Wildlife: general interest Books

Book SynopsisA complete taxonomic revision of all Australian mammals, both terrestrial and marine.

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Book SynopsisDemonstrates how intelligent and emotional Australian birds can be. Gisela Kaplan describes complex behaviours such as grieving, deception, problem solving and the use of tools. Kaplan brings together evidence of many such cognitive abilities, suggesting plausible reasons for their appearance in Australian birds.Trade ReviewThe book covers with competence the most traditional topics of avian intelligence, including nest building, mimicry, tool use, imitation, play, social and vocal learning but also more neglected topics, such as brain and behavioural asymmetries. [...] Overall, the book provides a scholarly but also very enjoyable reading on the intelligence of birds, and should thus be a recommended reading even to non-specialists."- Giorgio Vallortigara, Centre for Mind and Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy

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Book SynopsisThe tawny frogmouth is one of Australia's most intriguing and endearing birds. Written by award-winning author Gisela Kaplan, one of Australia's leading authorities on animal behaviour and native birds, this second edition of Tawny Frogmouth presents an easy-to-read account of these unique nocturnal birds, which can be found across almost the entire continent.Trade Review“Professor Kaplan is to be heartily congratulated for producing an outstanding book on a truly amazing bird!! I thoroughly recommend it if you are at all interested in more than just putting a name to a bird!” – Norman McCanch, Kent Ornithological Society

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Book SynopsisAustralia is home to many distinctive species of birds, and Aboriginal peoples have developed close alliances with them over the millennia of their custodianship of the country. This book provides a review of the broad physical, historical and cultural relationships that Aboriginal people have had with the Australian avifauna.Trade Review"With its exploration of Indigenous knowledge of birds, this book should help inform future research in ornithology, anthropology and ethnoscience, and will be of interest to everyone who has an interest in the Australian landscape, ecology and it’s avian inhabitants." * Wildlife Health Australia *From the Prologue: "Since the dawn of time our people have had a spiritual, environmental and cultural connection to all birds and their habitats. Whether it be through our Ngartji [ngaitji] system which defines our roles and responsibilities of caring for Country and all in it, our storylines and songlines, as a food source, as a material source or as a transmitter of messages – birds are and have always been a part of our daily rituals and wellbeing. This book encompasses all that is our connection to Country and self." -- Mark Koolmatrie * Ngarrindjeri Elder *"This is a very welcome publication. Anthropologist Philip Clarke has produced a wide-ranging survey of the historical and cultural relationships between Australia’s aboriginal peoples and its distinctive avifauna." -- Jeremy Mynott * Association of Field Ornithologists BookReview *

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Book SynopsisIn sixteen thoroughly engaging essays, naturalist Stephen Lyn Bales ventures far and wide among the richly diverse flora and fauna of his native Tennessee Valley. Whether describing the nocturnal habits of the elusive whip-poor-will, the pivotal role the hedge plant Osage orange played in a key Civil War battle, or the political firestorm that attended the discovery of a tiny fish dubbed the snail darter, Bales illuminates in surprising ways the complicated and often vexed relationships between humans and their neighbors in the natural world.Accompanied by the author's striking line drawings, each chapter in Natural Histories showcases a particular animal or plant and each narrative begins or ends in, or passes through the Tennessee Valley. Along the way, historical episodes both familiar and obscure-the de Soto explorations, the saga of the Lost State of Franklin, the devastation of the Trail of Tears, and the planting of a “Moon Tree” at Sycamore Shoals in Elizabethton-are brought vividly to life. Bales also highlights the work of present-day environmentalists and scientists such as the dedicated staffers of the Tennessee-based American Eagle Foundation, whose efforts have helped save the endangered raptors and reintroduce them to the wild.Arranged according to the seasonal cycles of the valley, Bales's essays reveal the balance that nature has achieved over millions of years, contrasting it with the messier business of human endeavor, especially the desire to turn nature into a commodity, something to be subdued and harvested. Filled with delightful twists and turns, Natural Histories is also a book brimming with important lessons for us all.Stephen Lyn Bales is a naturalist at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. He has been writing the “Neighborhood Naturalist” for the farragutpress since 1999 and is a regular columnist for the Hellbender Press.

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