Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Terns of North America - Book Review

As promised, and despite my being poorly with a dose of Common Cold, saved only by a glass or two of ouzo held back in case of serious illness, here it is. 

My personal and early look at Terns of North America; A Photographic Guide by Cameron Cox, due for release on 24 October 2023.

Terns of North America - Princeton Press
 
Let’s not beat about the proverbial bush. This is a simply stunning book that every birder should own - an essential identification guide to not just North American terns, but the noddies and skimmers that in recent years have crossed the Atlantic to appear on the British List with increasing regularity. 

The book follows the expected traditional route of an Introduction from Pages 1 to 19 followed at Pages 20 to 197 by the Species Accounts. 208 Pages in all. 
 
Contents - Terns of North America - Princeton Press
 
The author’s Introduction quickly puts the reader at ease with the assertion that despite perceptions by some birders, terns do not present extreme ID challenges. He reassures the reader that difficult and real ID distinctions are few and far between, and mainly within larger Sterna terns. 

The section Tricky Thalasseus is especially welcome in dealing with similarities and differences between the North American Sandwich Tern, Eurasian Sandwich Tern and the so called Cabot’s Tern. 

Terns of North America - Princeton Press

Terns of North America - Princeton Press

Terns of North America - Princeton Press

The individual species accounts are found together, grouped under logical headings rather than in pure scientific order, a sequence that might still upset the purists. But this is an entirely acceptable device that makes for a highly functional field guide, one that will find its way into a backpack for that trip to the shore where terns and their allies congregate. 

For instance, a glance through sections entitled Large Terns, Crested Terns, Medium Sized Terns or Sterna Terns will quickly sort the possible from the unlikely. Equally, Marsh Terns, Pelagic Terns and Upland Terns can be found in their own respective compartments. As one might expect, Skimmers and Noddies can be found in a section all of their own. 

Terns of North America - Princeton Press

Terns of North America - Princeton Press

Terns of North America - Princeton Press

Within the pages are a small number of photo quizzes that I found quite difficult based upon my limited experience of North American terns, questions that those on the US side of the Atlantic might solve more easily. In any case, the answers and explanations can be found in time honoured fashion in the final pages. There is a very useful bibliography at Pages 198-201 followed by a mercifully short Index. 

There are 350 high quality illustrations, mostly superb photographs packed into 200 or so pages of Terns of North America, photographs that take tern ID to another level and demonstrate once again how quality bird photography is the future for field guides focused on birds. 

The sheer strength of the book lies in the many sensational photos of terns. Terns at rest, terns in flight, flocks of terns, mixed terns, mottled terns, immaculate terns, grey terns, black terns, carrot billed terns or banana billed terns. They are all in here where bird photography crosses into art and thrills the reader into discovering more about this rather special family of beautiful and elegant birds. 

I found myself browsing the many photographs so as to simply enjoy the experience and forgetting to read whole chunks of text. Stand out images included Aleutian Terns at pages 152/153, a Black Tern at 135 followed by a whole set of similar joys and then the fabulous Sandwich Tern in flight that opens the Species Accounts. 

As I browsed the hundreds of photos it came increasingly obvious just how many had been taken in The Sunshine State of Florida, that Beachy Hotspot of terns and skimmers. I know one or two birders in FL who right now will I suspect be clicking that link to Princeton, itching to get their hands on a copy of Terns of North America. 

The book is a great value for money prospect for cash-strapped birders who are often notoriously reluctant to part with their dosh, in this case for a meagre 19 or 20 species that already feature in guides they own. To not invest in this inexpensive book would be a mistake because it is bang-up-to-date in its detailed and simplified approach to sometimes challenging tern ID, whereby to head out onto a tern-crowded beach without might be a recipe to fail. 

Go on, treat yourself.  At £22 or $27.95 this book is another winner from Princeton. 


Price: $27.95/£22.00 
ISBN: 9780691161877  
Published: Oct 24, 2023 
Pages: 208 Size: 7.5 x 9.5 in. 
350 colour illus. 

Back soon with news, views and photos on Another Bird Blog.

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday.

Friday, April 14, 2023

Book Review - Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland

“An unexpected topic for Another Bird Blog”, regular readers might say, a review of Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland, a field guide to fish. A soon to be released book from Wild Nature Press via Princeton (25 April). 

Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland - Princeton

Let me explain. I live a two minute drive from the Lancashire coast, the wonderfully species rich ecosystem of North West England known as Morecambe Bay, where man, birds, animals and fish live together, often in competition, very frequently as prey and predator. 

