Download or read book Kea Bird of Paradox written by Judy Diamond and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1999-01-10 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The kea, a crow-sized parrot that lives in the rugged mountains of New Zealand, is considered by some a playful comic and by others a vicious killer. Its true character is a mystery that biologists have debated for more than a century. Judy Diamond and Alan Bond have written a comprehensive account of the kea's contradictory nature, and their conclusions cast new light on the origins of behavioral flexibility and the problem of species survival in human environments everywhere. New Zealand's geological remoteness has made the country home to a bizarre assemblage of plants and animals that are wholly unlike anything found elsewhere. Keas are native only to the South Island, breeding high in the rigorous, unforgiving environment of the Southern Alps. Bold, curious, and ingeniously destructive, keas have a complex social system that includes extensive play behavior. Like coyotes, crows, and humans, keas are "open-program" animals with an unusual ability to learn and to create new solutions to whatever problems they encounter. Diamond and Bond present the kea's story from historical and contemporary perspectives and include observations from their years of field work. A comparison of the kea's behavior and ecology with that of its closest relative, the kaka of New Zealand's lowland rain forests, yields insights into the origins of the kea's extraordinary adaptability. The authors conclude that the kea's high level of sociality is a key factor in the flexible lifestyle that probably evolved in response to the alpine habitat's unreliable food resources and has allowed the bird to survive the extermination of much of its original ecosystem. But adaptability has its limits, as the authors make clear when describing present-day interactions between keas and humans and the attempts to achieve a peaceful coexistence.

Download or read book Birds of Paradox written by Peter Trull and published by Schiffer Publishing. This book was released on 2019-04-08 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nesting along the sandy fringe of the North American coast from Maine to Florida, terns are graceful symbols of our coastal beaches, yet they lead fragile and frantic lives. Join educator, storyteller, and photographer Peter Trull as he describes the physical and behavioral differences among the four types of terns that nest in the Cape Cod area, their migratory habits and predators, and why they are called birds of paradox. Both a photographic journey and an ornithological diary, Trull describes his ten-plus years watching, recording, and photographing these birds from Massachusetts to the coast of Guyana. More than 100 photographs depict day-to-day life and never-before-seen behaviors from inside the dynamic, noisy nesting colonies. This engaging book offers momentary glimpses into the complexities of these erratic, agile seabirds--seemingly carefree but always on the hunt--and their struggle to survive.

Download or read book Bird of Paradox written by Wilson Duff and published by Surrey, B.C. : Hancock House. This book was released on 1996 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Descriptive interpretation of northwest coast Indian art as represented by this collection of several previously unpublished works of Wilson Duff. The tragic death of Wilson Duff at the age of 51, cut short the life of one of the leading experts on the arts and culture of Native peoples of the Northwest Coast. An anthropology professor at the University of B.C, his death, by his own hand, terminated his uncommonly perceptive research into the philosophy and psychology of Native art. Bird of Paradox consists of unpublished works by Duff which present his unique theoretical ideas that contribute to art scholarship, as well as creative writings and poetry which expose his emotional experiences with and feelings toward Native art and culture. Editor E. N. Anderson has provided detailed introductory material recounting Duff's life and work, and puts Duff's final contributions in the context of Northwest Coast life.

Download or read book Effin Birds written by Aaron Reynolds and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compact, comprehensive, and very silly field guide featuring more than 200 of the rudest birds on earth—from the creator of the Webby Award–winning hit Instagram account! Effin’ Birds is the most eagerly anticipated new volume in the grand and noble profession of nature writing and bird identification. Sitting proudly alongside Sibley, Kaufman, and Peterson, this book contains more than 150 pages crammed full of classic, monochrome plumage art paired with the delightful but dirty aphorisms (think “I’m going to need more booze to deal with this week”) that made the Effin’ Birds feed a household name. Also included in its full, Technicolor glory is John James Audubon’s most beautiful work matched with modern life advice. Including never-before-seen birds, insults, and field notes, this guide is a must-have for any effin’ fan or birder.

Download or read book Paradoxes written by and published by PediaPress. This book was released on with total page 683 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Vic Reeves Art Book written by Jim Moir and published by Unbound Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-01 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vic Reeves Art Book is an expedition through the mind of Jim Moir, aka the comedian, writer and artist and Vic Reeves. The first collection of his visual work in a decade, this book is a wild ride through subjects and media, ranging from sketches to paintings. Whether he’s depicting Sooty and Sweep unzipped and on the toilet, or grotesque versions of beloved TV personalities, Jim’s unmistakable humour shines through in every brushstroke. Featuring more than 200 images, this is the definitive compendium of Jim’s art, covering early work, some of his best-known pieces, and brand-new creations exclusive to the book.

