The Weekly Birdbooker Report

My WEEKLY Birdbooker Report can be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jun/12/3

New Title

                                                                                                                                                             
1) Balcombe, Jonathan. The Exultant Ark: A Pictorial Tour of Animal Pleasure. 2011. University of California Press. Hardbound: 214 pages. Price: $34.95 U.S.

SUMMARY: Nature documentaries often depict animal life as a grim struggle for survival, but this visually stunning book opens our eyes to a different, more scientifically up-to-date way of looking at the animal kingdom. In more than one hundred thirty striking images, The Exultant Ark celebrates the full range of animal experience with dramatic portraits of animal pleasure ranging from the charismatic and familiar to the obscure and bizarre. These photographs, windows onto the inner lives of pleasure seekers, show two polar bears engaged in a bout of wrestling, hoary marmots taking time for a friendly chase, Japanese macaques enjoying a soak in a hot spring, a young bull elk sticking out his tongue to catch snowflakes, and many other rewarding moments. Biologist and best-selling author Jonathan Balcombe is our guide, interpreting the images within the scientific context of what is known about animal behavior. In the end, old attitudes fall away as we gain a heightened sense of animal individuality and of the pleasures that make life worth living for all sentient beings.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with a general interest in animal behavior.

UPDATES

I've just added a new link to my Other Book Links column on the left hand side: The Peregrine Fund Research Library: Books For Sale. It's a good source for used books and journal publications.

                                                                             
Also, Buteo Books has just got in their stock of the 2nd edition of Birds of Trinidad and Tobago. See here:
http://www.buteobooks.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BBBAO&Product_Code=13555&Category_Code=

New Title

                                                                              
1) Robbins, Martha M. and Christophe Boesch (editors). Among African Apes: Stories and Photos from the Field. 2011. University of California Press. Hardbound: 182 pages. Price: $29.95 U.S.

SUMMARY: These compelling stories and photographs take us to places like Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, Ivindo National Park in Gabon, and the Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire for an intimate and revealing look at the lives of African wild apes—and at the lives of the humans who study them. In tales of adventure, research, and conservation, veteran field researchers and conservationists describe exciting discoveries made over the past few decades about chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. The book features vivid descriptions of interactions among these highly intelligent creatures as they hunt, socialize, and play. More difficult themes emerge as well, including the threats apes face from poaching, disease, and deforestation. In stories that are often moving and highly personal, this book takes measure of how special the great apes are and discusses positive conservation efforts, including ecotourism, that can help bring these magnificent animals back from the brink of extinction.
 RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in the great apes.

Book giveaway

                                                                              
This week Princeton University Press is giving away a copy of Avian Architecture. For details see here:

http://press.princeton.edu/blog/2011/06/06/this-weeks-book-giveaway-33/

New Edition

                                                                              
1) Kenefick, Martyn, Robin Restall and Floyd Hayes. Birds of Trinidad & Tobago. 2011. Helm. Paperback: 272 pages. Price: GBP 24.99 (about $41.05 U.S.).

SUMMARY: Trinidad & Tobago are popular tourist destinations and the islands are also a top location for visiting birders. This comprehensive and portable field guide covers every species found on the islands. The concise text includes descriptions of every species, highlighting plumage variation and distinctions from similar species. The plates use the relevant images from Birds of Northern South America to create new plates specific for Trinidad & Tobago.
     This new edition has been completely revised. The plates have been extensively re-worked, with many images replaced and repainted. As a result, there are now eight extra plates, and some groups, such as flycatchers, have been repainted almost in entirety. The text has also been updated.
     This new edition supersedes all previous field guides to these popular islands.
RECOMMENDATION: The page count has increased from 256 to 272 pages. A must have for birders interested in these islands, even if you own the first edition! This edition WON'T be co-published here in North America.

New Title

                                                                              
1) Foster, Thomas C.. Twenty-Five Books That Shaped America: How White Whales, Green Lights, and Restless Spirits Forged Our National Identity. 2011. Harper. Paperback: 323 pages. Price: $14.99 U.S.
SUMMARY: From the author of the New York Times bestselling How to Read Literature Like a Professor comes a highly entertaining and informative new book on the twenty-five works of literature that have most shaped the American character. Foster applies his much-loved combination of wit, know-how, and analysis to explain how each work has shaped our very existence as readers, students, teachers, and Americans.

     Foster illuminates how books such as The Last of the Mohicans, Moby-Dick, My Ántonia, The Great Gatsby, The Maltese Falcon, Their Eyes Were Watching God, On the Road, The Crying of Lot 49, and others captured an American moment, how they influenced our perception of nationhood and citizenship, and what about them endures in the American character. Twenty-five Books That Shaped America is a fun and enriching guide to America through its literature.
RECOMMENDATION: Take a look at this book and see if you agree with the author's choices.