Jan van de Kam, Bruno Ens, Theunis Piersma, Leo Zwarts. (KNNV Publishers, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2004)

For fans of shorebirds (a collective to which we enthusiastically belong), there is at least one “must-have” book to own if passion lies in their identification (the deservedly world-famous “Shorebirds: An Identification Guide to the waders of the world”, by Hayman, Marchant, and Prater, 1987); and now there’s one more - if that passion extends to wanting to learn in depth about the amazing life-cycles of many of the same species - “Shorebirds: An illustrated behavioral ecology“.

The scientific-sounding title of this book may make a few readers of this review flinch, but it really shouldn’t: this is an extraordinarily readable and well-informed book - the authors are among the most scientific, well-published and detail-minded people you could ever hope to read (or meet), leading members of the International Wader Study Group who have been at the forefront of wader ecological research for more than twenty years - but their outright passion for the birds and for the subject matter really carries their text along in wonderful style.

And it’s not just the text that shines. The title of this book is “Shorebirds: An illustrated behavioral ecology” and the text is complemented and supported by some stunning photography by Jan van de Kam (look at the front-cover - a gorgeous photo of a Pied Avocet, or at another favourite - a “Where’s Waldo?”-type shot on p.230 of a Red Knot on the nest: beautiful!). This isn’t just a collection of random but exemplary photographs though - each photograph has clearly been chosen to back up points made in the text.

So what does the book actually cover?

The first chapter provides a background to tidal-flats in general, and to the Wadden Sea in particular - that huge system of tidal-flats and barrier islands that line the northern coast of the Netherlands, Germany and part of western Denmark. This area is not only where much of their actual research was conducted, but it is also one of the most extensive and important tidal-flat systems for shorebirds in the world (another being of course the slightly larger and much more threatened Yellow Sea, shared by China, DPRK and South Korea).

The book then introduces a broad range of “shorebirds” (here expanded at first to cover all the main waterbird species that depend on the Wadden Sea’s tidal-flats and shallows), before it starts to focus-in further, with subsequent chapters dedicated to explaining the various survival strategies shorebirds employ on migration, for example, how and why they find and choose their food, strategies in mate selection and reproduction, and a chapter looking to the future with a mass of conservation-based information.

To look at the key parts of shorebirds’ lives (and the choices that the birds must make simply to survive the difficult conditions they face every day), the authors synthesize the best available information on several of their most-loved and best-researched species: Bar-tailed Godwit, Red Knot and Oystercatcher. They build an amazingly rich picture of these shorebird species’ lives and ecological requirements, ranging from the fine detail on a Red Knot’s bill (with its pressure-sensing nerve cells, allowing birds to locate buried and unseen shellfish) to the social structure of the Oystercatcher – far more complex and in some ways more full of intrigue than even the lives of some “Desperate Housewives”.

How informative is all this text? Both of us have over thirty years experience of looking at these species – but only now, after reading this book, do we have a sense of really understanding them. This is a passionate, masterful book written by people who really like shorebirds, its six chapters packed with typically clear diagrams and accessible text – with information drawn from over 1000 published references (over 200 of them written by the authors themselves). The whole is written to illuminate, sometimes to dazzle, but never to show off or confuse - you’ll find yourself in awe of shorebirds and their lives after reading this book…guaranteed!

So does the book have any flaws? Very, very few. As people dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats in the Yellow Sea, it would have been wonderful to have had a little more information directly comparing the different ‘flyways’ (migration routes), with some further references to the needs of these same species (or different forms of them) occupying similar, “mirror-niches” in the Far East, but that is - understandably - perhaps best left to a separate book anyway.
And as larophiles, it would have been useful to have a little more information on gulls (a difficult but very interesting group that the authors seem to think little of, and dedicate only a single page of text to, in the earlier chapter).

Two minor points, however, and nowhere near enough to take any of the shine off some of the most informative 340 plus pages of text and photos that you will find anywhere on birds.

At around 46GBP/85USD it’s not cheap to buy, but - as the saying goes - ‘you get what you pay for’ and all in all this is a most highly recommended book!

Summary:
Hardback, 300 color photos. 368 pages, Piersma et al. Shorebirds: An Illustrated behavioural ecology. Don’t be put-off by the scientific-sounding title, this is a beautifully illustrated and hugely informative book that will appeal to anyone with an interest in learning more about shorebirds. Written with a rare passion by experts in their field, it is highly recommended.