New Titles

 

1) Barnes, Keith et al.. Birds of Greater Southern Africa. 2024. Princeton University Press. Paperback: 640 pages. Price: $45.00 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: The vast region of Greater Southern Africa—which includes Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—is home to a truly extraordinary diversity of birds. This spectacular field guide covers all of the region’s bird species—resident, breeding, migrant, and vagrant.

• Covers all 1,198 species recorded in the region, including details of all the plumages and races likely to be seen
• Features 272 color plates with more than 3,300 illustrations
• Includes concise species accounts that describe key identification features, racial variation, status, range, habitat, and voice
• Provides an up-to-date distribution map for each species

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a MUST-HAVE for anyone birding Southern Africa!

2) Drewitt, Ed. Bird Pellets: A Complete Photographic Guide. 2024. Pelagic Publishing. Paperback: 250 pages. Price: $40.00 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: This book is the first comprehensive guide to bird pellets, the undigested remains of food that form together into a ball or sausage-like shape and are regurgitated. It showcases the range of pellets that different bird species produce, including owls, hawks, falcons, corvids such as ravens and magpies, as well as waders – and even garden birds! The common items found in them, such as small mammal skulls and bones, are analysed in detail, with the discussion accompanied by numerous colour illustrations.

     The book progresses methodically from an introduction to pellets, covering what they are and how they are formed, to instructions on dissection and analysis and how this can be used in research, followed by a closer look at the pellets of each bird species in turn – from the golden eagle to the dipper. We learn how to identify the remains of small mammals including bats, as well as reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates and of course other birds.

     Dissecting bird pellets and identifying what is inside can be an important tool for discovering what birds are feeding on as part of more detailed diet studies. It is also an activity often delivered at family-friendly events or in schools by wildlife organisations. Extracting information from pellets also has sound scientific value: while it does not capture everything a bird has been eating, it still goes a long way in revealing the diet of birds and how this may change over time, in different habitats and different parts of the world.

RECOMMENDATION: Although this book features species from Britain and Ireland, it's a well written and illustrated overview of bird pellets.

 

3) Pietsch, Theodore W. et al.. A Field Guide to Fishes of the Salish Sea. 2023. Chatwin Books. Paperback: 346 pages. Price: $36.00 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Small, lightweight, and easy to use, A Field Guide to Fishes of the Salish Sea is a beautifully illustrated guide to identify the saltwater and anadromous fishes of the inland marine waters of Washington State and British Columbia. A must have for any backpack or home library! The most comprehensive and up-to-date work of its kind. Covering approximately 6,948 square miles of sea surface, the Salish Sea is home to 260 species of fish. The fish species are arranged phylogenetically—representing the evolutionary history and relationships between groups—beginning with the jawless hagfishes and lampreys and ending with the bizarre Ocean Sunfish. With an introduction that describes the “Salish Sea”, how it got its name and its general geographic features, the guide gives accounts of the 80 fish families represented in the Salish Sea before moving on to cover the 260 individual species that have been recorded in Salish Sea waters. The authors generally avoid the use of ichthyological jargon, instead substituting common, everyday descriptors for the often-difficult terminology routinely used by professional ichthyologists. And for those who think the cold-water ichthyofauna of the Salish Sea might be drab, the guide’s incredible illustrations by Joseph Tomelleri, with their astonishing and true-to-life colors, and assumed by many on first glance to be photographs, are ample cause to reconsider. 

RECOMMENDATION: This is the field guide version of the three volume set, Fishes of the Salish Sea, by the same authors/artist that was published in 2019. Joseph Tomelleri's artwork highlights this book! This book is a must-have for anyone with an interest in the marine fishes of the region! The book can be ordered here.

 

 

4) Wilson, Larry et al.. Salamanders of the Eastern United States. 2024. University of Georgia Press. Flexibound: 495 pages. Price: $35.95 U.S.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Describing more than 120 species of salamanders occurring in the eastern United States, ecologists Whit Gibbons, Larry Wilson, and Joe Mitchell, provide us with the most comprehensive and authoritative―yet accessible and fun-to-read―guide to these often secretive, always fascinating wonders of nature.

     Gibbons, Wilson, and Mitchell enumerate the distinguishing characteristics of salamanders, including how they are different from other amphibians and from reptiles, especially lizards. Also discussed are distribution, habitat, behavior and activity, reproduction, food and feeding, predators and defense, conservation, and taxonomy. Accompanying each account are photographs illustrating typical adults and variations and distribution maps for the eastern U.S. and the United States as a whole.

     Given that a high percentage of the world’s species of salamanders live in the Southeast and Northeast and the scientific and popular concern for the worldwide decline in amphibian populations in general, Salamanders of the Eastern United States will appeal to people of all ages and levels of knowledge interested in natural history and conservation. The guide will help foster the growing interest in salamanders as well as cultivate a desire to protect and conserve these fascinating amphibians and their habitats.

     FEATURES:

Conservation-oriented approach.
More than 400 color photographs.
More than 80 distribution maps.
Clear species descriptions and photographs.
Sections on biology, worldwide diversity, identification, taxonomy, habitats, and conservation.
“Did You Know?” sidebars of interesting facts.

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a MUST-HAVE for anyone with an interest in the salamanders of the Eastern United States.