The historic and once major fishing town of Fleetwood is a short ferry journey across the mouth of Morecambe Bay via The River Wyre, a focal point of the geographical area. Hereabouts, many people retain an affinity to what is today a mostly lost industry.  The important source of employment declined during the 'cod wars' of the 1970s when Iceland restricted how much fish could be caught in its waters. Later in the 1990s many fishermen sold their boats off under a UK government and EU led decommissioning scheme. And thereafter Fleetwood lost its main raison d'ĂȘtre. 

I will own up now; I like to eat fish. Fish is a rich source of protein filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as D and B. Fish is rich in calcium and phosphorus and a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium. 

My pal Jamie the Fishmonger has skills acquired via his Fleetwood family where he learnt the trade of knowing about the buying, selling and the processing of many sea foods.  He can tell me how good a fish will eat by glancing at the colour of the flesh or feeling the thickness of the skin. He knows about fish where I know the bare bones; he educates me about his iced display of treasure from the deep while filleting a bright eyed plaice in the blink of an eye. 

When Princeton floated Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland my naturally enquiring mind came into play whereby a landlubber’s curiosity might learn a little about the 400 or more species of fish which surround UK shores. After a quick shuffle of the pages, the many photos and the explanatory illustrations I just knew I had to share this gem of a book with followers of Another Bird Blog, so here it is. 

Unlike birds and mammals, fish in their live state are not obvious or easily accessible to land based observation but much more likely to be seen and studied by divers and snorkellers who can more easily identify and record these fast moving animals underwater. 

The authors of Inshore Fishes, Lin Baldock and Frances Dipper have a wealth of expertise and worldwide experience of  studying marine life through diving expeditions in the UK, Canada, Australia, the Middle East and Asia. As one who paddled in the Red Sea while surrounded by myriad exotic fish I remain in awe of Lin Baldock’s 4,000+ dives.  At Page 8 the authors acknowledge more than seventy  contributors who provided photographs, illustrations, previously unpublished information and other content that made this overdue and unique book possible. 

A glance at “Contents” shows the diversity, breadth of the species and the information to be found in this delightful and educational book of a succinct 288 pages.  

Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland - Princeton

“How to Use This Book” is essential reading to understand that unusually shaped fish can change both colour, shape and even sex, but that Habitat is equally important for fish identification as it is for bird and animal ID. 

The why and how of underwater photography points out the potential pitfalls and likely delights of portraying a pipefish or flashing to a flounder while showing many fine examples by way of e.g. Leopard-spotted Goby, a Starry Smoothound, a Norwegian Topknot or an Angelshark in their natural environments.

Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland - Princeton

Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland - Princeton

And if you thought that some birds are pretty good at hiding away through cryptic plumage take a look at the photographs of a number of species of flat fish like brill, turbot and scaldfish. Such beautiful and unique creatures have the means to become motionless and invisible to all but the sharpest eyes.

Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland - Princeton

Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland - Princeton

 Some pages emphasise key identification features and possible confusion species and also include a “confidence guide” distinguishing between easily recognisable species and those requiring closer examination. It’s a feature that could be put to good use in bird guides for novice birders when considering recent faux pas I witnessed - Short-eared Owl v Barn Owl or Wood Warbler v Willow Warbler, occasions when the use of a field guide would have saved embarrassment. 

The species’ accounts at pages 35-273 make for truly fascinating and compulsive reading in their descriptions and explanations of the remarkable lifestyles and life histories of these barely known creatures, many of which were completely unknown to me. 

There are of course a number of UK species which can sting, electrocute or otherwise harm an unwary diver - the rays, sharks, scorpion fish, or the venomous weevers.  Yet others like the wrasse family live close to the sea bed where they can be rare or rarely seen. I learnt that the Black Seabream, a protogynous hermaphrodite, bulldozes a nest on the ocean floor for the female and that this extraordinary behaviour has been the subject of a seven year study along the Dorset coast. 

With Inshore Fishes and following on from a number of very bulky “field guides” we appear to have returned to a more manageable size of guide at a pocket sized 5.88 x 8.25 inches of minimal weight and mass. The colour coded on-page icons, pointers and illustrations work a treat. The book is concise, compact, practical and extremely user friendly. Hooray. 

Inshore Fishes is published in association with the UK Marine Conservation Society, a joint imitative that makes an invaluable contribution to the series of marine photographic titles of Seasearch, a species recording project for volunteer sports divers. 

