2 comments about Condors in Canyon Country: The Return of the California Condor to the Grand Canyon Region.

1. For anyone interested in wildlife, birds, and stories of survival....this is the perfect book. It's an amazing blend of facts about the natural history of the California Condor and the personal accounts of a biologist who dedicated several years of her life ensuring that the condors were successfully reintroduced to their historical range in the Grand Canyon. The photos are spectacular and the writing is absolutely beautiful. The book gives you a very personal look at the myriad challenges and rewards associated with the restoration of an endangered species. I highly recommend it.



2. Every so often a book comes along that makes you feel good and offers a glimmer of hope for the environment. This is such a book.
   The California Condor is a magnificent bird, the largest flying land bird in North America with wingspans reaching 9.5 feet. There was a time, 10,000 years ago, when the Condor soared in abundance above the canyonlands of the American southwest, including the Grand Canyon. However, over time they began to disappear until in the early 1980s there were only 22 remaining in the wild. By 1987 the last wild Condor disappeared. Even today there are only 141 living in the wild, primarily in northern Arizona, southern Utah and California.
   This book is about the near extinction of the bird and the heroic efforts of biologists and other dedicated individuals to ensure the survival of the species. The successful implementation of a controversial captive-breeding program that has resulted in the reappearance of the birds in the Grand Canyon and Vermillion Cliffs along the Arizona Strip in Northern Arizona after a 70-year absence has given hope that the species will return to its rightful place in the ecosystem. It is a story that is inspiring, bittersweet,and will leave you cheering for these magnificent creatures.
   I personally viewed Condors at the Grand Canyon a few years ago and Osborn's descriptions of the visual impact of again seeing these birds are right on target. It is truly a sight to remember.
   In addition to a splendid narrative there are photographs that surely will be made into a picture book. The photo on page 77 of a Condor in the Grand Canyon is worth the price of the book alone.
   The book has been called the only book of its kind and that is surely true. I know of no other on the subject that makes such compelling reading and provides evidence that humankind can save endangered species, given dedication and cooperation among the myriad interests involved. A wonderful book.

2 comments about PHEASANTS WORLD ED 2E.

1. An excellent book. Tends to focus more on the individual pheasant breeds rather than thier care and raising of them. However, probably one of the most in-depth books on the many beautiful species of pheasants worldwide.



2. Very good book regarding detailed and updated information on each species comprised in this group of birds. Not many good pictures.

No comments about How Birds Fly (Nature's Mysteries).

5 comments about Birding (Nature Company Guides).

1. This is a wonderfully put together reference book for bird watchers. I also gave one to my father as a gift and he just can't put it down. The pictures are teriffic and there's a lot of information about each bird. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys birds.



2. This book has been an excellent addition to my library on birding. Splendid photography! Helpful tips!Interesting insights and all at a great price. The book is beautiful and is clearly of high quality. You won't be disappointed!



3. This book has a wealth of information about a wide variety of bird topics. It has bird anatomy, songs, how to build a nest box, etc. The main chapter of this book, named 'The Habitat BirdFinder' is a field guide to about 100 of the most commonly seen birds in North America, and isn't in any specific order, but by which habitat it is most likely to be seen in. It is very useful, with a large photograph and colour drawings with text for each bird. The range maps are very clear and easy to use. In the back of the book there is a good selection of other books and resources, including local birding organizations.
   If you are looking for a first birding book, to get you started and familiar with birds, then this is a great start.



4. The first three chapters (83 pages) deserve a top score. The remainder of the book has problems that would barely earn a two on a one-to-five scale. Overall, a three is generous.
   
   The first three chapters are as good a tutorial on birding as you will find anywhere. It begins with a chapter on understanding birds. Some readers may find it dry but should read it anyway. They are probably the same readers that have skipped the front material in every field guide they ever owned. Next comes a section on birding at home. For a beginner living anywhere other than a cave in Manhattan, observing neighborhood birds is a great start. This second chapter then provides ideas for attracting more birds to your backyard. The material on feeders and feeds is excellent and the information on planting and landscaping will get you started.
   
   The third chapter is on actual birding. It is practical and covers all aspects of importance. There isn't any need for birding to be complicated and it should be available to everyone. It is difficult to conceive of a handicap that would preclude a person from enjoying birds. For starters, binoculars and a field guide is all that one needs. Some sort of notepad is a good addition. The book covers these basics, and then expands to a discussion of spotting scopes, birding by ear, photography, and getting more involved in bird study. Conservation should be mandatory in any discussion of birding and this book does not disappoint.
   
   The remainder of the book is a sort of field guide arranged by habitat. The concept seems to be that an inexperienced birder can choose a habitat, look over the book's subsection on that habitat, and be better equipped to identify the birds found there. The problem is that birds do not always respect habitat. Every habitat I have visited has had birds not particularly identified with that habitat. Certainly, a beginning birder will find the order used by most field guides confusing; but it is better to have the hawks together, the sparrows together, etc. than to have them separated.
   
