Shrikes and Bush-shrikes
The book covers the identification, biology and relationships of all true shrikes, bush-shrikes, helmet-shrikes, the closely related shrike flycatchers, philentomas, batises and wattle-eyes.
This book offers information on 114 species in 21 genera within the families Laniidae and Malaconotidae. For each genus, acoustic and visual signals are summarized and used to map similarities.
The detailed species account for the bulk of the book, providing knowledge on field identification, plumage descriptions, geographical variation, moult, distribution, movements. general and foraging behaviour, food, sounds and breeding behaviour.
Tony Harris is Associate Curator in the Department of Birds at the Transvaal Museum in South Africa, where he established the Fitzpatrick Bird Communication Library. He has undertaken extensive fieldwork and sound recording in southern Africa and has been researching shrike taxonomy and systematics for many years. He is the author of Shrikes of Southern Africa
Kim Franklin, a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists, has exhibited his work in countries throughout Europe and Africa. His illustrations have appeared in numerous books, including Birds of the Western Palearctic, Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, and the award-winning Parrots.