Waterfowl of the World

Hardcover, 540 pages.

Through the images of award-winning photographer Gary Kramer and the words of Kramer and Greg Mensik, Waterfowl of the World takes readers on a visual and literary journey in search of all 167 species of ducks, geese, and swans on Earth.

Among these are a few on the brink of extinction, like the Madagascar Pocharand Brazilian Merganser; and those that are struggling, such as the White-winged Duck and Baer’s Pochard. There are some, like the Nene, that were recently in peril, but are now secure due to conservation efforts; as well as others, including Snow Geese and Canada Geese, whose populations have experienced dramatic increases in recent decades.

Waterfowl of the World is an extraordinary accomplishment and a testament to Kramer's and Mensik's long professional history and expertise in waterfowl ecology and management, and even more importantly, Gary's superb photography. Kramer visited more than 40 countries in three years to photograph virtually all the waterfowl on the planet. Simply seeing these species would be an accomplishment of a lifetime for many, but photographing them in their natural habitats is something well beyond the grasp of even the most accomplished wildlife photographer.

Containing 540 pages and 1,299 color photos, Waterfowl of the World combines range maps, natural history, and conservation/status information with a photographic insight seldom seen. It will be an outstanding resource for a broad constituency of readers, including waterfowl enthusiasts and managers, nature photographers, academics, and students, with an interest in the ecology and biology of this remarkable group of birds.

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Gary Kramer is an award-winning freelance journalist who lives in Willows, California. He has published six books, more than 1,000 articles, and thousands of photos. His photographs and articles regularly appear in many outdoor magazines and calendars. A native Californian and U.S. Navy Vietnam veteran, Gary earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University. For 26 years Gary was a wildlife biologist and refuge manager with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. After a 10-year stint as the refuge manager of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, he retired in 1999 to pursue his writing and photography career full-time. In the process of putting this book together, Gary visited 40 countries, from the Arctic Circle in Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in South America, west to China and South Korea, south to Australia and New Zealand, and east to Morocco and South Africa―and many places in between.