Inshore Fishes of Britain and Ireland - Princeton

Price: $27.95/£22.00 
ISBN: 9780691249018  
Published (US):Aug 1, 2023
Published (UK):Apr 25, 2023 
Copyright:2023 
Pages: 288 
Size: 5.88 x 8.25 in 

Here is a fine book that will appeal to the growing band of divers and marine conservationists who explore the coast of Britain. I imagine that many fishermen will be drawn to read this book, also part time sea anglers or those inshore hobby fishermen who set off in small boats from towns and villages around all parts of Britain and Ireland. In the book they will surely find much to interest, excite and educate. 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Saturday Blog and Anni in Texas.




Friday, January 6, 2023

My Bird Book of 2022.

Yet again there's no birding due to never ending bad weather. Everyone is heartily sick of the now 4 months of incessant rain, perpetual wind and everlasting grey skies in days that are no good for bird, man nor beast. 

Today and to keep the blog up and running, I am posting a reprise of a book review of 2022, a book based upon real science, one I labelled my "Bird Book of 2022".  Here it is below with a few alterations and additions to bring the review bang up to date.

How Birds Evolve is a book released in the US in October 2021 and now at large in the UK from 4 January 2022. I suspect it’s late for publication caused by disruptions to business operations and normal life of recent months. Only recently did Princeton send a copy for review via Another Bird Blog and I do not understand why it only now appears in the UK, some 4 months later than the North American release.   


Let me say right from the outset that How Birds Evolve is an outstanding book, one that had I seen a week or two before would have elicited a “buy” recommendation as a Christmas gift 2022 for the birder in your life. Read on to discover why this is a book every birder should read and own. 

“How Birds Evolve - What Science Reveals About Their Origin, Lives, and Diversity” is the title of the 320 page volume by Douglas Futuyma. The author is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, State University of New York. His books include Evolution and Science on Trial: The Case for Evolution. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. These are immaculate credentials from someone who describes himself as an “enthusiastic birder” and whose observations, experiences and ornithological studies in over 50 countries can be found throughout the book. 

A simple explanation to the science of birds’ origins is that birds grew from a group of meat-eating dinosaurs called theropods about 150 million years. Here were animals that survived in many different habitats, beings that evolved into the present day 11,000 bird species across the world. With such a close relationship to the extinct dinosaurs, how and why did birds survive? The answer is a combination of things: their small size, the fact they can eat a lot of different foods and have an ability to fly. These ancient birds looked quite a lot like small, feathered dinosaurs and they had much in common - their mouths still contained sharp teeth that over time evolved into beaks. After more than 140 million years in charge, the dinosaurs' reign came to an abrupt end when a huge asteroid strike and massive volcanic eruptions caused disastrous changes to the environment. Most dinosaurs went extinct while birds with winged feathers and the ability to fly remained until today, more than a little changed, but birds now near an extinction of their own. 

Each of the chapters of How Birds Evolve has a sub title that more fully suggests to the reader the overall flavour, focus and the detailed content within. This sub-titling is useful to someone like me who on first acquaintance with a book likes to browse the parts, maybe even begin to read a book in the “wrong” order so as to match with a special interest while beginning to familiarise with an author’s style. 

With twelve Chapters and over 300 pages, How Birds Evolve has so many highlights, so many fascinating, illuminating and enlightening segments that it’s almost impossible and perhaps unfair to pick my own particular favourite when other readers would choose differently. But, here goes. 


The first chapters, 1) In the Light of Evolution: Birds and 2) Evolutionary Science and Parrots, Falcons, and Songbirds: The Bird Tree of Life are unavoidably technical in their use of scientific descriptions and terminology for which the author both explains and apologises in advance. There sections include partly challenging diagrams, illustrations or charts where prior experience, knowledge and/or reading are desirable but certainly not mandatory e.g. terms like DNA, Messenger RNA, phylogeny, genomes. 

North American Warblers - How Birds Evolve - Princeton Press

A determined and persevering read of the text while studying the diagrams/charts will ultimately reward the reader by enabling a thorough enjoyment and understanding of later chapters and the whole book. Every one of the 12 Chapters is jam-packed with insightful narrative into the lives of birds together with accounts of how, where, when and why the rich diversity of birds is an important aspect of evolutionary biology. 

The three chapters ‘Highlights of Bird History’, ‘Finches and Blackcaps’ and ‘The Ruff and The Cuckoo’ I found especially entertaining and instructive because a number of the pages focused on familiar and recent topics. 


The author described how in real time of 2017 Galapagos scientists observed the development of a new lineage of Darwin's finches, and showed how under the right conditions, evolution can occur over as little as two generations. 

