Download or read book Vesper Flights written by Helen Macdonald and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times–bestselling author of H is for Hawk explores the human relationship to the natural world in this “dazzling” essay collection (Wall Street Journal). In Vesper Flights, Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best loved essays, along with new pieces on topics ranging from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep. Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, Helen invites us into her most intimate experiences: observing the massive migration of songbirds from the top of the Empire State Building, watching tens of thousands of cranes in Hungary, seeking the last golden orioles in Suffolk’s poplar forests. She writes with heart-tugging clarity about wild boar, swifts, mushroom hunting, migraines, the strangeness of birds’ nests, and the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife.

Download or read book How Birds Sleep written by David Obuchowski and published by Astra Publishing House. This book was released on 2023-03-28 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the mysterious and fascinating sleeping habits of more than twenty bird species from around the world in this gorgeously illustrated read-aloud picture book, perfect for bedtime, or any time. Have you ever seen a bird sleep? Or wondered just when it is that migrating cranes find the time to catch Z’s as they cross the ocean? From the parrots of Thailand to the ostriches of Australia and even the pigeons of New York City, every bird sleeps—but they do it in ways that will surprise and delight you. Some hang from tree branches, others doze while gliding, and some even burrow underground for a nap. Written in a witty, conversational voice, and with gorgeous illustrations, this picture book is bursting with interesting facts about this underexplored aspect of bird life all around us.

Download or read book Birds Asleep written by Alexander Frank Skutch and published by . This book was released on 1993-09 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This very readable book by one of the world's distinguished ornithologists reviews the existing literature on bird sleep, and also provides a wealth of new information based upon 50 years of observation in the American tropics and elsewhere. The resulting text is always interesting, often charming, and sometimes poetic. . . . A unique and important book. Highly recommended." --wildlife activist "Abundant anecdotes . . . reveal the author's patient attention to detail and fondness for his subjects, attributes that have made Skutch one of the greatest of twentieth-century bird naturalists." --natural history "The black-and-white line drawings by Schmitt are exquisite . . ." --quarterly review of biology Even though birds spend up to half their lives sleeping or resting, little is known about these behaviors. In Birds Asleep, Alexander Skutch draws on his own observations, as well as the reports of other birders, to offer the first comprehensive survey of the sleeping habits of the world's birds. A longtime resident of Costa Rica, Alexander Skutch is a widely respected ornithologist and philosopher of natural history. His many publications include Origins of Nature's Beauty, Birds of Tropical America, and A Bird Watcher's Adventures in Tropical America, all published by the University of Texas Press.

Download or read book Bird Sense written by Tim Birkhead and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-01-17 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is it like to be a swift, flying at over one hundred kilometres an hour? Or a kiwi, plodding flightlessly among the humid undergrowth in the pitch dark of a New Zealand night? And what is going on inside the head of a nightingale as it sings, and how does its brain improvise?Bird Sense addresses questions like these and many more, by describing the senses of birds that enable them to interpret their environment and to interact with each other. Our affinity for birds is often said to be the result of shared senses - vision and hearing - but how exactly do their senses compare with our own? And what about a birds' sense of taste, or smell, or touch or the ability to detect the earth's magnetic field? Or the extraordinary ability of desert birds to detect rain hundreds of kilometres away - how do they do it?Bird Sense is based on a conviction that we have consistently underestimated what goes on in a bird's head. Our understanding of bird behaviour is simultaneously informed and constrained by the way we watch and study them. By drawing attention to the way these frameworks both facilitate and inhibit discovery, it identifies ways we can escape from them to seek new horizons in bird behaviour.There has never been a popular book about the senses of birds. No one has previously looked at how birds interpret the world or the way the behaviour of birds is shaped by their senses. A lifetime spent studying birds has provided Tim Birkhead with a wealth of observation and an understanding of birds and their behaviour that is firmly grounded in science.

Download or read book Where Do Birds Sleep written by Quartishar A. Hodge and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When it's time for everyone to go to sleep, where do the birds go? Do you know? Two birds journey out to various sleeping spots. Which one do you think is home?

