Sunday, May 29, 2022

New Titles

 


1) MacKinnon, John. Guide to the Birds of China. 2022. Oxford University Press. Paperback: 511 pages. Price: $49.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: China covers about 7% of the earth's land surface and encompasses a hugely diverse range of habitats. As a result, it boasts a rich and diverse avifauna, including some of the most spectacular and fascinating birds to be found anywhere in the world.

     Building on the enormous popularity and reputation of the original
A Field Guide to the Birds of China (2000), John MacKinnon's fully updated and refreshed work remains a truly comprehensive, taxonomically modern, fully illustrated, and authoritative field guide. 1484 bird species are richly
illustrated in 164 annotated colour plates, which are closely integrated with up-to-date colour distribution maps, QR codes providing easy access to birdcalls, IUCN Red List status indicators and new, concise descriptions. These descriptions feature key observations as well as conveying crucial
changes to species distributions resulting from climate change and landscape transformation.

      Guide to the Birds of China will appeal to an international and growing audience of professional and amateur ornithologists and birding enthusiasts, academic researchers and students, wildlife photographers, and conservationists.

RECOMMENDATION: Currently the best available English language guide to the birds of China.

 


 

2) Adriaens, Peter et al.. Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: An Identification Guide. 2022. Princeton University Press. Paperback: 320 pages. Price: $39.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Gulls occupy a particularly important place in the world of birds. But because they are notoriously difficult to identify, they have been relatively neglected in the ornithological literature. Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East offers the most up-to-date guide for gull identification in Europe and beyond. With a direct and visual approach, and an abundance of beautiful color photographs, this book provides thorough accounts of all species and subspecies of gulls found in the Western Palearctic. The guide compares similar taxa and addresses the complexities of identifying hybrids. Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East will be the standard work for identifying these birds for some time to come.

  • Richly illustrated with nearly 1,400 color photographs
  • Thorough accounts of all species and subspecies of gulls found in the Western Palearctic
  • Up-to-date information for easy and accurate identification of 45 species

RECOMMENDATION: A must have for all Laridophiles!

 


 

3) Bildstein, Keith L.. Vultures of the World: Essential Ecology and Conservation. 2022. Comstock Publishing Associates. Hardbound: 244 pages. Price: $34.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: In Vultures of the World, Keith L. Bildstein provides an engaging look at vultures and condors, seeking to help us understand these widely recognized but underappreciated birds.

     Bildstein's latest work is an inspirational and long overdue blend of all things vulture. Based on decades of personal experience, dozens of case studies, and numerous up-to-date examples of cutting-edge science, this book introduces readers to the essential nature of vultures and condors. Not only do these most proficient of all vertebrate scavengers clean up natural and man-made organic waste but they also recycle ecologically essential elements back into both wild and human landscapes, allowing our ecosystems to function successfully across generations of organisms. With distributions ranging over more than three-quarters of all land on five continents, the world's twenty-three species of scavenging birds of prey offer an outstanding example of biological diversity writ large.

     Included in the world's species fold are its most abundant large raptors―several of its longest lived birds and the most massive of all soaring birds. With a fossil record dating back more than fifty million years, vultures and condors possess numerous adaptions that characteristically serve them well but at times also make them particularly vulnerable to human actions. Vultures of the World is a truly global treatment of vultures, offering a roadmap of how best to protect these birds and their important ecology.

RECOMMENDATION: A must have for all vulture fans!

 

 

4) Richie, Marina. Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher. 2022. Oregon State University Press. Paperback: 251 pages. Price: $24.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: More than one hundred species of kingfishers brighten every continent but Antarctica. Not all are fishing birds. They range in size from the African dwarf kingfisher to the laughing kookaburra of Australia. This first book to feature North America’s belted kingfisher is a lyrical story of observation, revelation, and curiosity in the presence of flowing waters.

     The kingfisher—also known as the halcyon bird—is linked to the mythic origin of halcyon days, a state of happiness that Marina Richie hopes to find outside her back door in Missoula, Montana. Epiphanies and a citizen science discovery punctuate days tracking a bird that outwits at every turn. The female is more colorful than the male (unusual and puzzling) and the birds’ earthen nest holes are difficult to locate.

      While the heart of the drama takes place on Rattlesnake Creek in Missoula, the author’s adventures in search of kingfisher kin on the lower Rio Grande, in South Africa, and in London illuminate her relationships with the birds of Montana. In the quiet of winter, she explores tribal stories of the kingfisher as messenger and helper, pivotal qualities for her quest. For all who love birds or simply seek solace in nature,
Halcyon Journey is an inviting introduction to the mythic and mysterious belted kingfisher.
RECOMMENDATION: A must read for anyone with an interest in Belted Kingfishers.
 