Futuyma relates how ornithologists at the University of Freiburg studying Blackcaps in two areas of Germany, 500 miles apart found that birds which spent winter in Spain had more in common genetically with their Spanish sun-loving counterparts than they did with their UK-wintering neighbours who bred in the same area. This led to the real possibility that the Spanish and UK-wintering groups of Blackcaps could be on their way to becoming two different species. 

The author introduced me to the theory of ‘cultural evolution’, a change us oldies witnessed in the UK during the years of foil topped milk bottles standing on our wintery doorsteps and when Blue Tits were forced to change their daily behaviour by pecking holes through the foil to reach the sustenance below. We also discover that passerines learn many aspects of their songs from parents or neighbours whereby regional populations often diverge to form local dialects, something I have observed in the case of Yellowhammer, Chaffinch and Linnet. 

Remaining chapters continue in the same vein, pages crammed with good reading and packed with knowledge about the causes of variation within bird populations and several species that each tells a special, unexpected and therefore fascinating story. UK readers will enjoy the sections that feature Ruff, Collared & Pied Flycatcher and Snow Goose. There’s absorbing discussion about polymorphism in respect of a number of types of birds such as skuas, hawks and owls; for instance, 69 of the world’s 206 owls are classified as polymorphic for colour, usually grey or rufous, differences that arose out of the variation of evolution. 


The ancient Hoatzins of South America are avian cows. They eat leaves. They harbour bacteria in their crop that break down plant cellulose into sugars that the bird can use, just as cows and other ruminants do - convergent evolution at the biochemical level. Hoatzins climb trees with the help of claws on the point of their wings, a stage in the evolution of feathers. I decided that Chapter 6 How Adaptations Evolve which contains chart illustrations of bills, feathers, and ‘adaptations for climbing trees’ is a masterpiece of its own in what became a simply brilliant, entertaining and instructive chapter. 


Hoatzin and Bar-headed Goose - How Birds Evolve - Princeton Press

But there’s more, from tales and experiences and journeys around the globe where the author takes us from east to west to learn the genetic differences of Rock Partridge and Red-legged Partridge, or to the Crossbills of North America and ‘ecological speciation’. 

Red-legged Partridge & Rock Partridge - How Birds Evolve - Princeton Press

As every birder knows, Crossbills’ bills are highly specialised for extracting seeds from conifer cones. In North America Crossbills with differing call types specialise on different conifers and have bill differences adapted for the particular cones.  The Crossbills' calls create flock cohesion whereby birds with the same calls forage together and choose mates from within the flock. Ornithologists studying the Crossbills believe that changes taking place plus interplay with squirrels mean that ecological speciation is taking place and that there are now six species of North American Crossbills, the latest one Cassia Crossbill.  

Like all science, the science of evolution is never settled but taking place as we speak. “Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on Evidence.” 

Such a book would not be complete without the author reminding readers of the perils facing birds in Chapter 12 Evolution and Extinction. Since 1970 bird populations in North America have declined by 29%, a loss of 3 billion birds. At least 40% of the world’s species of birds are in decline with 1 in every 8 species threatened by complete extinction. Birds alone are not in peril. In the 541 million years since animals first diversified, there have been five mass extinctions. Many biologists are convinced we are near a sixth mass extinction uniquely caused by the actions of a single species, man. 

If there’s a reproach to be made of the modern day birding it is that birders focus overmuch on the rarity aspect without displaying that element of curiosity, the “what, why and when” of birds. It is a fact of the current birding scene that many do not trouble themselves too much about birds’ life histories, their day to day existence, or how birds came to be. 

How Birds Evolve is a moderately technical book to test the desire to learn more, to fill that gap, a book that with just a little perseverance will encourage even the most unimaginative twitcher to cast their bins beyond immediate vistas and inspire them to evolve into a more rounded birder. 

How Birds Evolve is accessible, exhilarating science for everyone – amateur birder, professional naturalist or just the average man. It’s a great book and one to read over and over and I thoroughly recommend it to all.

This is already my Bird Book of 2022 and I can't see it being bettered. 

Price: $29.95/£25.00 
ISBN:9780691182629 
Published (US):Oct 19, 2021 
Published (UK):Jan 4, 2022 
Pages:320 
Size:6.12 x 9.25 in. 
Illustrations: 48 colour + 67 b/w illus. 4 tables. 


Stay tuned to Another Bird Blog for news, reviews, birding, bird ringing, bird photos and much more. 

And remember folks ....................


Linking this weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni In Texas.




Friday, October 7, 2022

In the Footsteps of Audubon

Here as promised is a review of a book due for release on November 1st 2022 - In the Footsteps of Audubon by Denis Clavreul. This is a Princeton publication. 


