I was unable to finish this book. I did not realise that my kindle copy had no pictures and without that, it was just a list of features per vulture. I am not sure what I expected but the initial introduction was quite interesting, but the individual characteristics without pictures is quite hard to absorb. I would recommend this as a perfect textbook for people looking for further information in the field.
Since I was unable to read it all the way through, I cannot provide a full length review.

An intriguing and thorough compendium of vultures.

This is a well-researched and meticulous study of vultures the world over. I have long been fascinated by vultures and was excited to read it. From an information standpoint the book delivers well, and the blend of concision and detail is appreciated.

There’s a trend of really good narrative nonfiction in science writing of late; and I hope that this book would follow that trend, particularly because this has been so common in books on birds. Vultures turned out to be far drier and more akin to traditional science writing, though I didn’t find it difficult to parse or engage with.

I wish that the advance copy had included the photos that I have to assume will be part of the finished copy. Its frustrating when ARCs omit this, as it makes it difficult to write an accurate review (especially one to be shown publicly) because elements of the book are missing. (Note that because this is not the fault of the author, I did not account for this in my star rating).

I love birdwatching and I find vultures fascinating. Only turkey vultures are found in. Y area so being able to read about many more was excellent. This book is full of details and very informative. Unfortunately the lack of pictures makes it not a five star book. How can there be a wildlife book without pictures?

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I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have always loved vultures. Growing up, my grandfather would take me to quietly observe turkey and black vulture nests in abandoned outbuildings on our farm. Those fluffy, stinky baby birds stole my heart at an early age and ignited a life long love of vultures. Vultures of the World takes a look at each extant vulture in the world, examining their feeding and breeding habits, their range, migratory habits, and conservation status. The book goes on to explore the ecology of vultures, including their relationship with humans and their social habits. Vultures of the World is well researched and relies on studies and observations of vultures whenever possible (there is still a lot we don’t know about them) so the reading can feel a bit technical at times. There is a glossary in the back to help you along when you encounter an unfamiliar word or phrase. Throughout the book, Bildstein’s message is quite clear: vultures are fascinating creatures and it is up to us to ensure they’re still here for future generations.

This is a fantastic book. It was so packed full of interesting information and I learnt so much from reading it. I just love nature books that this one that concentrates on getting across the facts rather than fill a book full of pictures. The layout and flow of the book were brilliant making it so easy to read. This book just shows us how much we need to increase conservation of these fantastic creatures.  I really do recommend this book reading this book if you love learning about nature and conservation.  I was fascinated by the fact that different vultures have evolved to eating parts of a carcass that other vultures can't reach. This book only missed out on the 5th star because it had no pictures in and I would of loved to see an example of each breed but I just used Google instead. I definitely found the wonderful glossary very useful.  I really couldn't believe how people could kill these wonderful but ugly creatures.  They are truly natures dust bin.
I will definitely be looking out for more wonderful books by this author and publishers. 

Many thanks to the author and publishers for bringing us this amazing fact filled book to life.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/vultures-of-the-world-by-keith-l-bildstein-cornell-university-press-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365 or lady Reading365 or ladyc reading

I'm giving this one five stars on the provisio that the final book has photos or drawings of these magnificent birds. If not, it's four and a half from disappointment.

We get a good account of convergent evolution to fill similar ecological niches, and the services that scavenging birds provide alongside their place in the food chain. From roadkill to sky burials, the vultures work hard to keep the word clean as they feed their offspring. The author explains that prehistoric humans probably followed vultures to handy food sources.

Each species is described with notes as to its range and nest predators, in Asia for instance, the Pallas cat and raven. Whether the offspring disperse or stay near the parents. As a bird lover I find the notes clear and easy enough to understand. We also get notes on how each bird got its name, so there is plenty to interest a reader even if we haven't a hope of travelling to the normal range. At the end is a glossary of terms like irruptive migrants and keystone species.

This will be an indispensable handbook for the spotter or ecologist in the field, and will also aid those drawing up plans for national parks, rewilding, or protected areas for wildlife. Vultures are suffering from many causes such as mechanised agriculture, shooting, collisions with power lines, and predating on dead animals dosed with wormer medicine or poisons. They are sometimes killed because their circling gives notice of illegally poached animals. We should appreciate the birds for themselves but also for the vital role they play in the environment.