Download or read book Ornithologies of Desire written by Travis V. Mason and published by Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. This book was released on 2013-09-03 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ornithologies of Desire develops ecocritical reading strategies that engage scientific texts, field guides, and observation. Focusing on poetry about birds and birdwatching, this book argues that attending to specific details about the physical world when reading environmentally conscious poetry invites a critical humility in the face of environmental crises and evolutionary history. The poetry and poetics of Don McKay provide Ornithologies of Desire with its primary subject matter, which is predicated on attention to ornithological knowledge and avian metaphors. This focus on birds enables a consideration of more broadly ecological relations and concerns, since an awareness of birds in their habitats insists on awareness of plants, insects, mammals, rocks, and all else that constitutes place. The book’s chapters are organized according to: apparatus (that is, science as ecocritical tool), flight, and song. Reading McKay’s work alongside ecology and ornithology, through flight and birdsong, both challenges assumptions regarding humans’ place in the earth system and celebrates the sheer virtuosity of lyric poetry rich with associative as well as scientific details. The resulting chapters, interchapter, and concordance of birds that appear in McKay’s poetry encourage amateurs and specialists, birdwatchers and poetry readers, to reconsider birds in English literature on the page and in the field.

Download or read book Bird of Paradox written by Gillian Light and published by . This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bird Therapy written by Joe Harkness and published by Unbound Publishing. This book was released on 2019-06-13 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Longlisted for the 2020 Wainwright Prize 'I can't remember the last book I read that I could say with absolute assurance would save lives. But this one will' Chris Packham 'Fabulously direct and truthful, filled with energy but devoid of self-pity . . . I was impressed and enchanted. Highly recommended' Stephen Fry 'Succeeds – triumphantly – in articulating with great honesty what it is like to suffer with a mental illness, and in providing strategies for coping' Mail on Sunday When Joe Harkness suffered a breakdown in 2013, he tried all the things his doctor recommended: medication helped, counselling was enlightening, and mindfulness grounded him. But nothing came close to nature, particularly birds. How had he never noticed such beauty before? Soon, every avian encounter took him one step closer to accepting who he is. The positive change in Joe's wellbeing was so profound that he started a blog to record his experience. Three years later he has become a spokesperson for the benefits of birdwatching, spreading the word everywhere from Radio 4 to Downing Street. In this groundbreaking book filled with practical advice, Joe explains the impact that birdwatching had on his life, and invites the reader to discover these extraordinary effects for themselves.

Download or read book Birds of the Sun written by Christopher W Schwartz and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2022-03-15 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scarlet macaws are native to tropical forests ranging from the Gulf Coast and southern regions of Mexico to Bolivia, but they are present at numerous archaeological sites in the U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest. Although these birds have been noted and marveled at through the decades, new syntheses of early excavations, new analytical methods, and new approaches to understanding the past now allow us to explore the significance and distribution of scarlet macaws to a degree that was previously impossible. Birds of the Sun explores the many aspects of macaws, especially scarlet macaws, that have made them important to Native peoples living in this region for thousands of years. Leading experts discuss the significance of these birds, including perspectives from a Zuni author, a cultural anthropologist specializing in historic Pueblo societies, and archaeologists who have studied pre-Hispanic societies in Mesoamerica and the U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest. Chapters examine the highly variable distribution and frequency of macaws in the past, their presence on rock art and kiva murals, the human experience of living with and transporting macaws, macaw biology and life history, and what skeletal remains suggest about the health of macaws in the past. Experts provide an extensive, region-by-region analysis, from early to late periods, of what we know about the presence, health, and depositional contexts of macaws and parrots, with specific case studies from the Hohokam, Chaco, Mimbres, Mogollon Highlands, Northern Sinagua, and Casas Grandes regions, where these birds are most abundant. The expertise offered in this stunning new volume, which includes eight full color pages, will lay the groundwork for future research for years to come. Contributors Katelyn J. Bishop Patricia L. Crown Samantha Fladd Randee Fladeboe Patricia A. Gilman Thomas K. Harper Michelle Hegmon Douglas J. Kennett Patrick D. Lyons Charmion R. McKusick Ben A. Nelson Stephen Plog José Luis Punzo Díaz Polly Schaafsma Christopher W. Schwartz Octavius Seowtewa Christine R. Szuter Kelley L. M. Taylor Michael E. Whalen Peter M. Whiteley

