Showing 1–12 of 31 results
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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.
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Where Song Began: Australia’s Birds and how they Changed the World
Artist/Author: Low, Tim.$33.00 Add to cartRenowned for its unusual mammals, Australia is a land of birds that are just as unusual, a result of the continent’s tens of millions of years of isolation. Compared with birds elsewhere, ours are more likely to be intelligent, aggressive and loud, to live in complex societies, and to be large and long-lived. They’re also ecologically more powerful, exerting more influences on forests than other birds. But unlike the mammals, the birds did not keep to Australia; they spread around the globe. Australia provided the world with its songbirds and parrots, the most intelligent of all bird groups. Low has a rare gift for illuminating complex ideas in highly readable prose, here he brilliantly explains how our birds came to be so extraordinary, including the large role played by the foods they consume (birds, too, are what they eat), and by our climate, soil, fire, and Australia’s legacy as a part of Gondwana. The story of its birds, it turns out, is inseparable from the story of Australia itself, and one that continues to unfold, so much having changed in the last decade about what we know of our ancient past. Where Song Began also shines a light on New Guinea as a biological region of Australia, as much a part of the continent as Tasmania. This is a work that goes far beyond the birds themselves to explore the relationships between Australia’s birds and its people, and the ways in which scientific prejudice have hindered our understanding.
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The Book of Eggs: A Life-Size Guide to the Eggs of Six Hundred of the World’s Bird Species
Artist/Author: Hauber, Mark E.$60.00 Add to cartFeaturing new photography from Chicago’s renowned Field Museum, this book explores 600 examples at actual size, alongside pattern details, clutch images, breeding range maps, and engravings of all the birds. A table of field-guide information identifies order, family, breeding range, nesting habitat, nest characteristics, and conservation status. This accompanies an expert narrative revealing the latest research and thinking on social structure; reproductive strategies; egg colour, maculation, and size; and incubation behaviour. Arranged taxonomically, according to evolutionary relationships, the book brings to light intriguing aspects of breeding biology. The result is a visual delight and an essential reference for every bird enthusiast, natural historian, and conservationist.
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Sentinel Chickens: What Birds tell us about our Health and the World
Artist/Author: Doherty, Peter.$30.00 Add to cartSentinel Chickens shows us how birds provide insights at the cutting edge of science and merit our sustained attention.‘The idea of ‘sentinel chickens’ seemed pretty incongruous when I first heard the phrase as a young undergraduate … The notion of the humble chicken waiting like a trained soldier, alert and focused, for some unseen and approaching enemy just didn’t seem likely. Hens en garde!’
And yet guard they do. Not only chickens, but puffins, eagles, canaries and toucans- birds of all kinds are recruited by humans to help us interpret changes in our increasingly challenged and unpredictable world. These wonderful creatures continually sample the atmosphere, oceans, fields and forests, signalling toxic and environmental dangers that threaten all vertebrates.
Through personal stories and fascinating examples, Nobel prizewinner Peter Doherty shows also how birds have contributed to cutting-edge medical research. Studying birds has helped us to understand the nature of human cancer, malaria and influenza, and contributed to the development of new vaccines and cures. In his trademark style, Peter argues that since birds pollenate, spread plant seeds and control insects, endangering their habitats through human activities is a threat to our own wellbeing.
Sentinel Chickens shows why we should give our feathered friends our close, sustained and caring attention.
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Physiological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds
Artist/Author: Williams, Tony D.$153.00 Add to cartThis book provides the most current and comprehensive account of research on avian reproduction. It considers the female avian reproductive physiology and ecology, and explores the emphasis on individual variation in life-history traits. Williams investigates the physiological, metabolic, energetic, and hormonal mechanisms that underpin individual variation in the key female-specific reproductive traits and the trade-offs between these traits that determine variation in fitness. The core of the book deals with the avian reproductive cycle, from seasonal gonadal development, through egg laying and incubation, to chick rearing. Reproduction is considered in the context of the annual cycle and through an individual’s entire life history. The book focuses on timing of breeding, clutch size, egg size and egg quality, and parental care. It also provides a primer on female reproductive physiology and considers trade-offs and carryover effects between reproduction and other life-history stages. In each chapter, Williams describes individual variation in the trait of interest and the evolutionary context for trait variation.