   This "Birdfinder" section has 148 pages, each highlighting a species. Since this is far short of even the common species of the United States, many species are added as adjuncts to a related species or omitted all together. The golden-crowned kinglet becomes a footnote to the ruby-crowned kinglet. The red-breasted nuthatch is added to the white-breasted nuthatch's page, with no mention of the other nuthatches. Woodpeckers are a strange case. Downy woodpeckers get a page in the urban habitat and hairy woodpeckers get a mention on the same page. The rest of the woodpecker clan is represented solely by the acorn woodpecker and the northern flicker in the woodlands habitat.
   
   Another objection is that the Birdfinder section is oriented to eastern birding without admitting that is the case. For example, the eastern phoebe gets a page but the Say's phoebe doesn't get a mention. Meadowlarks are represented by the eastern species, although the western species gets a mention. The same is true of the Baltimore and Bullock's orioles. Bluebirds get a page devoted to the eastern bluebird; the western bluebird gets a mention and a picture, while the mountain bluebird that is dominant in some areas isn't mentioned. Bluebirds are identified in the woodlands habitat; I find all three species more associated with grasslands, although they are cavity nesters.
   
   While teaching a class on birding, I held up this book and said that it included nearly everything I had told them. To cover my conscience in even showing it, I added most of what I have covered in this review.



5. I've sent this book along with a wren birdhouse to my friends to enjoy backyard birding. I send it to those who have a tree or an eave for the birdhouse. They've delighted in the book and have had wrens in the house. It's very exciting for them to know so much about many common birds they see. They've had fun with this book.

2 comments about Avian Hematology and Cytology.

1. This book is a handy clinical reference, and should be in every exotic or avian clinician's reference library. This is probably THE most useful technical reference on this subject, and the 2nd Edition is a slight improvement from the first. Alan Fudge's Book is similar and perhaps more affordable, but this is by far a more thorough reference.



2. This title is by far the best reference on this subject on the market today. It is thoroughly referenced and has excellent pictures. Any practice dealing with pet, zoo or wild birds will benefit greatly by having this book on the shelf.

No comments about The Birds of Ecuador, Vol. 1: Status, Distribution, and Taxonomy.

2 comments about The Flight of the Red Knot: A Natural History Account of a Small Bird's Annual Migration from the Arctic Circle to the Tip of South America and Back.

1. The author introduces himself by describing his Rhode Island boyhood conversion -- from his BB gun to his brother's telescope. He then proceeds to bring the reader along on a rather incredible journey, observing the patterns of feast and flight of the curious migratory shorebird known as the red knot. The annual junket of sorts traces from the southern reaches of South America to the northern reaches of North America, and is nicely summarized in these words:
   
   "Patagonia and the Canadian archipelago are the antipodes of the cycle, but neither is truly end or beginning. In both locations summer briefly holds a tenuous grasp within the looming shadow of near-perpetual winter, but the knots never experience real winter at any latitude. They always stay just one flight ahead of the nether parts of the calendar, alighting only when and where the larder is full, living out their lives in perpetual spring and summer." (p 115)
   
   My usual science reading tends decidedly to physics, which is often thought of as "hard science." In physics, the unknowns lead us toward the deepest philosophical inquiries of human wondering (like "what is reality?"), but the mysteries of animal biology seem rather closer at hand (although this depends, of course, on the observer/ questioner). Ornithologist Brian Harrington observes and speculates, counts and calculates, and often arrives at questions whose answers are essentially mysteries: "No one quite understands . . ." and, "we have very little idea . . ." he muses. At every level, nature gently resists our hopeful desire to oversimplify it. Our story here, of the red knots' travels, is told in five chapters. The last chapter [6] considers conservation issues; what can be done and what is being done to preserve critical coastal areas and other wetlands important to migratory birds. The book includes many photographs, which are interesting in their own right, but also illustrate the text. This is a fairly quick read and an interesting one.



2. What an adventure! The story: A round-trip excursion from the Arctic Circle to the tip of South America, more than 18,000 miles. The characters: A sandpiper known as the Red Knot, barely ten inches long and weighing two ounces per inch, that can fly thirty to forty miles per hour, often as long as 2,500 miles non-stop in their migratory quest. This is a companion piece to the PBS series "Nova," and as one would expect is a beautifully designed and written book with scores of impressive full-color photographs. It also contains maps of their annual flight that shows their landing spots, along with expected dates. If this information and the book doesn't inspire you to get to one of these sites with binoculars in hand, well, its message isn't for you. This is a study of the ever-increasing struggle these birds face against encroaching humanity upon their life-sustaining environments and what we can do to preserve them before it is too late. It's not preachy, but matter-of-fact in its discussion. I'm going to catch the very next migratory stop in my area, and probably will repeat myself in the years ahead. I can't wait to see these little marvels.

1 comments about Spix's Macaw: The Race to Find the World's Rarest Bird.

1. This book wonderfully illustrates the difficult, if not impossible, task of trying to save endangered species. It includes accurate descriptions of the birds, the landscape, the politics and the strange mix of characters that worked together to save the Spix's macaws. By the end of the book, you are waiting with bated breath to find out the fate of the Spix's Macaw. If you have an interest in ecology and/or birds, you will love this book!

No comments about A Guide to and Culture of Flowering Plants and Their Seed Important to Bobwhite Quail.

No comments about Watching Our Feathered Friends (Birder's Bookshelf).