1) Yang, Liu and Chen Shuihua. Princeton University Press. Flexibound: 672 pages. Price: $39.95 U.S.
China is home to some of the most spectacular birdlife to be
found anywhere in the world. This richly illustrated field guide covers
every species found throughout the region, including numerous endemic
and globally threatened species. Detailed species accounts cover
everything from biometrics and habitat to behavior, distribution, and
voice, and each one comes with illustrations of the species and a color
distribution map. A landmark achievement, Birds of China is the ideal companion for travelers to China and a must for any birder’s bookshelf.
- The first complete English-language field guide to China’s wondrously diverse birdlife
- Covers nearly 1,500 species, including endemics and threatened birds
- Features a wealth of breathtaking color plates painted by leading Chinese artists
- Includes some 4,000 images that illustrate every species
- Discusses China’s geography and zoogeography
- Shares invaluable advice on birding practices and ethics
RECOMMENDATION: This book is a MUST-HAVE for anyone birding China!
2) Van Nieuwenhuyse, Dries et al.. (2nd Edition). 2024.
Cambridge University Press. Hardbound: 616 pages. Price: $
The basic biology of owls is poorly understood compared to that of
other bird species. The Little Owl, Athene noctua, is one of the best
models for biological and conservation research. Though widespread
across Europe, Asia and North Africa, populations of the Little Owl are
now in decline, making studies of its behavior and ecology all the more
important. This extensively revised and updated second edition features
substantial new long-term data on population dynamics, behavioral
observations and breeding biology of the Little Owl. The authors discuss
its wide-ranging ecology, genetics, subspecies, and population status
by country. In addition, they outline a research strategy and monitoring
program. Exceptional illustrations of all fourteen subspecies cover
embryonic and chick development, feather growth and moult, including
high-quality drawings presenting concrete management suggestions. Whilst
being an invaluable resource for academic researchers, its accessible
and straightforward style will also appeal to amateur ornithologists and
enthusiasts.
RECOMMENDATION: This book is a MUST-HAVE for anyone with a serious interest in the species. The artwork by Joris De Raedt highlights this book!
3) Seng, Lim Kim et al.. John Beaufoy Publishing. Paperback: 236 pages. Price: $
A Field Guide to the Birds of Singapore is a fully comprehensive
field guide to the 422 bird species of Singapore, as well as ‘escapees’
not formally accepted as ‘wild’ birds. The species are clearly
illustrated in over 100 plates, with many variants. The main identifying
features of each species are described and key facts cover size, voice,
range and status, habitat and breeding. The book also includes
information on taxonomy and nomenclature, observing birds, climate,
habitats, the breeding cycle, migration and conservation as well as a
section on 25 key birdwatching sites with maps.
RECOMMENDATION: This book is a must-have for anyone birding Singapore.
4) Light, Liz and Oscar Thomas. John Beaufoy Publishing. Paperback: 220 pages. Price: $
Aotearoa New Zealand has a diverse range of bird species but is
especially renowned for its seabirds. Fifteen of the world's 18 penguin
species have been recorded in the New Zealand region. Nine of these
species breed here. Of petrels, 40 of the world's 127 species breed in
the New Zealand region, some on the mainland or nearby islands where
they can be seen with ease, and many more are throughout the Southern
Ocean. Twelve of the world’s 21 albatross species nest in New Zealand
and of those seven do not nest elsewhere. As well as these specific
species, the book covers 50 sites on the North and South Islands,
Rakiura/Stewart Island and Rekohu/Chatham Islands that are best for
birdwatching. Detailed descriptions of each site cover the terrain,
tracks and trails where certain species are likely to be encountered.
Particular species for each site are highlighted. A fact file for each
site lists land or sea access; type of habitat, best time to visit,
facilities and accommodation. Key species checklists are provided for
each site and particular ones are highlighted with detailed summaries.
The second edition is fully updated by Oscar Thomas with 90 new
photographs and with three new sites.
RECOMMENDATION: This book is a must-have for anyone birding New Zealand.
5) Zalesky, Philip H. et al..