Download or read book Sung Birds written by Elizabeth Eva Leach and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-05 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is birdsong music? The most frequent answer to this question in the Middle Ages was resoundingly "no." In Sung Birds, Elizabeth Eva Leach traces postmedieval uses of birdsong within Western musical culture. She first explains why such melodious sound was not music for medieval thinkers and then goes on to consider the ontology of music, the significance of comparisons between singers and birds, and the relationship between art and nature as enacted by the musical performance of late-medieval poetry. If birdsong was not music, how should we interpret the musical depiction of birdsong in human music-making? What does it tell us about the singers, their listeners, and the moral status of secular polyphony? Why was it the fourteenth century that saw the beginnings of this practice, continued to this day in the music of Messiaen and others?Leach explores medieval arguments about song, language, and rationality whose basic terms survive undiminished into the present. She considers not only lyrics that have their singers voice the songs or speech of birds but also those that represent other natural, nonmusical, sounds such as human cries or the barks of dogs. The dangerous sweetness of birdsong was invoked in discussions of musical ethics, which, because of the potential slippage between irrational beast and less rational woman in comparisons with rational human masculinity, depict women's singing as less than fully human. Leach's argument comes full circle with the advent of sound recording. This technological revolution-like its medieval equivalent, the invention of the music book-once again made the relationship between music and nature an acute preoccupation of Western culture.

Download or read book Raptor written by James Macdonald Lockhart and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-04-07 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As evidenced by the incredible success of Helen MacDonald's H is for Hawk, and the legions of fans of Pale Male, the incredible red-tailed hawk of 5th avenue, we are full of rapture for raptors. James Macdonald Lockhart, is among the many who have sought out these incredible birds, and in this lyrical work of natural history he seeks out 15 different raptors, in 15 different landscapes across England: a journey in search of raptors, a journey through the birds and into their worlds. Raptors are by nature scarce and extremely elusive. Of Pandionidae (osprey), Accipitridae (broad-winged harrier, eagle, buzzard, red kite) and Falconidae (peregrine, sparrowhawk etc.) only widespread buzzards, kestrels and kites are easily seen. Lockhart follows loosely the trail of 19th-century Scottish naturalist and artist William MacGillivray (1796-1852), As Philip Hoare wrote of it, James MacDonald Lockhart puts the rapture back in the raptor. This is in-the-moment writing, raw in beak and claw. With its gorgeously felt sense of life and place, Raptor rips at its words, turning them into exquisite portraits of the utter wild, shaping soaring, obsessive beauty out of the British landscape and its imperial birds"

Download or read book The Cuckoos written by Robert B. Payne and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2005-07-14 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The cuckoos are the most variable birds in social behavior and parental care: a few cuckoos are among the most social of all birds and rear their young in a common nest; most cuckoos are caring parents that rear their own young with some females laying a few eggs in the nests of others; while many cuckoo species are brood parasites who leave their eggs in the nests of other birds to rear, with their young maturing to kill their foster nestmates. In The Cuckoos, Robert B. Payne presents a new evolutionary history of the family based on molecular genetics, and uses the family tree to explore the origins and diversity of their behaviour. He traces details of the cuckoos' biology to their original sources, includes descriptions of previously unpublished field observations, and reveals new comparisons of songs showing previously overlooked cuckoo species. Lavishly illustrated with specially commissioned colour plates and numerous maps, halftones, and line drawings, The Cuckoos provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date account of this family yet available.

Download or read book Rational Decisions written by Ken Binmore and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2008-12-29 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is widely held that Bayesian decision theory is the final word on how a rational person should make decisions. However, Leonard Savage--the inventor of Bayesian decision theory--argued that it would be ridiculous to use his theory outside the kind of small world in which it is always possible to "look before you leap." If taken seriously, this view makes Bayesian decision theory inappropriate for the large worlds of scientific discovery and macroeconomic enterprise. When is it correct to use Bayesian decision theory--and when does it need to be modified? Using a minimum of mathematics, Rational Decisions clearly explains the foundations of Bayesian decision theory and shows why Savage restricted the theory's application to small worlds. The book is a wide-ranging exploration of standard theories of choice and belief under risk and uncertainty. Ken Binmore discusses the various philosophical attitudes related to the nature of probability and offers resolutions to paradoxes believed to hinder further progress. In arguing that the Bayesian approach to knowledge is inadequate in a large world, Binmore proposes an extension to Bayesian decision theory--allowing the idea of a mixed strategy in game theory to be expanded to a larger set of what Binmore refers to as "muddled" strategies. Written by one of the world's leading game theorists, Rational Decisions is the touchstone for anyone needing a concise, accessible, and expert view on Bayesian decision making.

Download or read book Our Public Lands written by and published by . This book was released on with total page 728 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Spirit of Place written by Loren Cruden and published by Inner Traditions / Bear & Co. This book was released on 1995-09 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All of Earth’s life is interconnected and sacred. An awareness of that sacred relationship opens a direct path to spiritual understanding. These powerful techniques join mind, will, spirit, and intuition to the plants, animals, and minerals sharing our world, aligning the practitioner in a deeper relationship with life’s sacred matrix.

Download or read book Hemoglobin written by Richard Earl Dickerson and published by Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company. This book was released on 1983 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: