10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Penguins are cartoons, emoticons, animated films, children’s books (though owls really take first place here), sports teams, a book publisher, and a Batman villain (a rare example of penguin negativity, though Burgess Meredith did bring an endearing attitude to his 1960’s TV portrayal).

Penguins 278

Penguins Georgia Albatross New Zealand 278

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

This, 2022, has been a curious year for books about birds and birding. Despite the absence of two major publishers—Lynx and HMH–from the new title publishing scene (hopefully not permanently), we were happily surprised to read and peruse many excellent books. But this is more than a coffee table book. Highly recommended.

Sri Lanka 223

Sri Lanka Malaysia Suriname Malawi 223

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2023

Flight Paths is a splendid but risky title for a book about bird migration. It could easily be mistaken for a book about aviation or space navigation or even a flight simulator game if you don’t read the long, adjective-filled subtitle: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration.

Science 185

Science Illinois Investigation 2006 185

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

Osborn, a passionate field biologist who participates to the core of her being three re-introduction projects aimed at saving three very different, endangered species: Peregrine Falcon, Hawaiian Crow (‘Alala)*, and California Condor. My only wish is that the book included photographs. This is the most intense, tragic section.

California Condor 175

California Condor Falcons California Coyotes 175

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

It was a pleasure to make these observations at the same time I was reading The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think , Jennifer Ackerman’s new book about the diversity and complexity of bird behavior. Many popular science books have neither.

Science 220

Science Costa Rica Birds Research 220

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

Local farmers view it as a threat to domesticated wildlife. The simple answer is monetary gain, there is a global black market for these items, regardless of the species’ vulnerability for extinction. 2019), and now this book. The book is structured cinematically. wrote a lengthy article in Outside magazine (Jan.

Falcons 206

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 206

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2020

The travels in his most recent book Natural Encounters: Biking, Hiking, and Birding Through the Seasons are more limited — to the eastern part of the United States, mostly Washington, D.C. Lately (in the last month or so) he’s been through the Dakotas, Montana, and Canada, up to the Northwest Territories. In addition to his D.C.

New Hampshire 221

New Hampshire Washington Virginia Montana 221

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

His second book on migration is a tale of many birds and many research studies all connected by the theme of migration and by his thoughtful narrative voice. The book is organized into ten chapters, framed by a Prologue and Epilogue focused on Weidensaul’s banding experience in Denali National Park.

Cyprus 249

Cyprus Slaughtered Slaughter Research 249

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

More precisely I wanted to learn how to draw wildlife. On one such visit I walked inside Sotheran’s rare books & prints, the longest established antiquarian bookseller in the world, founded in 1761. Later the owner of the bookstore told me that they in fact have one of his books and promptly went to fetch it for me.

Woodpeckers 213

Woodpeckers Birds Canada ALA 213

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2020

Everyone is looking back on their best birds of 2019, so I thought it would be a good idea to look at a book that looks back a little further: Urban Ornithology: 150 Years of Birds in New York City , by P. Because, as this book demonstrates so well, it is sometimes important to look back in order to move forward. “Wait!”

New York City 148

New York City New York Birds Breeding 148

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

Every now and then you read a book which you believe should be read by everyone on the planet. Nature’s Best Hope by American entomologist and conservationist, Doug Tallamy, is such a book. Insects and a host of other invertebrate life have evolved with these plant species, and thus depend on them.

North America 263

North America Wildlife Mammals Breeding 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2022

And a highly recommendable book it is, there is no doubt about it. The only issue is, checking the photos of it at the Princeton Nature website obscures the fact that this is rather thick and hefty book, not something one would consider a field guide (true, the publisher calls it an “identification” and not a “field” guide).

Europe 249

Europe Colombia Birds Ducks 249

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

.* So, it’s a good thing that Ediciones Nuevos Mundo, the publishing arm of The Friendship Association, published Endemic Birds of Cuba: A Comprehensive Guide by Nils Navarro, Cuban wildlife artist and naturalist , earlier this year. Navarro’s exceptional drawings illustrate the species accounts. Forty-eight species.

Cuba 228

Cuba Birds 2000 United States 228

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2017

Birds of Kruger National Park covers the 259 species most frequently seen in the park, about half of the total number of birds documented there. The 224-page book is organized by habitat and behavior, not taxonomy. I thought about this a lot, and finally realized that most of the travelers using this book will not care.

Ecuador 170

Ecuador Wildlife Reptiles Mammals 170

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

There are two things you need to know about A Field Guide to the Wildlife of South Georgia , edited by Robert Burton and John Croxall, and produced by the South Georgia Heritage Trust. The temptation will be to jump to the Wildlife sections. Nor is it about Georgia, the country in Eurasia. Who can resist penguins and whales?

Georgia 173

Georgia Penguins Wildlife Whales 173

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2021

When you mention “Africa” to a birder, it is likely that at least two thirds will instantly think “Kenya”, and for a good reason: it is home to over 1,060 bird species and boasts many globally important birding areas. The scientific names are not mentioned through the book, but it is certainly useful to have them included here.

Kenya 260

Kenya South Africa Africa Penguins 260

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2021

Collins Birds of the World is “ a must for the travelling birder ,” as the BBC Wildlife Magazine reviewer has put it. But when I felt familiar with perhaps half of the species around my town, I started to feel that my field guide is now too bulky and too hefty to carry, and that was the era before smartphones and phone apps.

Botswana 243

Botswana Africa Ecuador Birds 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2019

The last time a Julie Zickefoose book was reviewed on this blogsite, the piece began by saying “This is going to be a rave review.” That sentence will do for this review and this book, too: it’s unavoidable. As she has done for many years and with more than twenty species, she adopted a baby bird, a blue jay.

Ohio 139

Ohio Adoptable Emotional 2019 139

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2016

This book is a field guide treat for traveling birders and birders who love to fantasize about travel, answering that age-old question, “I’m going on a trip to [fill in the blank—Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras], what field guide should I use?”. A lot of attention is given to differentiating amongst similar looking species.

El Salvador 231

El Salvador America Costa Rica Honduras 231

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2022

For example, if you are using Collins Bird Guide by Svensson and Grant (covering the whole Western Palearctic) or, perhaps the best regional field guide, Birds of the Middle East by Aspinall and Porter, you will end up swarmed by many species that can be spotted on migration only and do not spend much time in the region.

Egypt 183

Egypt Birds Species Wildlife 183

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2020

I was lucky to visit India several times, but as a keen birder I carried along only a bird book, and even upgraded it to a new edition between the trips. I clearly needed a mammal book. Despite depicting 540 species/56 families, it is a lightweight book of 173 pages, easy to pack and carry. monkeys, deer, gazelles, etc.).

Mammals 175

Mammals Asia Sri Lanka Bhutan 175

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It took me a while to wrap my mind around the concept of Birds and People , Mark Cocker and David Tipling’s book that, in 592 pages, explores the intersection of just that—birds and us. Still, I found it a little disjointing that a book has been written about our relationship with birds. So, I just sit here, amazed at this book.

Egypt 211

Egypt Birds Albania Eagles 211

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 17, 2014

The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAMWC) is often held up as the best system of wildlife management and conservation in the world. But the tenets of the North American Model were developed in the 19th century, when wildlife ethics and science were a mere glimmer of what we understand today.

Wildlife 237

Wildlife Coyotes Wolves Hunters 237

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2012

Jake’s favorite before-bedtime book when he was just a bit younger was Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, a picture book I had picked up at a nature center. By the middle of the book, Jake and his younger brother Zach would be chiming in, “I want my mommy,” and when Mama Owl finally return, they would rejoice along with the owlets.

Switzerland 210

Switzerland Birds Owls Lions 210

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2018

He brings to this book an academic background in biology and horticulture and, more importantly, decades of experience developing strategies for the best backyard bird feeding practices. The book is focused on suburban living, with little attention given to the unique challenges of urban bird feeding.

New York City 171

New York City Birds Squirrels Woodpeckers 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

When was the last time you chose a book by its covers? And apart from local people, primate researchers sometimes spot it, but it is a species seen by fewer than ten living birders. And apart from local people, primate researchers sometimes spot it, but it is a species seen by fewer than ten living birders.

Congo 264

Congo Africa Madagascar Kenya 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Many of these refuges and associated Conservation Areas, which have the potential to protect more than 1 million acres of vital wildlife habitat, have been forged through creative partnerships with sportsmen, conservation groups and private landowners. President Obama has added 10 new refuges in his first term.

Wildlife 198

Wildlife Hunters Ducks Hunting 198

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2022

His new book is ‘A World on the Wing.’”). Throughout their journeys these long-distance travelers rely on well-stocked pit-stops, like Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, Massachusetts. Both men contributed to a new book about North American birds.”). The Indicator from Planet Money (NPR, 2021, 9 min.):

Zoos 207

Zoos 2020 Massachusetts 2015 207

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2021

No, Madagascar is the most famous for an endemic group of mammals: lemurs, sifakas, indri, aye-aye – in total, 112 endemic species and subspecies of lemurs alone! Still, there should be no problem with larger species that allow for longer observation time (e.g. Larger species, that is, excluding dolphins and whales.

Madagascar 239

Madagascar Mammals Lemurs Seychelles 239

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

So, when Redgannet asked me if I was interested in reviewing Phillipps’ Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan, Third Edition , by Quentin Phillipps and Karen Phillipps, a book he had acquired at Birdfair, I hesitated. Did I dare dip my toe into this catalog of tantalizing species?

Brunei 174

Brunei Asia Birds China 174

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2014

That will be the opening day of the 18th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville, Florida. Florida is a great place to bird in January because in addition to the year-round species there are a host of birds that winter in the relatively balmy climate that Florida has in winter. It hasn’t happened.

2015 196

2015 Wildlife Florida Honduras 196

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

Life Along the Delaware Bay: Cape May, Gateway to a Million Shorebirds , by Lawrence Niles, Joanna Burger, and Amanda Dey, is a book with a mission. The numbers, as detailed in this book, are alarming: the horseshoe crab harvest grew from less than 100,000 in 1992 to over 2.5 million in the late 1990’s.

Delaware 178

Delaware New Jersey Eggs Research 178

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

Steve, another member of our birding group, also had a field guide by Kenefick, Restall, and Hayes, but his was bordered in GREEN, had a slightly different title, and, to my extreme chagrin, was much more recent, showing the recently split Trinidad Motmot instead of the Blue-crowned Motmot on my book’s cover. I was confused.

Trinidad 193

Trinidad South America Birds 2011 193

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

And it looks even better in my hands while I dream about a visit to regions of Brazil I had scarcely heard of before being provided with a review copy of the first volume of the Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil.* Talk about a win-win!

Brazil 199

Brazil Wildlife 2011 Deer 199

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S. This is a hefty book, 560 pages long and dimensions of 6.3 Over 3,200 photographs have been used, most showing species in their habitats. British birders are very serious about birding and their birds.

Ireland 142

Ireland Birds Falcons Turtles 142

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2014

The 18th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is less than a month away and while we don’t have snow down yet here in New York City I am pretty sick of cold weather and could use some warmth and Florida sunshine! John’s National Wildlife Refuge” trip. I can’t wait to be in Florida!

Wildlife 157

Wildlife Bald Eagle 2015 New York City 157

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2019

This guide describes the 125 best birding sites for both common and rare species, covering Myanmar, Thailand, Laos (officially Lao PDR), Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor Leste. I do not think it is possible to pack more in a single volume, without turning it into a coffee table book.

Asia 224

Asia Laos Myanmar Indonesia 224