Denis Clavreul is a French watercolourist, wildlife artist, and biologist whose celebrated works have been exhibited around the world. He is the author and illustrator of many books, including Dreaming of Africa and Pour une Loire vivante (That the Loire may live). 

John James Audubon (1785 - 1851) is held in such high regard as a naturalist/ornithologist/painter and author that he is known simply by the surname of Audubon. 

Everyone knows of Audubon, not least me. Audubon’s stunning, stylistic, painstakingly detailed and dramatic drawings became a major inspiration in my early days of discovering birds. 

Audubon’s own journey began in France over two hundred years ago with his childhood in France and an early affinity for birds and natural history in its many forms. In 1803 his father obtained a false passport so that Jean-Jacques Audubon could go to the United States to avoid conscription in the Napoleonic Wars. At eighteen years old Jean-Jacques boarded a ship and changed his name to the anglicised form John James Audubon. 

As a young man Audubon travelled the Americas where he learned the crafts that would eventually make him famous. The book traces one such journey via Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Louisiana, Las Floridas (Florida), Labrador, Missouri and to the end of the journey in New York City. In those days the population of the young United States was around five million people. There were no paved roads, no automobiles, no electric lights, no cameras or binoculars, and no widely available books about birds. 

Throughout the journey the young Audubon practiced and perfected his artistic skills and became a self-taught ornithologist of repute. His pictorial record - The Birds of America, 1827 and 1838, stands as a colossal achievement in American art that will never be bettered. 

Birds of America

“In the Footsteps” follows the same route that Audubon took through the States of America with a chapter devoted to each leg of a journey some 200 years before. 

Two hundred and fifty of Clavreul’s deceptively modest, often impressionistic sketches and watercolours of birds, animals, people, plants and landscapes appear throughout the pages where they mingle with revealing selections from Audubon’s journals and a number of his paintings e.g. the simply stunning Great Egret, the Crested Caracaras or the Gannets. 
 

 “The weather was fine; all around me was as fresh and blooming as if it had just issued from the bosom of Nature. Although well moccasined, I moved slowly along attracted by the brilliancy of the flowers, and the gambols of the fawns along their dams, to all appearance as thoughtless of danger as I felt myself.” 

Audubon’s words make a knowing and comfortable juxtaposition of words and images that fit with Clavreul’s easy, relaxed style of descriptive writing. I felt that my journey through America and Audubon’s past was made all the better by being in the company of an agreeable, knowledgeable and sympathetic companion. 

Along the journey there are people who live with nature, many of them passionately engaged in preserving it. We encounter bird banders in Louisiana, devoted birders in Central Park, Florida & Quebec and ranchers in Missouri; just a few of the locations where Clavreul’s delightful sketches and paintings bring words and history to life. We see the natural world as Audubon saw it but with eyes and ideas of today. 

“The Night Hawks were skimming over and around me, attracted by the buzzing wings of beetles which form their food, and the distant howling of wolves gave me some hope that I should soon arrive at the skirts of some woodlands.” 

I must mention that the book is translated from the original French into English. The translator Martha Le Cars deserves a special mention for the sensitive, seamless and highly readable result. 

In the Footsteps of Audubon, a book in landscape format, will probably not appeal to the average birder. However, I am certain it is one that will find a home with students of bird and natural history art, travellers, writers, and indeed anyone who simply loves books for the joy they bring in these troubled times. 

I thoroughly recommend it as one that would make a thoughtful gift for a young aspiring writer or artist, someone in the mould of young John James perhaps? 

This is a book that I quickly grew to love and one I would like to keep but with bulging bookshelves I am stuck for space. However I have a better, more useful idea. I will donate this delightful book to my granddaughter’s school though their art department, where I hope it will become a tool for talk, discussion and projects, perhaps even an inspiration to one or more budding artists or writers. 


$39.95 / £30.00 
ISBN: 9780691237688 
Published: Nov 1, 2022 
Copyright: 2022 
Pages: 256 
Size: 11.75 x 9.5 in. 
Illustrations: 272 colour 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.


Sunday, October 2, 2022

The Bird Name Book

It’s been raining and Hurricane Ian whacked us with his tail now he’s done with Florida. Fortunately there is a Plan B, a book review. 

I was on holiday in Skiathos when the postman left me two books and a dilemma. Which book to review first? The Bird Name Book – “a marvellously illustrated A-to-Z compendium of bird names from around the globe”, or, In the Footsteps of Audubon – “an artist’s uniquely personal journey across Audubon’s America”. 

