“The endeavor is fascinating because birds of almost all kinds have far more impacts on human life than most humans realize.”

Steve Donoghue | Open Letters Monthly

“For those with an interest in avian/human ecology.”

Ian Paulsen | Birdbooker Report

“An impressive collection of papers that explains how birds fit into our world. It examines birds’ roles in pollination, seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, how birds engineer their habitats, and their economic value. As the subtitle suggests, this book is geared to academic and professional readers, but any serious student of birds will appreciate Why Birds Matter.”

Scott Shalaway | Farm and Dairy

"Highly recommended for different types of ornithological audiences, from the amateur involved in conservation objectives to the researcher concentrated on the study of functional diversity, passing through to the scientific communicator."

Ardeola

"Why Birds Matter makes a valuable contribution to the literature and brings together disparate empirical studies examining the ecological functions and ecosystem services provided by birds. Moreover, by highlighting those areas where further research is likely to prove fruitful, the book is likely to prompt other researchers to initiate studies examining other ecosystem services. Some excellent editing has ensured that the chapters are all relatively consistent in terms of style and language used. . . . I would thoroughly recommend it for college, university, and museum libraries and also in the personal libraries of those interested in ecosystem services. I congratulate the editors and contributors for producing such an informative volume."

Mark C. Mainwaring, Lancaster University | Condor

“Such an interesting volume. Authoritative and well-researched, Why Birds Matter will appeal to both ornithologists and conservation biologists—I can see myself referring to it frequently in the future. Authors of each chapter are well chosen world leaders on their topics, and the material is well written and cohesive. It will be an exceedingly useful book to those of us who work on bird conservation and want a one-stop summary of what we know about the contributions of birds to ecosystem services.”

Chris S. Elphick, University of Connecticut