Download or read book BirdNote written by BirdNote and published by Sasquatch Books. This book was released on 2018-03-20 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One hundred entertaining and informative essays from the popular public radio feature program, BirdNote, accompanied by original illustrations throughout--an illuminating volume for bird and nature lovers across North America. Here are the best stories about our avian friends from the public radio show BirdNote, each brief essay illuminating the life, habits, or songs of a particular bird. Why do geese fly in a V-formation? Why are worms so good for you--if you're a robin? Which bird calls, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?" From wrens that nest in cactuses to gulls that have a strange red dot on their bills--these digestible and fascinating bird stories are a delightful window to the winged world. A foreword by John W. Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and an introduction by Gordon Orians, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Washington, are also included. Contains web links to the audio version of each story, with bird sounds.

Download or read book Where Do the Birds Sleep written by Guy McFarland Jennings and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book How to Know the Birds written by Ted Floyd and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this elegant narrative, celebrated naturalist Ted Floyd guides you through a year of becoming a better birder. Choosing 200 top avian species to teach key lessons, Floyd introduces a new, holistic approach to bird watching and shows how to use the tools of the 21st century to appreciate the natural world we inhabit together whether city, country or suburbs." -- From book jacket.

Download or read book What It s Like to Be a Bird written by David Allen Sibley and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2020-04-14 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bird book for birders and nonbirders alike that will excite and inspire by providing a new and deeper understanding of what common, mostly backyard, birds are doing—and why: "Can birds smell?"; "Is this the same cardinal that was at my feeder last year?"; "Do robins 'hear' worms?" "The book's beauty mirrors the beauty of birds it describes so marvelously." —NPR In What It's Like to Be a Bird, David Sibley answers the most frequently asked questions about the birds we see most often. This special, large-format volume is geared as much to nonbirders as it is to the out-and-out obsessed, covering more than two hundred species and including more than 330 new illustrations by the author. While its focus is on familiar backyard birds—blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees—it also examines certain species that can be fairly easily observed, such as the seashore-dwelling Atlantic puffin. David Sibley's exacting artwork and wide-ranging expertise bring observed behaviors vividly to life. (For most species, the primary illustration is reproduced life-sized.) And while the text is aimed at adults—including fascinating new scientific research on the myriad ways birds have adapted to environmental changes—it is nontechnical, making it the perfect occasion for parents and grandparents to share their love of birds with young children, who will delight in the big, full-color illustrations of birds in action. Unlike any other book he has written, What It's Like to Be a Bird is poised to bring a whole new audience to David Sibley's world of birds.

Download or read book My Beautiful Birds written by Suzanne Del Rizzo and published by Pajama Press Inc.. This book was released on 2017-03-01 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Behind Sami, the Syrian skyline is full of smoke. The boy follows his family and all his neighbours in a long line, as they trudge through the sands and hills to escape the bombs that have destroyed their homes. But all Sami can think of is his pet pigeons - will they escape too? When they reach a refugee camp and are safe at last, everyone settles into the tent city. But though the children start to play and go to school again, Sami can't join in. When he is given paper and paint, all he can do is smear his painting with black. He can't forget his birds and what his family has left behind. One day a canary, a dove, and a rose finch fly into the camp. They flutter around Sami and settle on his outstretched arms. For Sami it is one step in a long healing process at last. A gentle yet moving story of refugees of the Syrian civil war, My Beautiful Birds illuminates the ongoing crisis as it affects its children. It shows the reality of the refugee camps, where people attempt to pick up their lives and carry on. And it reveals the hope of generations of people as they struggle to redefine home.

Download or read book Three Little Birds written by Lysa Mullady and published by American Psychological Association. This book was released on 2021-01-29 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Red and Yellow go find worms, they don’t invite Blue and his feelings are hurt. So Blue decides to start a rumor, which quickly spirals out of control. Can he make things right before it’s too late? Includes a Note to Parents, Caregivers, and Professionals with more information on dealing with gossip and helping children build positive relationships.

