Seabirds of Hawaii : : Natural History and Conservation / / Craig S. Harrison.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Archive Pre-2000
• VerfasserIn: Harrison, Craig S.,
• Place / Publishing House: Ithaca, NY : : Cornell University Press, , [2019]; ©1990
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (288 p.) :; 16 figures, 18 tables

Hawaii is known throughout the world for its uniquely hospitable climate and people. Because of its geographical isolation and tropical-subtropical location, it harbors numerous animals that are unknown elsewhere in the United States. Unfortunately, Hawaii is special in another respect: it is the endangered species capital of the world. Many of its birds are in jeopardy of extinction.This book, the first to portray a tropical seabird community, treats the 22 species of seabirds of the Hawaiian archipelago from a conservationist point of view. Craig S. Harrison first establishes the setting, describing Hawaii's birth from undersea volcanoes, its marine biology, and the effects of Polynesians and Westerners on its pristine island ecosystem. He summarizes current knowledge of albatrosses, shearwaters, petrels, frigatebirds, boobies, tropicbirds, terns, and noddies, explaining their similarities and differences with respect to nesting, food habits, migration at sea, and adaptation to a tropical environment.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- FIGURES AND TABLES -- Preface -- Part I. The Environment and Humans -- 1. The Islands -- 2. The Sea -- 3. The Humans -- Part II. Comparative Biology of Hawaiian Seabirds -- 4. Origin and Adaptations of Hawaiian Seabirds -- 5. Populations -- 6. Breeding Ecology -- 7. Feeding Ecology -- 8. Pelagic Ecology: Life at Sea -- Part III. Hawaiian Seabirds: Family Groups and Species -- 9. Albatrosses: Family Diomedeidae -- 10. Shearwaters and Gadfly Petrels: Family Procellariidae -- 11.Storm-Petrels: Family Oceanitidae -- 12. Frigatebirds: Family Fregatidae -- 13. Boobies: Family Sulidae -- 14. Tropicbirds: Family Phaethontidae -- 15. Terns and Noddies: Family Laridae (Subfamily Sterninae) -- Part IV. Conservation -- 16. Conservation on the Islands -- 17. Conservation at Sea -- 18. Conservation Dilemmas -- APPENDIX: Some Common and Scientific Names -- Selected Bibliography -- Index