I browsed both and then quickly opted for The Bird Name Book, an alphabetical reference on the origins and meanings of common group bird names, from “accentor” through to “zeledonia.” 

The Bird Name Book -  Princeton Press

The author of The Bird Name Book is Susan Myers a senior birding and nature guide at WINGS Birding Tours and the author of a number of books, including several field guides based upon her travels in South East Asia. 

The Bird Name Book -  Princeton Press

This book promised to engage me in the history of bird names, the how, why, when, where and how those names came about, together with the people and places that feature in familiar but also unfamiliar bird names from around the globe. 

The Introduction explains the origin of  scientific or generic names through the use of nine Latin “nyms”. Eponym (person or persons), morphonym (the morphological characteristics), toponym (the place), taxonym (other taxa), autochthonym (from other languages), bionym (habitat or environment), ergonym (behaviour), phagonym (diet) and phononym (vocal). 

Birders are reminded that Latin remains the language most widely used in the West for scholarly and scientific purposes. With that basic knowledge of the toponym, bionym and ergonym most birders will already know the common name and the whereabouts of Troglodytes troglodytes

It quickly became clear that The Bird Name Book is a superbly researched anthology, a delightful treasure trove of insightful entries. The Namers chapter beginning at Page 12 proved a particular and fascinating joy where a number of names familiar to birders crop up over and over eg. Bewick, Bonaparte, Blyth, Gould, Hume and Jordon. Lesser known ornithologists also feature - Androvandi (1522) who in 1547 opened the first natural history museum to the public, and Mark Catesby (1683-1749), now recognised as one of the first people to describe bird migration. 

The Bird Name Book -  Princeton Press

In view of the many important historical, sometimes antique references throughout this section and the following pages it was disappointing then that the author chose in Author’s Note to emphasise her modern day stance - “nearly all the people involved in the naming of birds are or were privileged, white or male”. This I felt to be unnecessary, crass, and wholly disrespectful to the families & descendants of early forerunners to ornithology discovery. These pioneers should be admired for a legacy that remains valid and indispensable for past, present and future ornithology.  

Heading back into positive territory The Bird Name Book contains many outstanding photos by the author e.g. Ural Owls in Japan, Lapland Longspur in USA, and Crested Pigeon in Australia, just a few of my favourites from the very many beautiful bird portraits. 

The Bird Name Book -  Princeton Press

The historic prints reproduced in fine detail are equally stunning in the form of watercolours like the 1885 Alpine Accentor, Gould’s Fiery-tailed Awlbill of 1849, the Tchagras from Le Vaillant’s Oiseaux d’Afrique of 1799, or again, Gould’s stupendous Kookaburras of 1840. The information I have is that the book contains 200 colour photographs but I suspect that the illustrations alone and their associated four pages of reference notes must account for a similar number. 

The Bird Name Book -  Princeton Press

The main body of the book in pages 23-386 goes on to describe the etymological history of every common group bird name found in standardised English. Myers interlinks the stories behind the bird names with quotes from publications dating back to the 1400s, revealing the shared evolution of language and our relationships with birds, and cementing the names in the history of ornithological discovery. 

The book's detailed and occasionally lengthy descriptions, a whole page for hummingbirds and cockatoos, is brain food for birders eager to discover every last detail about their obsession. In The Bird Name Book they will find much to delight, absorb , excite, inspire and motivate them. 

The Bird Name Book -  Princeton Press

The combination of superb photographs and historic illustrations makes for a highly readable and desirable book. With so much detailed information it’s a book to keep at hand for later referral and further reading when necessary rather than one to read in a single session. 

As ever from Princeton this is a book produced to the highest standards of presentation and fit & finish, one which I highly recommend to readers of Another Bird Blog and to birders everywhere. 

Due for publication in mid to late October it’s time to get your order in folks. 


Price: $39.95 / £30.00 
ISBN: 9780691235691 
Published: Oct 25, 2022 
Copyright: 2022 
Pages: 416 
Size: 6.13 x 9.25 in. 
Illustrations: 200 colour photos.

 

Thursday, April 28, 2022

How Birds Live Together - A Book Review

There’s another book review today, the soon to be released “How Birds Live Together - Colonies and Communities in the Avian World” by Marianne Taylor.  

How Birds Live Together - How Birds Live Together - Princeton

Marianne Taylor is a freelance writer, editor, illustrator, and photographer, the author of more than thirty books on natural history, including The Gull Next Door reviewed in Another Bird Blog in November 2020. 

