The Gyrfalcon
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: September 28, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780300107784
Subjects: NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS; Birds & Birdwatching - General; Nature / General; General; Nature; Nature/Ecology
First sentence: About 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last great Ice Age, the plains of Siberia and much of western and northern Europe formed a single ecological unit, one which extended as far south as Mongolia and Kazakhstan, north to the edge of the Arctic Ocean and across Beringia (the Bering land bridge) into North America.
Description: "The Gyrfalcon is the largest of the world's falcons. It is a bird of tremendous beauty, power and presence, the physical embodiment of its wild and dramatic Arctic habitat. It occurs across the whole Arctic region, from Greenland and Iceland through northern Scandinavia and across Siberia and northern Canada, frequenting the high tundra and extreme north of the boreal forest zone. It is a formidable predator, taking birds as large as Capercaillies and swans, and mammals as large as young Arctic foxes, and is traditionally the hunting bird of choice for kings and emperors - especially the rare and stunning white form of the species." "This book looks in detail at the life of the Gyrfalcon - its systemics and taxonomy, distribution, habitat preferences, hunting methods, breeding behaviour, status, and historical and present associations with people. This highly readable and exhaustively researched monograph is illustrated with numerous photographs, line drawings and text figures. This book will appeal greatly to anyone with an interest in birds of prey, and especially to those who admire this magnificent raptor."--BOOK JACKET.