Kenneth S. Norris

Bird Watch: A Survey of Planet Earth's Changing Ecosystems. By Martin Walters; Consultants: Birdlife International and Jonathan Elphick. Chicago (Illinois): University of Chicago Press.

Photographs, front and back cover: Shutterstock From the tufted puffin in the Pacific Northwest to the hook-billed hermit in the Brazilian rainforest, birds suffer from the effects of climate change in every corner of the globe. Scientists have found declines of up to 90 percent in some troubled bird populations and unprecedented reproductive failure in others. The most recent studies suggest dire prospects: 1,227 avian species are threatened with extinction and an additional 838 nearthreatened species are urgent priorities for conservation action.