RECOMMENDATION: This book is a must-have for anyone birding Snohomish County and Camano Island.
6) O’Shea, Mark. University of Chicago Press. Hardbound: 656 pages. Price: $
For millennia, humans have regarded snakes with an exceptional
combination of fascination and revulsion. Some people recoil in fear at
the very suggestion of these creatures, while others happily keep them
as pets. Snakes can convey both beauty and menace in a single tongue
flick, and so these creatures have held a special place in our cultures.
Yet, for as many meanings as we attribute to snakes—from fertility and
birth to sin and death—the real-life species represent an even wider
array of wonders.
Now in a new edition, reflecting the most recent species classifications, The Book of Snakes
presents 600 species of snakes from around the world, covering roughly
one in seven of all snake species. It will bring greater understanding
of a group of reptiles that have existed for more than 160 million years
and that now inhabit every continent except Antarctica, as well as two
of the great oceans.
This volume pairs spectacular photos with
easy-to-digest text. It is the first book on these creatures that
combines a broad, worldwide sample with full-color, life-size accounts.
Entries include close-ups of the snake’s head and a section of the snake
at actual size. The detailed images allow readers to examine the
intricate scale patterns and rainbow of colors as well as special
features like a cobra’s hood or a rattlesnake’s rattle. The text is
written for laypeople and includes a glossary of frequently used terms.
Herpetologists and herpetoculturists alike will delight in this
collection, and even those with a more cautious stance on snakes will
find themselves drawn in by the wild diversity of the suborder
Serpentes.
RECOMMENDATION: This book is a well-illustrated overview of the World's snakes.
7) Secher, Andy. Columbia University Press. Hardbound: 453 pages. Price: $
For
more than 250 million years, the primeval oceans of the Paleozoic
teemed with trilobites. These hardy invertebrates evolved into an
astonishing array of separate species―more than 25,000 at last count―and
much remains unknown about these once-ubiquitous creatures. Fossil
enthusiasts are captivated by trilobites’ diversity and adaptability,
enthralled by the possibility of catching a glimpse of a transcendentally
strange past.
Andy Secher―one of the most prolific trilobite
collectors in the world―takes readers on an entertaining and
enlightening journey to the distant epoch when these ancient arthropods
swarmed through the seas. The Trilobite Collector’s Guide
presents a series of “Top Ten” lists covering everything from
celebrated Cambrian localities and world-class fossil shows to
invaluable collecting tips and ways to spot a fake trilobite. These
brisk and often witty chapters enumerate trilobites in all their beauty
and strangeness, from the most common to the ridiculously rare, the
outrageously old to the last in line. The Trilobite Collector’s Guide
showcases more than 350 full-color photographs, mostly of stunning
specimens from Secher’s personal collection, that put trilobites’
staggering variety and complexity on full display. Engaging and
informative, this book lets readers see the world of trilobites as it’s
never been seen before.
RECOMMENDATION: This book is a must-have for anyone with an interest in trilobites!
8) Stevens, Margaret Skeels, Donald R. Prothero et al.. Systematics of the Late Oligocene and Miocene Oreodonts. 2023. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Paperback: 226 pages. Price: $20.00 U.S. (plus shipping).
The Oreodonts were among the most common mammals in the Oligocene and Miocene of North America, but their systematics has been a shambles for more than a century. In this volume, all the post-Whitneyan Oreodonts are finally revised and updated, and their biogeography and paleoecology are also discussed. All the information on paleobiology databases and previous literature is now out of date.
9) Nayler, Ray. Tordotcom. Hardbound: 101 pages. Price: $26.99 U.S.
When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.
Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again.
Dr.
Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally
murdered trying to defend the world's last elephants from the brutal
ivory trade. Now, her digitized consciousness has been downloaded into
the mind of a mammoth.
As the herd's new matriarch, can Damira
help fend off poachers long enough for the species to take hold? Or will
her own ghosts, and Moscow's real reason for bringing the mammoth back,
doom them to a new extinction?
A tense SF thriller from a new master of the genre.
RECOMMENDATION: If you enjoyed the author's other writings, you should enjoy this book.