pictures on Facebook I did expect it to be wonderful. But what I just hold in my hands is absolutely extraordinary! This book is not only a comprehensive scientific benchmark for this species, with plenty of details about every ecological parameter, moreover, it is also a masterpiece of art with many high-end pictures and amazing never-seen-before graphical work. Yes, this is a science book, but I really never have seen such a beauty in paper before! Just the very colour of the cover binding: Exactly the luminous orange of the falcon legs. Science and Art go together here perfectly. You did wonderful and lots of work and you printed my new favorite handcraft!

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Monograph

By: Péter Palatitz(Editor), Szabolcs Solt(Editor), Péter Fehérvári(Editor)

240 pages, colour photos, colour illustrations, colour maps

Publisher: MME Birdlife Hungary

NHBS

The BB/BTO Best Bird Book of the Year 2019. A book with exceptional production values and photos, The Blue Vesper is an in-depth look at the Red-Footed Falcon in Eastern Europe.

Media reviews

– The BB/BTO Best Bird Book of the Year 2019

"The Blue Vesper, winner of the 2019 British Birds/British Trust for Ornithology Best Bird Book of the Year award, summarizes the current knowledge and science of the Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus). [...] The Blue Vesper will be useful to knowledgeable enthusiasts interested in understanding well-established facts about Red-footed Falcon. [...] This thorough and well-rounded book includes chapters on breeding, behavior, habitats, migration, wintering, population sizes and trends, conservation in some European countries, research and monitoring, creation of natural and supplemental nests, grassland management, and conservation. [...] Overall, the greatest strength of this book is in its consolidation of a wide variety of grey literature and peer-reviewed science on the Red-footed Falcon published in a wide variety of languages other than English. Much of the material summarized in this book would be otherwise unavailable to many readers due to either limited language skills or limited access to materials written in the diverse European and Asian languages of the primary literature."
– James F. Dwyer & Angela M. Dwyer, Journal of Raptor Research (2020) 54(3): 332–333

"[...] [a] delightful book"
– Richard Sale, Ibis 162(2), April 2020