5) Hunting, Jill. For Want of Wings: A Bird with Teeth and a Dinosaur in the Family. 2022. University of Oklahoma Press. Paperback: 244 pages. Price: $21.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: In 1872, a young graduate of Yale University named Thomas Russell unearthed the bones of an 83,000,000-year-old dinosaur in western Kansas. The rare fossil, an avian dinosaur with teeth and flightless wings, proved that birds evolved from reptiles. More than a century later, Russell’s great-granddaughter set out to retrace her ancestor’s forgotten expedition. Part detective history, part memoir, For Want of Wings is Jill Hunting’s captivating account of her journey into prehistory, national history, and family history.

      In her quest to piece together fragments of her family’s past, Hunting ends up crisscrossing the United States, from California to Connecticut. On her first trip across the Colorado Rockies to the fossil bed site near Russell Springs, Kansas, Hunting brings along her then twenty-six-year-old daughter. When the book opens, mother and daughter are both at crossroads, each seeking to understand the impact of personal decisions on the landscape of her life.

      As Hunting ventures forward, she encounters unexpected resources, such as ten-year-old triplets who converse with her about dinosaurs and a Connecticut museum where portraits of her ancestors hang on the walls. Through lively descriptions of these visits, Hunting advances a view of history as nonlinear and full of unlikely coincidences.

      For Want of Wings is also the carefully researched story of the least known of Yale’s four expeditions into the American West, led by eminent paleontologist O. C. Marsh; the friendship between Russell’s father and abolitionist John Brown; a portrait of a mother and daughter evolving in self-understanding; and an inquiry into matters of race in American history and the author’s own family. In the end, all these pieces converge, like fragments of a fossil, to form an exquisitely patterned work of historical exploration.
RECOMMENDATION: A must read for anyone with an interest in fossil birds and/or paleontological history!

 
 
6) Taylor, Marianne. How Birds Live Together: Colonies and Communities in the Avian World. 2022. Princeton University Press. Hardbound: 224 pages. Price: $29.95 U.S. 
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Featuring dramatic and delightful wild bird colonies and communities, How Birds Live Together offers a broad overview of social living in the avian world. From long-established seabird colonies that use the same cliffs for generations to the fast-shifting dynamics of flock formation, leading wildlife writer Marianne Taylor explores the different ways birds choose to dwell together. 
     Through fascinating text, color photos, maps, and other graphics, Taylor examines the advantages of avian sociality and social breeding. Chapters provide detailed information on diverse types of bird colonies, including those species that construct single-family nests close together in trees; those that share large, communal nests housing multiple families; those that nest in tunnels dug into the earth; those that form exposed colonies on open ground and defend them collectively, relying on ferocious aggression; those that live communally on human-made structures in towns and cities; and more. Taylor discusses the challenges, benefits, hazards, and social dynamics of each style of living, and features a wealth of species as examples. 
     Showcasing colonies from the edge of Scotland and the tropical delta of the Everglades to the Namib Desert in Africa, How Birds Live Together gives bird enthusiasts a vivid understanding of avian social communities. 
RECOMMENDATION: A must read for anyone with an interest in bird behavior.

 


 

7) Whitelaw, John P. et al. (editors). Elusive Birds of the Tropical Understory. 2022. Comstock Publishing Associates. Hardbound: 157 pages. Price: $39.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Elusive Birds of the Tropical Understory is an arresting visual trip to the unseen corners of the Neotropical forest understory. Edited by John P. Whitelaw, Jeffrey D. Brawn, Henry S. Pollock, and John W. Fitzpatrick, this book combines unique images of tropical birds with inspired essays by leaders in the world of modern ornithology.

     With one-of-a-kind photos of seldom-documented birds, the authors use photography as a conservation tool. Many of the birds are more often heard than seen―not much is known about some of them, and much of what we do know is found in historical natural history literature, not contemporary accounts. Due to dense vegetation, low light conditions, and the birds' furtive behavior and cryptic coloring, they are notoriously difficult to photograph. Yet, Elusive Birds of the Tropical Understory delves deep into the Panamanian forest understory to show why these birds should be included in discussion of the current conservation crisis. What these species lack in bright colors they make up for in distinctive behaviors, subtle plumage patterns, and ongoing mystery.

     Elusive Birds of the Tropical Understory invites and inspires naturalists of all ages to take a closer look at a fascinating assemblage of overlooked birds.

RECOMMENDATION: A must have for anyone with an interest in Neotropical forest birds!



8) Milton, Nicholas. Birds in the Second World War: We Also Serve. 2022. Pen and Sword History. Hardbound: 206 pages. Price: $49.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: A love of birds has always been an important part of the British way of life but in wartime birds came into their own, helping to define our national identity. One the most popular bird books ever, Watching Birds, was published in 1940 while songs like There’ll be Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover epitomized the blitz spirit. Birds even featured in wartime propaganda movies like the 1941 classic The First of the Few starring Leslie Howard where they inspired the design of the Spitfire. Along the coast flooding to prevent a German invasion helped the avocet make a remarkable return while the black redstart found an unlikely home in our bombed-out buildings.                

