Showing 1–12 of 20 results
-
Avian Cognition
Artist/Author: Carel ten Cate (Editor), Susan D Healy (Editor)$137.00 Add to cartThe cognitive abilities of birds are remarkable: hummingbirds integrate spatial and temporal information about food sources, day-old chicks have a sense of numbers, parrots can make and use tools, and ravens have sophisticated insights in social relationships. This volume describes the full range of avian cognitive abilities, the mechanisms behind such abilities and how they relate to the ecology of the species. Synthesising the latest research in avian cognition, a range of experts in the field provide first-hand insights into experimental procedures, outcomes and theoretical advances, including a discussion of how the findings in birds relate to the cognitive abilities of other species, including humans. The authors cover a range of topics such as spatial cognition, social learning, tool use, perceptual categorization and concept learning, providing the broader context for students and researchers interested in the current state of avian cognition research, its key questions and appropriate experimental approaches.
- Addresses the proximate mechanisms underlying avian cognition, their ecological and evolutionary context and the approaches that have been used to study this experimentally, providing a complete overview of the field
- Fully illustrated with over one hundred figures, including detailed diagrams of experimental approaches
- Leaders in the field demonstrate how avian cognitive abilities have the potential to shed light on the origins of sophisticated traits that are common in humans
-
Bird Brain: An Exploration of Avian Intelligence
Artist/Author: Emery, Nathan$40.00 Add to cartAn absorbing study of how birds think, revealing how science is exploding the myth of our feathered friends being ‘bird brained’, and how recent discoveries may call for us to re-evaluate how we identify and classify intelligence in other animals.
Bird Brain will start by looking at the structures and functions of the avian brain, and move on to examine different types of intelligence by profiling the extraordinary behaviours of a broad range of the species, studying the masterminds of the avian world, and examining what types of behaviour can be interpreted as ‘intelligence’ as we would recognize it. Bird Brain will not only look at the well-studied species such as New Caledonian crows and parrots, but also cast a broader eye over the behaviour of a wide range of species from around the world. -
Birds in their Habitats
Artist/Author: Fraser, Ian$40.00 Add to cartEverywhere we go there are birds, and they all have mysteries to be unravelled. These mysteries include the way they look, from bizarre to apparently mundane, why they live where they live, and the things they do, many of which are far too incredible ever to be imagined as fiction.
-
Parrots of the World: Up close with the World’s Cleverest Birds
Artist/Author: Brookes, Steve$30.00 Add to cartParrots have always captured the imagination of humans. This beautifully illustrated book on the world’s parrots explores all aspects of their lives, as well as the threats facing them. It showcases beautiful photography from around the world and has a chapter on each parrot family, from the huge macaws and cockatoos to the diminutive hanging-parrots and parrotlets.
-
Nests, Eggs, and Incubation: New Ideas About Avian Reproduction
Artist/Author: Deeming, D. C. and S. J. Reynolds.$140.00 Add to cartBrings together a global team of leading authorities to provide a comprehensive overview of the fascinating and diverse field of avian incubation. Starting with a new assessment of the evolution of avian reproductive biology in light of recent research, the book goes on to cover four broad areas: the nest, the egg, incubation, and the study of avian reproduction. New research on nest structures, egg traits, and life history is incorporated, whilst contemporary methodologies such as self-contained temperature probes and citizen science are also discussed. Applied chapters describe how biological knowledge can be applied to challenges such as conservation and climate change. The book concludes by suggesting priorities for future research. This book builds upon the foundations laid down by Charles Deeming’s 2001 work Avian Incubation (now freely available for download), much of which remains relevant today.
Read in conjunction with this previous volume, it provides an up to date and thorough review of egg biology, nest function, and incubation behaviour, which will be an essential resource for students of avian biology as well as professional and field ornithologists. -
Long hops: making sense of bird migration.
Artist/Author: Denny, Mark.$50.00 Add to cartIn this book, physicist Mark Denny explains, in a clear, accessible style, the science of bird migration, from the intricacies of bird aeronautics to the newly unraveled mysteries of their magnetic compasses. While providing wherever possible examples of indigenous Hawaiian species, the book surveys the migration phenomenon as a whole, showing that birds are breathtaking works of engineering with spectacular capabilities for long-distance flights. Each year thousands of these hardy migrants fly 2,500 miles nonstop from Alaska to Hawaii. How do they endure such marathon journeys, and how on earth do they know which direction to travel over featureless ocean? In fact, many migratory journeys, in all parts of the world are performed by birds as small as warblers and as large as swans, cover much longer distances.
Denny explores how researchers study bird migration; how they gather data from old-fashioned bird banding, high-tech satellite tracking, and other techniques; and above all how the birds do it. Throughout the book, concepts such as the physics of bird flight and the role of physical geography on navigation are explained in a relatively math-free way. Denny also examines past adaptations migrating birds have made to changing environments and the challenges they face in the future, as the world beneath them faces rapid climate change exacerbated by human activity.
