GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, natural history books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
Here's this week's issue of the Birdbooker Report by Ian Paulsen, which lists bird and natural history books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
New and Recent Titles:
Angehr, George R., Dodge Engleman, and Lorna Engleman. A Bird-Finding Guide to Panama. 2008. Cornell University Press. Paperback: 391 pages. Price: $29.95 U.S. [Amazon: $19.77]. SUMMARY: An up-to-date birding guide to Panama.
Gellhorn, Joyce. White-tailed Ptarmigan: Ghosts of the Alpine Tundra. 2007. Johnson Books. Paperback: 134 pages. Price: $20.00 U.S. [Amazon: $15.60]. SUMMARY: A well illustrated life history study of this alpine grouse species.
Norment, Christopher. Return to Warden's Grove: Science, Desire, and the Lives of Sparrows. 2008. University of Iowa Press. Hardbound: 215 pages. Price: $26.00 U.S. [Amazon: $17.16]. SUMMARY: The author discusses his research on Harris's Sparrows in the Northwest Territories of Canada. (This book looks fascinating).
Reid, Fiona A. A Field Guide to Mammals of North America 4th edition. 2006. Houghton Mifflin. Paperback: 579 pages. Price: $20.00. U.S. [Amazon: $17.82]. SUMMARY: The best currently available field guide for mammals north of Mexico.
Smith, Douglas Grant. Pennak's Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States: Porifera to Crustacea 4th Edition. 2001. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. Hardbound: 638 pages. Price: $160.00 U.S. [Amazon: $128.00]. SUMMARY: This is the standard reference book for non-insect freshwater invertebrates of the United States. 
Life Science
Humanities & Social Science
Comments
White-tailed Ptarmigan: Ghosts of the Alpine Tundra is fantastic! I can't say enough good things about it. Anyone who has seen, or hopes to see, this bird (especially in Colorado) absolutely needs to read this book.
Return to Warden's Grove does look interesting. That's been added to my wishlist!
Posted by: Grant McCreary | April 6, 2008 8:24 PM
Ian, I think your praise of Fiona Reid's Mammals is far too faint: this is a wonderful book, head and shoulders above any other field guide to the furry _ever_ available for North America.
Thanks for the pointer to the Norment book; have to get a copy of that one for sure.
r
Posted by: Rick | April 12, 2008 9:40 PM