How Birds Live Together is not a run-of-the-mill bird book; the clue is in the sub-title of “Colonies and Communities in the Avian World”. This book is not a field guide or a species/bird family monologue but is instead a fascinating and many faceted collection of essays grouped around the “who, what, why, where, when and how” of species that live together in often quite different habitats and environments across the world. 

I suspect that the author’s approach to this subject is a first, a line of attack that until now has not have been explored in a single book about birds. (I stand to be corrected by my ever knowledgeable readers). It’s more likely that accounts and study of avian interactions are separate sections within a book devoted to a single species or to a family of birds where social living, feeding interaction, or piggy-backing on other species is a notable or unique feature of the subject matter. 

The Contents list of How Birds Live Together doesn’t give too much away but instead leaves the reader to imagine, suspect, and/or to eventually discover what lies within. The species and topics covered are worldwide where some will be familiar to many birders and wildlife enthusiasts at least in name or place if in not in the finer detail explored and pictured. 

How Birds Live Together - How Birds Live Together - Princeton

For instance, High Rise explores the world of sea cliffs with spectacular pictures of the many birds that use the famous Bass Rock of Scotland, Leopold Island, Canada or Grassholm, Wales. The remarkable picture of Arctic auks at imminent risk from a marauding Polar Bear almost begs the reader to shout “Behind you”. This Chapter has many such splendid photographs, like the one of murres and kittiwakes of Nanavut, Canada or the North American Cliff Swallow, a species that can glue a nest to improbably perpendicular cliff faces. 

How Birds Live Together - How Birds Live Together - Princeton

Tree Houses almost needs no further explanation as the author takes the reader on a world adventure of Florida, Rook & Crows, or by stopping off in super-colonies of the Everglades where a mammoth survey in 2018 found 139,000 nests of storks, ibis, spoonbills and herons. 

How Birds Live Together - How Birds Live Together - Princeton

I discovered that Red-footed Falcons live communally often taking over old or existing nests of colony nesting Rooks and that the interrelationship of the two species is such that their breeding ranges can be mapped one on top of the other. 

Within the Chapters are several accounts devoted to a single species, e.g. the Cliff Swallow and the uninvited housemate that is the Greater Ani of South America, a member of the cuckoo family which employs the modus operandum of brood parasitism against another species. 

There is also a species profile of the Common Starling, a misunderstood bird but one whose high speed synchrony and murmurations are a familiar example of how birds live together by using safety in numbers to outwit predators. Inland Waterfronts contains the most amazing double page image of Lake Natron in Tanzania, a lake turned from blue to pink by the arrival of many, many thousand, possibly millions of Lesser Flamingos. 

How Birds Live Together - How Birds Live Together - Princeton

In the Chapter entitled City In The City I discovered the best place in the world in which to see Lesser Kestrels and where the colony nesting falcons are as close as one metre to the next nest and where chicks sometimes wander from one to another. 

How Birds Live Together - How Birds Live Together - Princeton

A winter visitor to the UK, the Fieldfare, receives a slot in the book via Secret Society, a chapter that considers the breeding and nesting strategies of a variety of species. Often nesting colonially the resulting gangs of Fieldfares have a rather unique way of using their collective weight to repel and discourage nest raiders. 

All of the above and more is contained in How Birds Live together, a quirky, eclectic and informative mix about birds from all compass directions - North, South, East and West. It’s a book that deserves to find a good number of readers eager to move on from identification and learn more about birds as species and animals in their own right. 

As I worked through this book I felt that the Chapters, the topics, the individual entries and examples were occasionally disjointed and fragmented, jumbled in choice and presentation whereby a number of sections may have worked better with a longer read. Overall that was my personal preference and other readers may find the layout and presentation and the length of each topic more to their liking. 

Otherwise the book is beautifully produced, illustrated and finished with a number of superb and simply stunning photographs for the reader to enjoy. This is a book to return to over and over again, one that would make a lovely gift to someone starting out on a journey of  discovering birds.   

How Birds Live Together - How Birds Live Together - Princeton
Price: $29.95 / £25.00 
ISBN: 9780691231907 
Published: May 10, 2022 
Copyright: 2022 
Pages: 224 
Size: 7.5 x 9.88 in. 

Linking at weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

 

Monday, April 18, 2022

Insectpedia – A Review

I have been looking forward to meeting up with Insectpedia - A Brief Compendium of Insect Lore, the latest in the Princeton series of “Pedia” Books. My first acquaintance with this family of books came via Birdpedia in 2021 - Birdpedia .

And here is Insectpedia which is not on general release until early May but can be pre-ordered now from Princeton the publishers or other outlets. 