Notes begin on P 186. Glossary P 189 - 205. References are listed by chapter at the back, P 207 - 236. Index P 237 - 244. No illustrations in my ARC edition.
I read an e-ARC from Net Galley. I read and reviewed in my own time. This is an unbiased review.

Vultures! Just the name can bring up some interesting images. But, vultures are probably the most misunderstood birds in the world. These interesting birds play a vital role in their environment.

This new book by Keith L. Bildstein goes into amazing detail about every vulture species on the planet. It’s the perfect book for bird enthusiasts, biologists, ornithologists, or anyone who wants to learn all about these fascinating birds. Vultures play a vital role as scavengers worldwide. There are 23 species known to science. This book has a complete treatment of each species. You will learn everything about these birds, in depth. There were some species in this book that I had never even heard of!

I love how detailed the accounts are. To me, this book is the perfect textbook about vultures. I recommend it be used in college ornithology courses. The level of detail is beyond what a layperson would be looking for. It is definitely a scientific text, not a coffee table book.

Everything you ever wanted to know about vultures is here at your fingertips. You learn about their life history, some very interesting facts, how they soar, and so much more. I cannot recommend this enough. Five stars!

This isn't a book for casual birders. This is a much needed book that fills in a hole in the ornithology field. I'm not a scientist, but a wildlife rehabber who has taken care of Turkey Vultures before and I wish I had this book back then. It is extremely thorough (to the point of being dense to a layman reader) and covers 23 species of Vultures. The first part covers in depth the natural history of each vulture. I was particularly interested in the Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures as that's the kind I have in my area. It was fascinating to learn the difference and similarities of them, especially what they eat! However I enjoyed the latter half of the book more when vultures as a species were discussed. Vultures are amazing creatures and I think that this book will help people truly understand how valuable they are to ecosystems!

Thoroughly researched, Vultures of the World is jam packed with information about the 23 species of vultures in the world in both the New World and Old World. Keith L. Bildstein breaks them down into classifications and describes how these weirdly fascinating birds differ and how they are similar including their distribution, scavenging, decomposition requirements, breeding and anatomy. He also includes taxonomy, pair fidelity, flight requirements and moving in vegetation and social ecology. Each section includes synthesis and conclusion. The glossary at the back is a helpful reference as there is terminology which is new to me, at least.

There is so much that had not registered with me before such as the ability of vultures to feed on different carcasses such as a chicken in the morning and a whale later in the day, how they can safely kill venomous snakes, how the bearded vultures stain themselves orange, the ability of Egyptian vultures to use tools, the importance of sky burial in the Himalayas and the drinking of water before and after eating in the Black vulture. Those most familiar to me are the Griffon Vultures on Cres in Croatia and the Turkey Vultures in Saskatchewan, though even those aren't exactly easy to observe, either.

Lead poisoning and Diclofenac toxicity are fascinating and important topics as well. Human threats are many. Another lightbulb moment for me was the urohidrosis explanation. After reading this book I feel far more knowledgeable and smarter about this seldom-discussed and sometimes maligned bird. If these homely yet wondrously amazing birds intrigue you, do not miss this book. My only wish is for illustrations and photographs as are typical in Nature Nonfiction books.

My sincere thank you to Cornell University Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this amazing book.

As much as I love reading about animals, this book was a little too dry for me. It has many interesting facts about vultures, their biology, geographical area and social habits, but it is for serious scientific readers only. As an example, Egyptian Vultures use tools and color their feathers, but the way it is discussed here makes it sound as just another feature of these wonderful birds and not as awesome as laypeople will find it. There are many figures, numbers and hard science. That said, it’s not the author’s fault, but this reader’s. This is a wonderful, fascinating volume for scientists, just not approachable for casual readers.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/#Cornell University Press, Comstock Publishing Associates!

I received an electronic ARC via NetGalley.

This is a really lovely book about, just as the title says, the vultures of the world. With detailed information on various aspects of vulture behavior, the importance of scavengers in a health ecosystem, and the history of relations between vultures and humans, this is a very informative book. The species profiles are fascinating, and are divided into Old World and New World vultures.

While I've always thought that vultures are interesting animals, my personal experience with them is pretty limited to turkey vultures--and I didn't know much about even them. I've learned a lot from reading this book, and feel I have a greater appreciation for a range of vulture species I didn't even know existed.

The only thing that stops me from rating this 5 stars rather than 4 is the lack of illustrations.

