Birds of the Salton Sea

"The Salton Sea has a fascinating history and is one of the most important inland seas for water birds of North America. [This book] is an important contribution to our understanding of the distribution and abundance of birds on our continent."—Nils Warnock, Point Reyes Bird Observatory

"The Salton Sea environment, a jewel of human-altered ecosystems, shimmers amidst the otherwise harsh and arid landscape of the Colorado Desert. Offering a rich mosaic of diverse avian habitats that attract phenomenal numbers of land and waterbirds to its productive saline shores, agricultural fields, freshwater wetlands, desert woodlands, and riparian-lined drainages, the Salton Sink represents one of the most important regions for bird populations in western North America. In Birds of the Salton Sea, authors Patten, McCaskie, and Unitt have combined their extensive individual expertise, a collaboration based on experience that spans nearly half a century, to produce this comprehensive tome on the avifauna of the Salton Sink. This important volume is a must for anyone interested in birds and their habitats in western North America."—Kathy C. Molina, Dickey Bird Collection, University of California, Los Angeles

"Patten, McCaskie, and Unitt—three of California’s elite field ornithologists—have crafted a definitive book on the avifauna of the Salton Sea, an otherworldly, saline water body that provides a crucial nexus in the Pacific Flyway for millions of birds. Tracing the geologic and human forces that have shaped this highly productive desert wetland from the Pleistocene to the present, they reveal the secrets of the intricate comings and goings of birds reliant on this now-threatened ecosystem. Stitching together the details of the seasonal occurrence patterns, habitat needs, biogeographic affinities, and taxonomic relationships of the region’s incredibly diverse bird life, they highlight the richness, importance, and need for protection of one of the West’s irreplaceable natural treasures."—Dave Shuford, Point Reyes Bird Observatory