Nik Borrow - Field Guide to the Birds of Ghana

HELM

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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This electronic edition published in 2022 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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This edition published 2022

Copyright text Ron Demey, 2022

Illustrations Nik Borrow, 2022

Nik Borrow and Ron Demey have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this work

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ISBN: 978-1-4729-9401-1 (HB)
ISBN: 978-1-4729-8772-3 (PB)
ISBN: 978-1-4729-8768-6 (eBook)

Design by Julie Dando, Fluke Art

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CONTENTS

It is with pleasure that we take this opportunity to once again thank all those who, in a major or minor way, directly or indirectly, contributed to our Birds of Western Africa(2001, 2014), on which this book is based.

First and foremost, we thank Franoise Dowsett-Lemaire and Robert Dowsett for once more generously sharing their vast and intimate knowledge of Ghanas avifauna with us, for their always-stimulating discussions and for their numerous comments on and suggested improvements to the maps and species accounts in this book. Their superb and monumental The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook(2014) followed by The Birds of Benin and Togo: An Atlas and Handbook(2019), both mainly based on years of extensive fieldwork by themselves, augmented by contributions of resident and visiting naturalists, represent essential reference works on which the updated information of the present field guide is principally based.

Jim Martin and Alice Ward, the managing editors, are thanked for having initiated this second edition and for their assistance with the production of this book.

A special word of thanks is due to Julie Dando for the expert skill with which she has executed the digital manipulation of images, production of maps, and design and layout of the plates and text.

Mark Adams and Robert Prys-Jones, at the Natural History Museum in Tring, UK, and Michel Louette and Alain Reygel, at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium, are thanked for continuing to facilitate access to skins.

NB would like to remember his late mother for all of her support during his career, the many Birdquest clients, friends and companions in the field and in particular his main guides in recent years, James Ntakor and Paul Mensah. Also thanks to Ashanti African Tours, Andrew Amankwaa, Ebenezer Amoah, Jacob Anim, William Apraku, Mark Beaman, Francis Dabiagu, David Daramani, Foster Frimpong, Andrew Hester, Carsten Hller, Emmanuel Budu Mensah, Francis Ntakor, Isaac Ntakor, Robert Ntakor, Jackson Owusu, Victor Owusu, Phil Senyo and Mark Williams.

RD wishes to thank Paulinus Ngeh (formerly with BirdLife International) for inviting him to Ghana as a trainer in a sub-regional training in bird identification and survey techniques, and Leeanne Alonso (Conservation International) for her invitations to participate in Rapid Assessment Program expeditions. RD also thanks his companions in the field in Ghana, in particular Augustus Asamoah, K.-D. Dijkstra, Lincoln Fishpool and William Ossom.

Finally, as always, RD wishes to express his profound gratitude to Rita Swinnen for her love, patience and enduring support.

Authors note

Many interesting observations remain buried in personal notebooks or unpublished reports.