Nature : Birds & Birdwatching

The Salton Sea, California's largest inland lake, supports a spectacular bird population that is among the most concentrated and most diverse in the world. Sadly, this crucial stopover along the Pacific Flyway for migratory and wintering shorebirds, landbirds, and waterfowl is dangerously close to collapse from several environmental threats. more...

Price: $15.95

Like his first book, A Parrot Without a Name, Birdsong is a compelling narrative that blends personality, adventure and science, and follows two of the worlds most celebrated experts in birdsong - Don Kroodsma of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Greg Budney of Cornell University's Library of Natural Sounds - through a season of studying and recording for posterity bridsong. The first book completely dedicated to the subject, Birdsong is a revelation. As we follow the two scientists through Martha's Vineyard, Maine, Florida, the Sierra Nevadas, and on to Costa Rica, we find out that birds must learn their songs much like human babies learn speech from their parents. We also discover that although biologists and naturalists have written birdsong off as mere expressions of territory or attracting a mate, these simplistic rationales don't explain why the marsh wren sings over 200 songs and chipping sparrow only one. Nor do they explain why the chestnut-sided warbler sings one song one week during the spring breeding season and a different song the next week. We also learn the incredible difficulty of capturing "aural specimens" with heavy, sensitive equipment in harsh circumstances; the evolution of song birds and their unusual anatomy; how much information birds transmit in a 2 to 3 second song; the biological function of songs and calls; song learning; geographic variation or "dialects" in the songs; a history of the obsession of birdsongs for humans; and the influence of birdsong on music. more...

Price: $24.00

In this book, we draw on the natural history of Australia's charismatic birds to explore the relations between fauna, people and environment in a continent where variability is 'normal' and rainfall patterns not always seasonal. more...

Price: $32.00

Cockatoos are large, intelligent and attractive birds. Of the 21 recognised species, 14 occur in Australia, with three of these also found in New Guinea. Seven species are distributed across the islands of South-East Asia. While many species are common or abundant, an increasing number face extinction due to habitat loss, the illegal bird trade and global warming. Extensively illustrated, Cockatoos looks at the ecology and conservation of these iconic birds, including their evolution, distribution, movements, feeding and reproduction. It examines the pest status of cockatoos, the impact of the illegal bird trade and the role played by aviculturists in cockatoo conservation programs. more...

Price: $31.95

The California condor. has been described as a bird. ''with one wing in the grave.''. Flying on wings nearly ten feet wide from tip to tip, these birds thrived on the carcasses of animals like woolly mammoths. Then, as humans began dramatically reshaping North America, the continent's largest flying land bird started disappearing. By the beginning of the twentieth century, extinction seemed inevitable. But small groups of passionate individuals refused to allow the condor to fade away, even as they fought over how and why the bird was to be saved. Scientists, farmers, developers, bird lovers, and government bureaucrats argued bitterly and often, in the process injuring one another and the species they were trying to save. In the late 1980s, the federal government made a wrenching decision -- the last remaining wild condors would be caught and taken to a pair of zoos, where they would be encouraged to breed with other captive condors. Livid critics called the plan a recipe for extinction. After the zoo-based populations soared, the condors were released in the mountains of south-central California, and then into the Grand Canyon, Big Sur, and Baja California. Today the giant birds are nowhere near extinct. The giant bird with ''one wing in the grave'' appears to be recovering, even as the wildlands it needs keep disappearing. But the story of this bird is more than the story of a vulture with a giant wingspan -- it is also the story of a wild and giant state that has become crowded and small, and of the behind-the-scenes dramas that have shaped the environmental movement. As told by John Nielsen, an environmental journalist and a native Californian, this is a fascinating tale of survival. more...

Price: $11.99