-
The Magic and Mystery of Birds: The Surprising Lives of Birds and What they Reveal about Being Human
Artist/Author: Strycker, Noah.$25.00 Add to cartA delightful and profound look at the lives of birds, illuminating their surprising world and deep connection with humanity. Birds are highly intelligent animals, yet their intelligence is dramatically different from our own and until now has been little understood. As scientists come to understand more about the secrets of bird life, they are unlocking fascinating insights into memory, game theory, and the nature of intelligence itself. This book explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, the good deeds of fairy-wrens, the influential flocking abilities of starlings, the deft artistry of bowerbirds, the extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, the lifelong loves of albatross, and other mysteries–revealing why birds do what they do, and offering a glimpse into our own nature. Noah Strycker is a birder and naturalist who has traveled the world in pursuit of his flighty subjects. Drawing deep from personal experience, cutting-edge science, and colourful history, he spins captivating stories about the birds in our midst and reveals the startlingly intimate coexistence of birds and humans. Wise, funny and insightful, this is a gripping and enlightening journey into the lives of birds.
-
Understanding Bird Behaviour
Artist/Author: Moss, Stephen$30.00 Add to cartUnderstanding bird behaviour is one of the vital keys to accurate identification in the field, this book provides the experienced instruction needed to recognize behaviours and get the most out of watching birds. The guide covers all the fundamental types of bird behaviour, including movement, feeding, breeding, migration, navigation, distribution, range, life and death, all of which are illustrated with beautiful photographs. There is a whole section dedicated to the behaviour of different species groups, from divers and grebes through to sparrows, buntings and finches. While this title focuses on the birds of Britain it will be of interest to birders everywhere.
-
Tales of Remarkable Birds
Artist/Author: Couzens, Dominic.$40.00 Add to cartThroughout the bird world, examples of strange and seemingly inexplicable behaviours abound. For example: Why do Male Fairywrens bring flowers to females as a nuptial gift in the pre-dawn darkness? Especially when the gift-givers are not the official mates of the females concerned, but visitors, and furthermore they may give these gifts in full view of the official mate. Why do gangs of White-winged Choughs “kidnap” their neighbours’ fledglings and then keep them in their “gang”? Which bird is so big, strong and fierce that stories abound of it killing humans? This book looks at accounts of murderous Cassowaries and explains just what might have happened. What happens in an albatross “divorce”? This book divides the world by continent and takes a series of extraordinary stories from each to illustrate a great diversity of bird behaviour. Each continent has around five or six stories, each described in 1,500 to 2,000 words and examines the truths and the mythology behind each example. An intriguing book from an author with an ability to engage with his audience.
-
The Secret Lives of Puffins
Artist/Author: Couzens, Dominic and Mark Sisson.$40.00 Add to cartPuffins are among the most instantly recognisable, iconic and well loved of birds. For many they are a highlight of the UK’s summer coastline and their colourful appearance, comedy antics and approachability just add to their popularity. Several ‘hotspots’ are attracting high levels of interest in visits to their colonies. In spite of the high level of interest in, and appeal of, these birds there has been a surprising lack of books focused on Puffins as a species.
Award-winning wildlife photographer Mark Sisson has spent several years photographing Puffins and this book combines images that beautifully encapsulate their charm and visual appeal with an accessible text written by leading wildlife writer Dominic Couzens. The book covers the birds’ life cycle, behaviour, habitats and the current and future challenges that they face, along with many surprising facts and anecdotes.
-
RSPB migration hotspots: the world’s best bird migration sites.
Artist/Author: Harris, Tim.$50.00 Add to cartEach spring and autumn hundreds of millions of birds – wildfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and passerines – migrate between latitudes. In a handful of places around the world, a combination of geography, topography and climate combine to funnel migrant birds into narrow fronts, leading to migration hotspots, places where, for a few days each year, birds seem to be everywhere. The sight of thousands upon thousands of birds is one of nature’s greatest wildlife spectacles. This book takes a look at 29 locations where the planet’s most dramatic bird migration can be witnessed, from raptor bottlenecks such as Veracruz (Mexico) and the Strait of Messina (Italy) to places like Point Pelee (Canada) and Beidaihe (China) where spectacular falls of songbirds can take place. The book covers each of the world’s major avian flyways and features stunning photography throughout.
The geographical reasons for the importance of each hotspot are explained, with a summary of the different birds that pass through and the best times of year to see them, and an introductory chapter summarises birds’ migration strategies. -
Bird Sense: What it’s Like to be a Bird
Artist/Author: Birkhead, Tim.$20.00 Add to cartA lifetime spent studying birds has provided Tim Birkhead with a wealth of observation and an understanding of birds and their behaviour that is firmly grounded in science. What is it like to be a swift, flying at over one hundred kilometres an hour? Or a kiwi, plodding flightlessly among the humid undergrowth in the pitch dark of a New Zealand night? And what is going on inside the head of a nightingale as it sings, and how does its brain improvise? This book addresses questions like these and many more, by describing the senses of birds that enable them to interpret their environment and to interact with each other. Our affinity for birds is often said to be the result of shared senses – vision and hearing – but how exactly do their senses compare with our own? And what about a birds’ sense of taste, or smell, or touch or the ability to detect the earth’s magnetic field? Or the extraordinary ability of desert birds to detect rain hundreds of kilometres away – how do they do it? This book is based on a conviction that we have consistently underestimated what goes on in a bird’s head. Our understanding of bird behaviour is simultaneously informed and constrained by the way we watch and study them.
By drawing attention to the way these frameworks both facilitate and inhibit discovery, it identifies ways we can escape from them to seek new horizons in bird behaviour. There has never been a popular book about the senses of birds. No one has previously looked at how birds interpret the world or the way the behaviour of birds is shaped by their senses. Also available in hardcover [stock id 33708].