He argues that there is only a rudimentary, and in some cases nonexistent, understanding of the physiological mechanisms that underpin individual variation in the major reproductive life-history traits, and that research efforts should refocus on these key unresolved problems by incorporating detailed physiological studies into existing long-term population studies, generating a new synthesis of physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. -
The Unfeathered Bird
Artist/Author: van Grouw, Katrina.$120.00 Add to cartEven though birds evolved from a single flying ancestor they can be structurally very different. Containing over 300 stunning drawings depicting 200 species, this is a lavishly illustrated book on bird anatomy that offers refreshingly original insights into what goes on beneath the feathered surface. Each exquisite drawing is made from an actual specimen and reproduced in sumptuous large format. The birds are shown in lifelike positions and engaged in behaviour typical of the species. Jargon-free and easily accessible to any reader, the lively text relates birds’ anatomy to their lifestyle and evolution, examining such questions as why penguins are bigger than auks, whether harrier hawks really have double-jointed legs, and the difference between wing claws and wing spurs. A landmark in popular bird books, this book is a must for anyone who appreciates birds or bird art. It features: a unique book that bridges art, science, and history; over 300 beautiful drawings, artistically arranged in a sumptuous large-format book; accessible, jargon-free text – the only book on bird anatomy aimed at the general reader; drawings and text all made with direct reference to actual bird specimens; and includes most anatomically distinct bird groups; and many species never illustrated before.
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Video surveillance of nesting birds.
Artist/Author: Ribic, Christine A, Frank R. Thompson, and Pamela J Pietz, editors.$100.00 Add to cartDeclining bird populations have prompted extensive research on nest failure and reduced reproductive success. Until recently, this research has been hampered by the difficulties inherent in observing nest activities. This book highlights the use of miniature video cameras and recording equipment yielding new important and unanticipated insights into breeding bird biology, including previously undocumented observations of hatching, incubation, fledging, diurnal and nocturnal activity patterns, predator identification, predator-prey interactions, and cause-specific rates of nest loss. This seminal contribution to bird reproductive biology uses tools capable of generating astonishing results with the potential for fresh insights into bird conservation, management, and theory.
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Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle
Artist/Author: Hanson, Thor.$22.00 Add to cartIn this wide-ranging study of birds, the author recounts the many disputes over the evolutionary development of feathers and how landed animals gained the ability to fly. Hanson explores how even half-formed feathers would have conferred an evolutionary advantage to winged dinosaurs giving insulation, protection, greater manoeuvrability and sexual display. The author also looks at the many uses of feathers throughout history, from featherbeds and writing implements, to dusters and fashion statements.
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Emerging avian disease.
Artist/Author: Paul, Ellen.$62.00 Add to cartNew human disease pandemics arising from animals stimulated by ongoing environmental change, demonstrate the value of ornithological research into avian diseases. A group of 29 researchers address a diverse set of topics, including the evolutionary and ecological aspects of the host-vector systems, the effects of genetic variation, introduction success and vector ecology, evolution of resistance and virulence of pathogens, and the effects of changing geographic distributions. In addition to empirical studies under field conditions, the authors present predictive models to assess the movement and potential impact of these diseases. Other chapters delve into the potential impacts of pathogens and the key role of biosurveillance and documenting impacts of disease on bird populations.
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Interspecific Competition in Birds
Artist/Author: Dhondt, Andre A.$90.00 Add to cartIn nature competition, predation, and mutualism and the three main types of biotic interactions between individuals of different species. All three exert powerful selection pressures and shape communities. How important interspecific competition in nature really is, remains a controversial and unresolved question. This book provides a critical and exhaustive review of the topic. Examples are limited mostly to birds, however, the conclusions reached have a far broader relevance to population ecologists in general. The book reasons that the coexistence of species is the result of both past and presently on-going interspecific competition. Furthermore, understanding the importance of interspecific competition in natural systems will be increasingly important when modelling the effects of climate change on populations. Also available in hardcover [stock id 33661].
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Avian survivors: the history and biogeography of Palearctic birds.
Artist/Author: Finlayson, Clive.$110.00 Add to cartPoyser. The impacts of global warming are of concern to all of us. The potential responses of birds to climate change have come increasingly to the fore, and are of particular interest to the ornithological community. Are birds sensitive to climate change and how will they react to a world of global warming? These are the key issues explored in this book, with particular reference to Western Palearctic birds. Climate changes that have affected the region in the last twenty million years will be explored, drawing on published data on fossil birds. A major part of the book is devoted to the distribution of Western Palearctic birds in relation to bioclimate. The final section of the book looks at migration and the relationship of the Western Palearctic to Africa.
