Orioles, blackbirds, and their kin

by Alexander Frank Skutch

From blackbirds and orioles to meadowlarks, grackles, and cowbirds, the variation shown by members of the family Icteridae is legend. The family exhibits great diversity in size and coloration, mating and nest building, and habits and habitats. This groups of 94 New World species once known as the troupials is well represented in backyards across America; yet most icterids are tropical or semitropical species that remain largely unstudied. The least known of these species are perhaps best known to Alexander Skutch, who has studied birds in a Costa Rican tropical valley for more than half a century. In this fascinating book - the first devoted exclusively to the icterids - he combines his own observations with those of other naturalists to provide a comparative natural history and biology of this remarkable family of birds. Orioles, Blackbirds, and Their Kin is an eminently readable natural history in the classic style. Enhanced by 31 scratchboard illustrations, this book will delight n