Insectpedia- Princeton Press
 
Princeton’s Pedia books are encyclopaedic but tiny in size; the series travel the wonders of the natural world, from A to Z. These brief compendiums cover wide ground in sympathetic, often funny, but always fascinating entries on the science, natural history, and culture of their subjects, e.g. Dinopedia, Geopedia, Treepedia, Birdpedia, Florapedia and Fungipedia. 

Every birder knows that birds and insects have a close relationship, in many cases interdependence based upon the fact that many birds eat insects; some eat them all year round, and migrate long distances to make sure of an abundant supply. Others eat them in the summer months and then switch to a more varied diet in winter when there are fewer insects around. Lots of bird species also feed insects to their chicks. 

Insects are an important part of the diet of hedgehogs, spiders, bats, fish, frogs and toads. Some insects eat other insects, including wasps, beetles like ladybirds, and ants. Another crucial role that insects play is in pollination, helping plants turn their flowers into fruits. They also contribute to the breakdown of plants and animals after they die, helping to keep our environment clean. 

Insects have been a part of the human diet for many thousands of years, and many cultures still relish insects as food. Increasingly the cultivation of nutrient- efficient insects may be seen as a way of feeding the booming human population. There’s food for thought! 

Insectpedia- Princeton Press

Insectpedia has an explanatory Preface with hints as to what a reader should expect, but unfortunately there is no list of Contents, nor at the back of the book, an Index. This is only slightly irritating, whereby as well as a cost-saver it could be a deliberate ploy to make the reader visit and enjoy every page in one or two sessions, something that I was happy to do. 

Each subject matter has but one or two pages in which to grab the readers’ attention and Eric R. Eaton’s engaging, enthusiastic style invariably tempts the reader into his lair and looking for more. 

 
Insectpedia- Princeton Press
 
Insectpedia- Princeton Press
 
There are dozens of entries in the 200 pages and many “chapters” of these miscellaneous chunks of reading set in in alpha order with topics ranging from ‘A’ for Acarinaria, bees or wasps that carry squadrons of cleaning mites, right through to ‘Z’ and Zombie Lady Beetles. In between there are Camel Crickets, Exploding Ants, Jumping Beans, The Schmidt Sting Pain Index, and Flea Circus, the latter a remarkable and unlikely entertainment that thrived as late as the 1980s. Yes, millenniums, I remember as a pre-Internet child being taken to see one such circus where I emerged into daylight enthralled if a little itchy. 

Insectpedia- Princeton Press
 
Vespa mandarinaria aka “Murder Hornet” tells a cautionary tale of how global media, irresponsible journalism and click-baitery can induce widespread irrational fear. Now where else have I read that recently? 

Eric R tells the tale of the Weta, or Wetapunga, the Maori name for the Giant Weta, a nationally endangered species of New Zealand but now confined to a few remote islands. This three inches long beast lays claim to being the world’s heaviest insect by weighing in at over 70 grams, the weight of our UK Song Thrush. 

Who knew that we Homo sapiens share 60% of DNA with Drosophila melanogaster and that 75% of the genes known to cause human disease can be found in fruit flies? Insectpedia is crammed with such curious facts and figures about the creatures we love to hate or to fear in equal measure. 

And while Hilltopping may soon become the latest trend in sexual penchants at your local park, it is a way that some butterflies, wasps, ants, beetles and dragonflies use promontories as rendezvous sites for mates. Hilltopping is a form of lek polygyny, or lekking, a term familiar to all birders. 

This review with the examples above gives just a taster of the insect goodies found in this fabulous little book. It is highly readable, informative, engaging, occasionally witty, and mostly light-hearted in a way that should actively encourage a spirit of inquiry and further investigation from any reader. 

Mention must be made of Amy Jean Porter’s black & white illustrations dotted throughout the 200 pages and which accompany many entries. These are mostly delightful or instructive, and occasionally chilling when combined with a specific subject, as in the Tsetse Fly portrait at Page 169. 

Insectpedia is quite simply a terrific little book and amazing value for money in this rip-off age of consumerism. Eric R Eaton and Princeton must be congratulated for this latest winner in the series. 

Please birders or otherwise, buy this book. At £10 it’s a fraction of the stinging cost of a tank of petrol.  

Insectpedia- Princeton Press

Hardcover Price: $16.95 / £9.99 
ISBN: 9780691210346 
Published: May 3, 2022 
Copyright: 2022 
Pages: 200 
Size: 4.5 x 6.75 in. 
Illustrations: 51 b & w  

 

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