     As interesting as the birds were some of the people who watched them. Matthew Rankin and Eric Duffey counted seabirds while looking for U-boats. Tom Harrisson, the mastermind behind Mass Observation, watched people ‘as if they were birds’ while POW Guy Madoc wrote a truly unique book on Malayan birds, typed on paper stolen from the Japanese commandant’s office. For Field Marshall Alan Brooke, Britain’s top soldier, filming birds was his way of coping with the continual demands of Winston Churchill. In comparison, Peter Scott was a wildfowler who was roused by Adolf Hitler before the war but after serving with distinction in the Royal Navy became one of the greatest naturalists of his generation.

     With a foreword by Chris Packham CBE Birds in the Second World War is the story of how ornithology helped to win the war.
RECOMMENDATION: A must read for anyone with an interest in World War Two history and/or ornithological history.
 

9) Prothero, Donald R.. Vertebrate Evolution: From Origins to Dinosaurs and Beyond. 2022. CRC Press. Paperback: 448 pages. Price: $69.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: The first vertebrate animals appear in the fossil record over 520 million years ago. These lineages diversified and eventually crept ashore leading to further evolutionary divergence and the appearance of the familiar charismatic vertebrates of today. From the tiniest fishes, diminutive salamanders, and miniaturized lizards to gargantuan dinosaurs, enormous brontotheres, and immense whales, vertebrates have captured the imagination of the lay public as well as the most erudite academics. They are the among the best studied organisms. This book employs beautifully rendered illustrations of these diverse lineages along with informative text to document a rich evolutionary history. The prolific and best-selling author reveals much of the latest findings regarding the phylogenetic history of vertebrates without overwhelming the reader with pedantry and excessive jargon. Simultaneously, comprehensive and authoritative while being approachable and lucid, this book should appeal to both the scholar, the student, and the fossil enthusiast.

Key Features:

  • Provides an up-to-date account of evolution of vertebrates

  • Includes numerous beautiful color reconstructions of prehistoric vertebrates

  • Describes extinct vertebrates and their evolutionary history

  • Discusses and illustrates the first vertebrates, as well as familiar lineages of fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals

  • Reviews mass extinctions and other important events in the diversification of vertebrates  
RECOMMENDATION: A must have for anyone with an interest in vertebrate evolution!
 

10) Forth, Gregory. Between Ape and Human: An Anthropologist on the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid. 2022. Pegasus Books. Hardbound: 279 pages. Price: $28.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: A remarkable investigation into the hominoids of Flores Island, their place on the evolutionary spectrum—and whether or not they still survive.

     While doing fieldwork on the remote Indonesian island of Flores, anthropologist Gregory Forth came across people talking about half-apelike, half-humanlike creatures that once lived in a cave on the slopes of a nearby volcano. Over the years he continued to record what locals had to say about these mystery hominoids while searching for ways to explain them as imaginary symbols of the wild or other cultural representations.

     Then along came the ‘hobbit’. In 2003, several skeletons of a small-statured early human species alongside stone tools and animal remains were excavated in a cave in western Flores. Named
 Homo floresiensis, this ancient hominin was initially believed to have lived until as recently as 12,000 years ago—possibly overlapping with the appearance of Homo sapiens on Flores. In view of this timing and the striking resemblance of floresiensis to the mystery creatures described by the islanders, Forth began to think about the creatures as possibly reflecting a real species, either now extinct but retained in ‘cultural memory’ or even still surviving.

     He began to investigate reports from the Lio region of the island where locals described 'ape-men' as still living. Dozens claimed to have even seen them.

     In
Between Ape and Human, we follow Forth on the trail of this mystery hominoid, and the space they occupy in islanders’ culture as both natural creatures and as supernatural beings.  In a narrative filled with adventure, Lio culture and language, zoology and natural history, Forth comes to a startling and controversial conclusion.

     Unique, important, and thought-provoking, this book will appeal to anyone interested in human evolution, the survival of species (including our own) and how humans might relate to ‘not-quite-human’ animals.
Between Ape and Human is essential reading for all those interested in cryptozoology, and it is the only firsthand investigation by a leading anthropologist into the possible survival of a primitive species of human into recent times—and its coexistence with modern humans.
RECOMMENDATION: A must read for anyone with an interest in cryptozoology and/or paleo-anthropology.
 
 

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Bird Books by Johns Hopkins University Press

     These three bird books were recently published by Johns Hopkins University Press:

 



1) Whittaker, Danielle. The Secret Perfume of Birds: Uncovering the Science of Avian Scent. 2022. Hardbound: 275 pages. Price: $27.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: The untold story of a stunning discovery: not only can birds smell, but their scents may be the secret to understanding their world.

