Showing 1–12 of 156 results
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The 50 Best Birdwatching Sites In New Zealand
Artist/Author: Light, Liz$40.00 Add to cartNew Zealand has a diverse range of bird species and is especially important for pelagics. Thirteen of the world’s 18 penguin species have been recorded in the New Zealand region (including the Ross Dependency). Nine of these species breed here. Of petrels, 37 of the world’s 114 species breed in the New Zealand region, some on the mainland or nearby islands so they can be seen flying around, but many stick to the Southern Ocean islands. Eleven of the world’s 22 albatross species nest in New Zealand and of those nine do not nest elsewhere. As well as these specific species, the book covers 50 sites on the North and South Islands, Rakiura/Stewart Island and Chatham Islands that are best for birdwatching. Detailed descriptions of each site cover the type of terrain, and the tracks and trails where certain species are likely to be encountered. Particular species for each site are highlighted. A fact file for each site lists land or sea access; type of habitat, best time to visit, facilities and accommodation. Key species for each site are also listed.
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Oceanic Birds of the World: A Photo Guide
Artist/Author: Howell, Steve N G, Kirk Zufelt$68.00 Add to cartOceanic birds are among the most remarkable but least known of all birds, living at sea, far from the sight of most people. They offer unusual identification challenges – many species look similar and it can be difficult to get good views of fast-flying birds from a moving boat. The first field guide to the world’s oceanic birds in more than two decades, this exciting and authoritative book draws on decades of firsthand experience on the open seas. It features clear text filled with original insights and new information and more than 2,200 carefully chosen colour images that bring the ocean and its remarkable winged inhabitants to life. Never before have oceanic birds been presented in such an accessible and comprehensive way.
The introduction discusses the many recent developments in seabird taxonomy, which are incorporated into the species accounts, and these accounts are arranged into groups that aid field identification. Each group and species complex has an introductory overview of its identification challenges, illustrated with clear comparative photos. The text describes flight manner, plumage variation related to age and moult, seasonal occurrence patterns, migration routes, and many other features.
The result is an indispensable guide for exploring birding’s last great frontier.
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Birds of Mongolia (Helm Field Guide)
Artist/Author: Gombobaatar, Sundev, Christopher Leahy$60.00 Add to cartMongolia is a huge landlocked country in the centre of Asia. It encompasses a diverse range of habitats including forests, vast treeless plains, the Altai Mountains and of course the Gobi Desert, and it is becoming an increasingly popular destination for birders. For dozens of steppe species and many others, Mongolia really is the place to go. This new field guide provides full details of every species to be found in the country. Birds of Mongolia, written by Chris Leahy and Gomboo, Mongolia’s most famous ornithologist, follows traditional field guide design with plates arranged opposite the text. Detailed maps – a mapping feat never before attempted for Mongolia – accompany the species entries. Birds of Mongolia is an indispensible guide to the country’s avifauna; no visiting naturalist can be without it.
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Birds of Nicaragua: A Field Guide
Artist/Author: Chavarría-Duriaux, Liliana, David C Hille, Robert Dean (Authors)$96.00 Add to cartBirders in Central America have long known that Nicaragua is one of the best birding locations in the world, and with tourism to the country on the upswing, birders from the rest of the world are now coming to the same conclusion. The largest country in Central America, Nicaragua is home to 763 resident and passage birds, by latest count. Because of its unique topography – the country is relatively flat compared to its mountainous neighbors to the north and south – it forms a geographical barrier of sorts, which means that many birds that originate in North America reach their southernmost point in Nicaragua, while many birds from South America reach their northernmost point in the country. There are few places in the world where you can find both a Roadrunner and a Scarlet Macaw.
Birds of Nicaragua features descriptions and illustrations of all 763 species currently identified in the country, along with information about 44 additional species that are likely to appear in the coming years. Range maps, based on years of field research, are color-coded. Other features include a richly illustrated anatomical features section, a checklist, a visual guide to vultures and raptors in flight, and a quick-find index.
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The Eagle Owl
Artist/Author: Penteriani, Vincenzo, María del Mar Delgado$115.00 Add to cartThe definitive work on Europe’s largest and most spectacular owl. The Eagle Owl – known rather more evocatively as the Uhu in German, in reference to its haunting, far-carrying nocturnal call – is a very large and impressive bird of prey. One of the largest owls in the world, it is a fierce hunter of large birds and mammals up to the size of foxes and small deer, and as an undisputed top predator, its ecology is fascinating. This Poyser monograph looks at distribution, foraging ecology, migration, breeding behaviour, conservation issues and population dynamics of this spectacular bird, across its vast Eurasian range. The authors, Vincenzo Penteriani and María del Mar Delgado, have undertaken many years of research on populations in and around the Coto Doñana in Spain. Other populations considered include the tiny, recently introduced one in England. This is the ultimate reference to what in many ways is Europe’s ultimate predator.
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Birding Australia’s Islands
Artist/Author: Taylor, Sue$40.00 Add to cartA thoroughly entertaining personal account of the author’s birding expeditions to some of Australia’s very special islands. She hasn’t attempted to include every one of the 8,371 islands of Australia but she has visited the country’s most extreme islands: the most southerly (Macquarie), the most northerly (Boigu, which just pips Christmas by one degree), the most westerly (Cocos) and the most easterly (Norfolk). Her aim in selecting the islands was very simple: to include those where she’s had fun birding; where she has seen lots of birds, several ‘lifers’ (her own life list of birds encountered in the wild), islands with birds never seen before in Australia or some where she had special encounters with common birds. Though Sue Taylor is herself a “twitcher”, Birding Australia’s Islands will appeal not only to intrepid birdwatchers who intend to follow in her footsteps, but also to those who are content to sit at home and read about the audacity of others who will fly across Australia’s vast continent in the hope that one individual bird will still be there waiting for them when they arrive. Illustrated with beautiful close-up photographs of species and habitats, Sue Taylor describes her adventures on 22 of Australia’s islands with humour and irrepressible enthusiasm. There are detailed and locator maps of every Island featured In the book.
