Birdbooker Report 112

tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books

The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and enjoyment. Below the fold is this week's issue of The Birdbooker Report which lists ecology, environment, natural history and bird books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.

FEATURED TITLE:

1. Forshaw, Joseph M. Trogons: A Natural History of the Trogonidae. 2009. Princeton University Press. Hardbound: 292 pages. Price: $150.00 U.S. [Amazon: $119.34].
   SUMMARY: This large folio covers the 39 species of trogons and quetzals of the world's tropical regions. The book is divided into two sections: the introductory material and the species accounts. Each species account includes information on the following: the species name,a range map, distribution, description, subspecies, habitat and status, movements, habits, calls, feeding, breeding and eggs. The artwork by Albert Earl Gilbert highlights this book!
   RECOMMENDATION: For those interested in tropical birds, that collect species monographs or fine bird art.

New and Recent Titles:

1. Hawkins, Frank and Richard Ranft. Bird Sounds of Madagascar: An Audio guide to the island's unique birds. 2007 (2010). British Library. 1 CD with 24 page booklet. Price: $15.00 U.S. [Amazon: $15.00].
   SUMMARY: This CD is the essential audio guide for birding in Madagascar. It includes many rare recordings, most of them previously unpublished, that will help in finding and identifying 127 species of the islands extraordinary bird fauna. All of the recordings have been taken from the extensive wildlife collections in the British Library Sound Archive. Its running time is 77 minutes and the bird names aren't announced.
   RECOMMENDATION: For birders with an interest in the avifauna of Madagascar.
2. Albright, L. Barry III (editor). Papers on Geology, Vertebrate Paleontology, and Biostratigraphy in Honor of Michael O. Woodburne. 2009. Museum of Northern Arizona (Bulletin 65). Paperback: 681 pages. Price: $40.00 U.S. (plus $7.00 shipping).
   SUMMARY: The papers presented in this volume are written by past students and current colleagues of vertebrate paleontologist Michael O. Woodburne (born 1937) to celebrate and honor his long, fruitful, and still robustly ongoing career. There are other contributors to this volume that are not necessarily close colleagues of Mike's, but who also wanted to participate simply out of pure respect for a man who has given so much to advance vertebrate paleontology - professionally, scientifically, academically. The papers span a broad range of topics primarily along the lines that have interested Mike throughout his career, including studies on mammalian biostratigraphy, mammalian phylogeny, North and South American mammals, European mammals, plus works on marsupials, horses, geochronology, geology, and principles that govern our field. As such, the papers are grouped more or less by topic.
   RECOMMENDATION: For those with a technical interest in geology, paleontology and biostratigraphy.
3. Kaplan, Eugene H. What's Eating You? People and Parasites. 2010. Princeton University Press. Hardbound: 302 pages. Price: $26.95 U.S. [Amazon: $19.67].
   SUMMARY: Eugene Kaplan recounts the true and harrowing tales of his adventures with parasites, and in the process introduces readers to the intimately interwoven lives of host and parasite. It is illustrated with 30 black-and-white plates.
   RECOMMENDATION: An interesting read about human parasites, but not for the squeamish!

You can read all the Birdbooker Reports in the archives on this site, and Ian now has his own website, The Birdbooker's Bookcase, where you can read his synopses about newly published science, nature and animal books. But Ian assures me that he still loves us here, so he'll still share his weekly Birdbooker Reports with us!