I received an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so good!
I majored in ecology and my study field was ornithology, specifically songbirds. I always love to receive books about birds, but 90% of the time I end up feeling disappointed. This time around I was very happy though.
This book definitely has so much information about these underrated species of the bird kingdom. Very detailed, very organised approach where I didn't have to question facts every step of the way.
I am very pleased about all the scientific information that was packed into this tome. I would be interested in a book such as this about other species as well.

I do however have to highlight two negatives. Even as someone who spent years with her head stuck in scientific books and papers, this felt to be a bit dry at times especially with a lack of images. I think a bit more photos/art pieces with explanation attached would have softened up the monotony of this book. In fact I will be tapping into this book from time to time, since it is not something I can read continuously.
The other issue I had is that the book fells in between a true scientific book and something for bird lover beginners, but fails to market itself as what it is.

4/5 stars

Full Disclosure: I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a comprehensive view of behavior and ecology of the vulture species of the world. Although I live in an ornithological oasis, I had little knowledge of vulture species except the Turkey Vultures that I see looking for or working at carrion on my commute. I came to this book as a beginner and I found it easy to follow, enjoyable to read, and i learned a great deal about an unappreciated class of birds.

The book was well organized and went through each branch of vulture species by classification: New World or Old World.Did you know that condors are vultures? I didn't but I do now. The largest and most expensive undertaking to save a bird was the effort to save the California Condors.

My favorite parts of the book were segments on the Bearded Vulture. I was engrossed by the feeding behavior of the Bearded Vulture: the only vertebrate that subsists on bones. The intelligence and amount of skill needed to crack large bones into to edible pieces was astounding. It takes a young Bearded Vulture 7 years to master the skill. They also bath themselves in iron rich dust for cosmetic reasons. Beyond the Bearded Vulture, I enjoyed reading about the symbiotic relationship that the Himalayan Vulture has with mankind.

I found it fascinating and believe that widely available information like this which highlights the beauty and function of vultures are imperative to the survival of the species. This is a wonderful book.

Vultures are fascinating creatures, so I'm happy with a well written book about them! This book describes all of the species of vultures and their lifestyle. Obviously a lot of research has gone into writing this book. There are great explanations about some of the ways in which you can research these animals, like how they can be tagged. Also very useful are the synthesis & conclusions after every chapter. Perfect read for biologists interested in these magnificent animals. The only think I'm missing are some photos of the vultures, I read an advanced reader's copy, so hopefully some photos will be included in the final book.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I think that vultures are really cool birds especially black vultures. I found this book to be a little over scientific for me and would have preferred a few more pictures.

I love vultures, so I am really happy about this book that focuses on these amazing birds. It offers descriptions and some facts on their behaviour, feeding or reproduction for 23 vulture species. I think this book will be great for every bird lover.

Loved this book! I've always been interested in vultures and found this book a very interesting book to read, I definitely recommend it to nature and bird lovers out there.

It was interesting to me that the book was inspired by a visit to a raptor migration site, because I live a few miles from a different site where a couple thousand turkey vultures are counted in spring and fall migrations.

Each of the 23 vulture species has a section including descriptions and basics of life to the extent known, as well as their endangered status. There are general chapters on basic ecology, pair formation and reproduction, food location and feeding behavior, movement and social behaviors, and how vultures and humans affect each other. Each section ends with a recap of its main points.

There is plentiful information on turkey vultures (the most common vulture in the U.S. and easily identifiable when flying) and black vultures and California condors since they’re most studied species. But did you know there’s also a vulture which does not eat mostly meat? It’s the palm-nut vulture! Or that vultures are not banded in North America because of their practice of defecating on their legs (for cooling and/or antiseptic reasons)? Or that sky burials in parts of Asia involve vultures eating human corpses (I’ve always wanted my body to become food for wildlife)? There are many of these fascinating facts in the book.

The major threats to vultures are loss of habitat, feeding off poisoned animals (deliberately killed wildlife, pesticides, lead ammunition, veterinary drugs, etc.), and being shot or otherwise deliberately targeted. Additional problems include trash, electricity, aircraft, climate change. Yes, as for most animals, the biggest threat is people.

The book concludes with a lengthy glossary, references, and index. 23 color photos to be included in the finished book were not part of the advance copy, but I assume there is one for each of the species of vultures. The book is written more for the general public than most books of its type, and is thus more enjoyable while still presenting the facts.

Thanks to Cornell University Press and NetGalley for an advance copy to review.