Download or read book The Bird Way written by Jennifer Ackerman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds, a radical investigation into the bird way of being, and the recent scientific research that is dramatically shifting our understanding of birds -- how they live and how they think. “There is the mammal way and there is the bird way.” But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries –– What they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own: deception, manipulation, cheating, kidnapping, infanticide, but also ingenious communication between species, cooperation, collaboration, altruism, culture, and play. Some of these extraordinary behaviors are biological conundrums that seem to push the edges of, well, birdness: a mother bird that kills her own infant sons, and another that selflessly tends to the young of other birds as if they were her own; a bird that collaborates in an extraordinary way with one species—ours—but parasitizes another in gruesome fashion; birds that give gifts and birds that steal; birds that dance or drum, that paint their creations or paint themselves; birds that build walls of sound to keep out intruders and birds that summon playmates with a special call—and may hold the secret to our own penchant for playfulness and the evolution of laughter. Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world, from the tropical rainforests of eastern Australia and the remote woodlands of northern Japan, to the rolling hills of lower Austria and the islands of Alaska’s Kachemak Bay, Jennifer Ackerman shows there is clearly no single bird way of being. In every respect, in plumage, form, song, flight, lifestyle, niche, and behavior, birds vary. It is what we love about them. As E.O Wilson once said, when you have seen one bird, you have not seen them all.

Download or read book Your First Parrot written by Martin Gabin and published by TFH Publications. This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides information on housing, feeding, training, and caring for parrots

Download or read book Parrots of the World written by Joseph M. Forshaw and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-09-27 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world’s parrots in one convenient field guide From the macaws of South America to the cockatoos of Australia, parrots are among the most beautiful and exotic birds in the world—and among the most endangered. This stunningly illustrated, easy-to-use field guide covers all 356 species and well-differentiated subspecies of parrots, and is the only guide organized by geographical distribution—Australasian, Afro-Asian, and neotropical. It features 146 superb color plates depicting every kind of parrot, as well as detailed, facing-page species accounts that describe key identification features, distribution, subspeciation, habitat, and status. Color distribution maps show ranges of all subspecies, and field identification is further aided by relevant upperside and underside flight images. This premier field guide also shows where to observe each species in the wild, helping make this the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the parrots of the world. The only parrot guide to focus on geographical distribution Covers all 356 species Features 146 color plates depicting all species and well-differentiated subspecies Provides detailed facing-page species accounts that describe key identification features, distribution, subspeciation, habitat, and status Includes color distribution maps Shows where to observe each species in the wild

Download or read book Some Birds written by Matt Spink and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some birds are big, some birds are small, and some birds are just incredibly tall. Some birds are caged, but most birds are FREE. A much better life, I’m sure you’ll agree! Swooping and squawking, flapping and fluttering, there are many different kinds of birds in the world, all with their own special traits and abilities. Some Birds celebrates the colors and shapes of beaks and feathers with a rollicking, rhyming text and intricate design. The lively illustrations with a mod, retro feel are full of style and mesmerizing detail. Some Birds is a lovely gift that will have children and adults tweeting for more from a promising new talent in the design world.

Download or read book The Life List of Adrian Mandrick written by Chris White and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-04-17 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “With a birder’s eye for detail, White takes us on [Adrian Mandrick’s] painful, near death descent…[her] life-affirming conclusion reminds us that endangered species aren’t the only ones that need to change and adapt in order to survive.”—The New York Times Book Review H Is for Hawk meets Grief Is the Thing with Feathers in this evocative debut novel about a pill-popping anesthesiologist and avid birder who embarks on a quest to find one of the world’s rarest species, allowing nothing to get in his way—until he’s forced to confront his obsessions and what they’ve cost him. Adrian Mandrick seems to have his life in perfect order with an excellent job in a Colorado hospital, a wife and two young children he loves deeply, and a serious passion for birding. His life list comprises 863 species correctly identified and cataloged—it is, in fact, the third longest list in the North American region. But Adrian holds dark secrets about his childhood—secrets that threaten to consume him after he’s contacted by his estranged mother, and subsequently relapses into an addiction to painkillers. In the midst of his downward spiral, the legendary birder with the region’s second-longest life list dies suddenly, and Adrian receives an anonymous tip that could propel him to the very top: the extremely rare Ivory-billed Woodpecker, spotted deep in the swamplands of Florida’s Panhandle. Combining sharp, elegant prose with environmental adventure, The Life List of Adrian Mandrick is a poignant, engaging story that heralds the arrival of a new literary talent.

Download or read book Fine Feathered Friends written by Tish Rabe and published by HarperCollins Children's Books. This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat introduces Sally and Dick to a variety of birds, from the ten-foot ostrich to the two-inch hummingbird.