Life of the Flycatcher (Animal Natural History Series, 3)

Univ of Oklahoma Press, 1999-03-31. Paperback. Very Good. 9x6x0. The flycatchers are the largest family of birds in the Western Hemisphere, and that passerine ("sparrowlike") family takes in a great variety of species, some 380 in all. Often called tyrants in the older literature, flycatchers, noted ornithologist Alexander Skutch argues, should more properly be thought of as tyrant chasers, for they are not shy of attacking much larger birds in defense of their nests and offspring. (The designation "tyrant," Skutch believes, comes from a taxonomic confusion by which the eastern flycatcher, the first known to European scientists, was identified as a shrike--and shrikes, of course, are "notorious for their predatory habits.") Flycatchers, Skutch writes, have even been observed defending the nests of other birds against invading snakes and raptors. Many flycatchers are remarkably beautiful, such as the streamer-tailed flycatcher of central South America and the vermilion flycatcher of Central America and the American Southwest; others are drab. Less cherished among some birdwatchers than their passerine cousins the songbirds, the largely silent flycatchers have a champion in Skutch, whose fine introduction to the family belongs in the complete birder's library. Alexander Frank Skutch (1904 - 2004) was a naturalist and writer. His stream of publications on the lives and habits of Neotropical birds over a 70-year span stimulated whole areas of inquiry into avian sociobiology and life-history strategies. A member of the AOU since 1930, he became an Elective Member in 1938, Fellow in 1945, and Honorary Fellow in 1979, and received the Brewster Medal in 1950. Author of some 200 scientific papers and 20 books on birds, he also wrote nearly 50 articles and four books on philosophy and three autobiographical books that blended both. Skutch's singularly vivid and graceful writing carried his philosophy of nature to a much wider audience. The legacy of Alexander Skutch to Neotropical ornithology is, quite simply, the largest body of natural-history information ever collected by a single observer.