From the viewpoint of a conservationist elsewhere in North America, the Salton Sink in southern California is paradoxical: at once alarmingly familiar and bewilderingly foreign to one’s experience. Economic development pressures, agricultural and urban needs for water, demands for recreation unrelated to wildlife, and the inevitable pushes and pulls of politics all battle relentlessly against ecological requirements for habitat preservation. These factors are commonplace in conservation, although not always as rife with competing interests as here. The utterly unfamiliar aspect is an astonishing diversity of ecological resources that need to be conserved. No fewer than 227 species—132 waterbirds and 95 primarily migrant landbirds—representing 50 families are analyzed, discussed, or at least listed in this important publication. The myriad habitats of the Salton Sea and the physiographic “sink” in which it lies are a critical haven for countless millions of nesting, migrating, and wintering bird species. Ecology and Conservation of Birds of the Salton Sink connects the complex bird communities to their equally complex ecosystem with rich scientific detail.