Birder's Conservation Handbook: 100 North American Birds at Risk.

BIRDER'S CONSERVATION HANDBOOK: 100 North American Birds at Risk JEFFERY V. WELLS

Avian ecologist Wells, senior scientist for the International Boreal Conservation Campaign, chose his list of the continent's top 100 troubled birds by paring down an original list of 500. Still, he argues against gloom. New initiatives for saving wetlands or curbing energy benefit birds, and Wells calls for greener living as a vital act of bird conservation. He supports the theme by working through his list in a format that echoes a field guide. Each species gets an account packed with details of what's known about its problems and what conservationists are doing. Unlike the range maps in the usual field guide, Wells doesn't send birds flying into blank space at the Mexican border. Instead, he shows the whole geography of winter and summer homes, with enough shaded blobs oozing over borders to make the point that saving birds will take some global thinking. Princeton University Press, 2007, 464 p., b&w illus., paperback, $35.00.

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