Abstract

This encyclopedia brings together 145 bird skeleton. The bird bones have both the strongness to support their bodies and the lightness to fly. This book does not just collect the bird bones but shows highly important points to see, and explains why birds are able to fly, swim, run, perch, and hunt by combining forms of bones with the birds’ behaviors. This encyclopedia does not aim to identify birds from their bones, but by looking carefully at them, you can tell features of their behaviors and life, and enjoy birdwatching more than ever. For example, flightless birds have smaller keel bones compared to flying birds. However, penguins don’t fly but have rather large ones. This book reveals what is hidden inside the birds’ feathers and shows you their real forms. The book covers bird skeleton much more than any other bird encyclopedias.

Author’s Information

Kazuto Kawakami is an ornithologist specializing in birds of the Ogasawara Islands, researching their evolution and conservation. He is a senior researcher of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Japan. He is an author of numerous books in ornithology.