     The puzzling lack of evidence for the peculiar but widespread belief that birds have no sense of smell irked evolutionary biologist Danielle Whittaker. Exploring the science behind the myth led her on an unexpected quest investigating mysteries from how juncos win a fight to why cowbirds smell like cookies. In The Secret Perfume of Birds―part science, part intellectual history, and part memoir―Whittaker blends humor, clear writing, and a compelling narrative to describe how scent is important not just for birds but for all animals, including humans.

     Whittaker engagingly describes how emerging research has uncovered birds' ability to produce complex chemical signals that influence their behavior, including where they build nests, when they pick a fight, and why they fly away. Mate choice, or sexual selection―a still enigmatic aspect of many animals' lives―appears to be particularly influenced by smell. Whittaker's pioneering studies suggest that birds' sexy (and scary) signals are produced by symbiotic bacteria that manufacture scents in the oil that birds stroke on their feathers when preening. From tangerine-scented auklets to her beloved juncos, redolent of moss, birds from across the world feature in Whittaker's stories, but she also examines the smelly chemicals of all kinds of creatures, from iguanas and bees to monkeys and humans.

     Readers will enjoy a rare opportunity to witness the twisting roads scientific research can take, especially the challenging, hilarious, and occasionally dangerous realities of ornithology in the wild. The Secret Perfume of Birds will interest anyone looking to learn more about birds, about how animals and humans use our senses, and about why it can sometimes take a rebel scientist to change what we think we know for sure about the world―and ourselves.

RECOMMENDATION: A must read for anyone with an interest in this aspect of bird biology!

 


2) Rappole, John H.. Bird Migration: A New Understanding. 2022. Hardbound: 323 pages. Price: $34.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: A fascinating and nuanced exploration of why, how, and which birds migrate.

     Bird migration captivates the human imagination, yet for most of us, key aspects of the phenomenon remain a mystery. How do birds sense the ideal moment to take wing, and once the epic journey has begun, how do they find their distant destinations? Fresh insights about avian movements are still constantly emerging, powered by new tools like molecular genetics and transmitter miniaturization.

     In this book, renowned ornithologist and author John H. Rappole reveals intriguing results of recent scientific studies on migration, explaining their importance for birders, nature lovers, and researchers alike. Debunking misconceptions about the lives of birds that have persisted for thousands of years, Rappole explores unexpected causes and previously misunderstood aspects of the annual migration cycle. From the role of migrating birds in zoonotic disease transmission to climate change's impact on migration patterns, Rappole tackles crucial questions and ensures that readers come away with a new understanding of why and how birds migrate.

RECOMMENDATION: Once again, a must read for anyone with an interest in this aspect of bird biology!

 


 

3) Smalley, Andrea L. and Henry M. Reeves. The Market in Birds: Commercial Hunting, Conservation, and the Origins of Wildlife Consumerism, 1850–1920. 2022. Hardbound: 307 pages. Price: $59.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: A fascinating look at how a commercial market for birds in the late nineteenth century set the stage for conservation and its legislation.

     Between the end of the Civil War and the 1920s, the United States witnessed the creation, rapid expansion, and then disappearance of a commercial market for hunted wild animals. The bulk of commercial wildlife sales in the last part of the nineteenth century were of wildfowl, who were prized not only for their eggs and meat but also for their beautiful feathers. Wild birds were brought to cities in those years to be sold as food for customers' tables, decorations for ladies' hats, treasured pets, and specimens for collectors' cabinets. Though relatively short-lived, this market in birds was broadly influential, its rise and fall coinciding with the birth of the Progressive Era conservation movement.

     In The Market in Birds, historian Andrea L. Smalley and wildlife biologist Henry M. Reeves illuminate this crucial chapter in American environmental history. Touching on ecology, economics, law, and culture, the authors reveal how commercial hunting set the terms for wildlife conservation and the first federal wildlife legislation at the turn of the twentieth century. Smalley and Reeves delve into the ground-level interactions among market hunters, game dealers, consumers, sportsmen, conservationists, and the wild birds they all wanted. Ultimately, they argue, wildfowl commercialization represented a revolutionary shift in wildlife use, turning what had been a mostly limited, local, and seasonal trade into an interstate industrial-capitalist enterprise. In the process, it provoked a critical public debate over the value of wildlife in a modern consumer culture.

     By the turn of the twentieth century, the authors reveal, it was clear that wild bird populations were declining precipitously all over North America. The looming possibility of a future without birds sparked intense debate nationwide and eventually culminated in the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Scholars, environmentalists, wildlife professionals, and anyone concerned about wildlife will find this new perspective on conservation history enlightening reading.

RECOMMENDATION: A must read for anyone with an interest in the history of bird conservation.