FARMING and BIRDS. By Raymond J. O'Connor and Michael Shrubb. Wash drawings by Donald Watson.

1986 1st edition. 8vo (155 x 234mm). Ppxii,290. B/w illustrations by Donald Watson, graphs, tables, maps. Pictorial laminated boards.

"This attractively illustrated book reviews the effects of agricultural development on bird populations in Britain. Examining modern farmland as a bird habitat, it explains the changes, both in habitat structure and in available resources, that have occurred as a result of mechanisation and use of agrochemicals. Farmland bird communities are described, and their composition related to farm structure and land use. Based extensively on empirical data extracted from the British Trust for Ornithology's Common Bird Census and from nest histories recorded in the BTO's Nest Record Scheme, the book presents an important analysis of the position of agricultural bird populations under modern farming systems. Particular examination has been made of the impact of changing methods, rotations and crops, which have been underestimated in the past. Resulting from the co-operation between a professional ornithologist and a working cereal farmer, this book provides an objective and informed view of the impact of British agriculture on bird populations." Chapters include:- The historical background to modern agriculture; The farmland bird community; Farmland as a nesting habitat; Food and feeding behaviour; Modern agriculture: the consequences of specialisation; Farm structure and bird habitats; The effects of hedges and hedgerow loss on farmland birds; The impact of farming practice on birds; Pesticides and pollution; Crop protection, shooting and persecution; The outlook for farming and birds. Appendices include:- The Common Bird Census; Nest records and their analysis; Sources and use of agricultural statistics; Scientific names of birds mentioned in the text; Scientific names of other animals mentioned in the text.