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The Australian Bird Guide (Revised Edition)
Artist/Author: Menkhorst, Peter, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack, Kim Franklin$50.00 Add to cartAustralia’s avifauna is large, diverse and spectacular, reflecting the continent’s impressive range of habitats and evolutionary history. With specially commissioned paintings of over 900 species, The Australian Bird Guide is the most comprehensive field guide to Australian birds ever seen.
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The Birder’s Guide to Africa
Artist/Author: Mills, Michael, (Author) Tasso Leventis (Illustrator)$84.00 Add to cartThe Birder’s Guide to Africa presents the first comprehensive and detailed summary of bird watching in the African region, covering all mainland territories and associated islands. It gives an overview of the birding in the region in the introduction, highlighting key destinations for different kinds of travellers. This is followed by country accounts for all 68 territories that comprise the region, in which details on travel and birding are provided for each territory, including a comprehensive list of important bird taxa to be targeted on a visit. In the family accounts, 142 bird families are recorded from the region, described briefly, and illustrated with spectacular photographs. Finally, the species accounts for all 2,792 bird species detail information on ease of seeing, distribution, status, habitat, subspecies, taxonomic issues and best places to see.
Any serious world lister or keen African eco-traveller will find an abundance of relevant and interesting information.
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Birds of Cambodia (Hardcover)
Artist/Author: Cambodia Bird Guide Association (CBGA) (Author)$110.00 Add to cartSandwiched principally between its better-known neighbours of Thailand, to the north and west, and Vietnam, to the east, the relatively small and comparatively low-lying country of Cambodia is dominated by the vast combined floodplains of the Tonle Sap (or Great Lake) and lower Mekong River. Unsurprisingly then, its principal attraction for birdwatchers is a suite of exceptionally scarce birds associated with wetlands and grasslands. Spearheading the list are the iconic Giant and White-shouldered Ibises, both of which are Critically Endangered, and a trio of almost equally rare vultures, including the iconic Red-headed Vulture. These rarities are the subject of an ongoing international conservation effort. The supporting cast includes Bengal Florican (also Critically Endangered), Sarus Crane (Vulnerable) and Mekong Wagtail (Near Threatened). Despite boasting just two endemic species, Cambodian Laughingthrush and the very recently described Cambodian Tailorbird, the latter’s discovery in the environs of the country’s capital Phnom Penh perhaps more than anything epitomises the potential to make cutting-edge ornithological findings in this still relatively under-explored nation. Birds of Cambodia offers the perfect introduction to the country’s varied avifauna.
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Birds of Cambodia (Flexicover)
Artist/Author: Cambodia Bird Guide Association (CBGA) (Author)$99.00 Add to cartSandwiched principally between its better-known neighbours of Thailand, to the north and west, and Vietnam, to the east, the relatively small and comparatively low-lying country of Cambodia is dominated by the vast combined floodplains of the Tonle Sap (or Great Lake) and lower Mekong River. Unsurprisingly then, its principal attraction for birdwatchers is a suite of exceptionally scarce birds associated with wetlands and grasslands. Spearheading the list are the iconic Giant and White-shouldered Ibises, both of which are Critically Endangered, and a trio of almost equally rare vultures, including the iconic Red-headed Vulture. These rarities are the subject of an ongoing international conservation effort. The supporting cast includes Bengal Florican (also Critically Endangered), Sarus Crane (Vulnerable) and Mekong Wagtail (Near Threatened). Despite boasting just two endemic species, Cambodian Laughingthrush and the very recently described Cambodian Tailorbird, the latter’s discovery in the environs of the country’s capital Phnom Penh perhaps more than anything epitomises the potential to make cutting-edge ornithological findings in this still relatively under-explored nation. Birds of Cambodia offers the perfect introduction to the country’s varied avifauna.
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Birds of Prey of Australia: A Field Guide (Third Edition)
Artist/Author: Debus, Stephen$45.00 Add to cartRaptors are popular and iconic birds, and are important ecologically, with some species listed as threatened. Yet they are among the most difficult birds to identify. This fully updated Third Edition of the popular and award-winning field guide Birds of Prey of Australia contains two sections: a field guide with distribution maps, detailed illustrations and information on identification; and a handbook which includes an overview of the current knowledge about raptors, including their biology, ecology and behaviour. An illustrated section on difficult-to-distinguish species pairs is also included, along with new photographs.
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How to Know the Birds: The Art & Adventure of Birding
Artist/Author: Floyd, Ted$45.00 Add to cartHow to Know the Birds introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching, by noting how behaviours, settings, and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, colour, gender, age distinctions, and other features traditionally used to identify species. Expert author Ted Floyd begins by evoking a typical bird-watching moment, his entry into a thoughtful discussion of the traditions of field guides and bird identification. Then, with short essays on 200 observable species, he guides us through a year of becoming a better birder, each species representing another useful lesson: from explaining scientific nomenclature to noting how plumage changes with age, from chronicling migration patterns to noting hatchling habits. Pen-and-ink illustrations accompany Floyd’s charming prose, making How to Know the Birds a unique blend of narrative and field guide. A pleasure for birders of all ages, this witty book promises solid lessons for the beginner and smiles of recognition for the seasoned nature lover.
