Community Ecology of Tropical Birds, the tropical ecosystems is one of the most biological diverse habitats on the earth. Seventy six per cent of all centers of avian endemism occur in tropical regions and the same is true for many plant and animal communities. Birds are important component of biological diversity and their ecological, cultural, recreational and economic benefits are recognized universally. They act as vital links in many food webs and often serve as highly visible biological indicators of ecosystem health. Many bird populations are declining all over the world due to habitat loss and fragmentation, predation, pesticide use, invasive exotic species and other factors. This book is about the ecology of tropical bird community, all together 12 chapters are described and divided into two parts. The first part of this book looks at the forest bird community including status and distribution, species-abundance relationship, seasonal changes, vertical distribution and habitat utilisation. The second part provides detailed ecology of wetland bird community. This book will be an invaluable resource for field scientist, researchers, students, and naturalists in the field of Ornithology.

E.A. Jayson: Division of Wildlife Biology, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi-680 653, Kerala, India

C. Sivaperuman: Zoological Survey of India, Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair-744 102, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India

I. Forest bird communities: 1. Introduction. 2. Species composition of birds 3. Species--Abundance relations. 4. Seasonal changes of the community. 5. Vertical stratification of the community. 6. Habitat utilisation. II. Wetland bird communities: 7. Species composition of wetland birds. 8. Species abundance relations. 9. Seasonal changes of the bird community. 10. Habitat utilisation of wetland birds. 11. Food and feeding of selected species. 12. Summary and conclusion.