Author: Alexander Frank SkutchPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296
Book Description
New Studies of Tropical American Birds
Author: Alexander Frank SkutchPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296
Book Description
Birds of Tropical America
Author: Steven HiltyPublisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292788770
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 313
Book Description
The guide to neotropical bird behavior that picks up where field guides leave off. Why are tropical birds like parrots and quetzals so much more colorful than those in more temperate climates? How can a vulture soaring thousands of feet above the canopy spot a dead rodent no bigger than a mouse on the rainforest floor? What permits sparrow-sized antbirds to not only survive but to thrive among relentless hordes of army ants that devour every other living thing in their path? Steven Hilty has led birding tours to the American Tropics for decades. By providing answers to the hundreds of questions asked by participants of these expeditions, Hilty has produced a natural history of the bird life of the New World Tropics that is at once practical, accurate, and as endlessly fascinating as the species whose lives it reveals. Birds of Tropical America was published by Chapters Publishing in 1994 and went out of print in 1997. UT Press is pleased to reissue it with a new epilogue and updated references.
The New Neotropical Companion
Author: John C. KricherPublisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691115257
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
The acclaimed guide to the ecology and natural history of the American tropics—now fully updated and expanded The New Neotropical Companion is the completely revised and expanded edition of a book that has helped thousands of people to understand the complex ecology and natural history of the most species-rich area on Earth, the American tropics. Featuring stunning color photos throughout, it is a sweeping and cutting-edge account of tropical ecology that includes not only tropical rain forests but also other ecosystems such as cloud forests, rivers, savannas, and mountains. This is the only guide to the American tropics that is all-inclusive, encompassing the entire region's ecology and the amazing relationships among species rather than focusing just on species identification. The New Neotropical Companion is a book unlike any other. Here, you will learn how to recognize distinctive ecological patterns of rain forests and other habitats and to interpret how these remarkable ecosystems function—everything is explained in clear and engaging prose free of jargon. You will also be introduced to the region's astonishing plant and animal life. Informative and entertaining, The New Neotropical Companion is a pleasurable escape for armchair naturalists, and visitors to the American tropics will want to refer to this book before, during, and after their trip. Covers all of tropical America Describes the species and habitats most likely to be observed by visitors Includes every major ecosystem, from lowland rain forests to the high Andes Features a wealth of color photos of habitats, plants, and animals
Antbirds and Ovenbirds
Author: Alexander F. SkutchPublisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 029278581X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Book Description
Western Books Exhibition, Rounce and Coffin Club Antbirds and ovenbirds, two of the five largest families of birds found only in the Western Hemisphere, have been among Alexander Skutch's favorites for more than six decades. In this book, he draws on years of observations to describe the life cycle of these fascinating birds, which inhabit Latin America from tropical Mexico to Tierra del Fuego. Skutch covers all aspects of the birds' lives, including the various species in each family, food and foraging, daily life, voice, displays and courtship, nests and incubation, and parental care. He also recounts anecdotes from his own experiences, creating vivid pictures of antbirds foraging for the insects Skutch stirs up on walks through the rainforest and of ovenbirds repairing the observation holes that he opens in their elaborate nests. As some of tropical America's least studied birds, antbirds and ovenbirds surely merit the extensive treatment given them here by one of our most distinguished senior ornithologists. Over fifty line drawings by noted bird artist Dana Gardner make this book a delight for both armchair and field naturalists.
The Hummingbirds of North America, Second Edition
Author: Paul A. JohnsgardPublisher: Smithsonian Institution
ISBN: 1935623893
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 546
Book Description
Swift and iridescent, hummingbirds are found only in the New World, and encompass an amazing variety of specializations. No other family of birds can lay claim to so many superlatives, including smallest size, most rapid wingbeat, and most specialized plumages. While many species can be attracted to feeding stations and backyard flower gardens, others can be found only in the wild. Paul A. Johnsgard's Hummingbirds of North America is the only book devoted to the identification, distribution, and biology -- both individual and comparative -- of all hummingbirds that breed in North America. First published in 1983, this acclaimed volume now has been revised and expanded to include twenty-five Mexican species, such as the long-billed starthroat and the fork-tailed emeralds, thereby more than doubling the species coverage of the original edition. Full species-by-species accounts survey the evolutionary history, anatomical and physiological specializations, and comparative ecology, behavior, and reproductive biology of this largest family of nonpasserine birds. Individual accounts are complemented by 24 full-color paintings. Including updated range maps, identification keys, and a bibliography that has been broadened to include literature on the little-known Mexican species, the book is both accessible to amateur birders and an authoritative volume for ornithologists.
Birds of the Sun
Author: Christopher W SchwartzPublisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816544743
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
"The multiple, vivid colors of scarlet macaws and their ability to mimic human speech are key reasons they were and are significant to the Native peoples of the southwestern U.S. and northwest New Mexico. Although the birds' natural habitat is the tropical forests of Mexico and Central America, they were present at multiple archaeological sites in the region. Leading experts in southwestern archaeology explore the reasons why"--
Tropical Forest Remnants
Author: William F. LaurancePublisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226468983
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 646
Book Description
We live in an increasingly fragmented world, with islands of natural habitat cast adrift in a sea of cleared, burned, logged, polluted, and otherwise altered lands. Nowhere are fragmentation and its devastating effects more evident than in the tropical forests. By the year 2000, more than half of these forests will have been cut, causing increased soil erosion, watershed destabilization, climate degradation, and extinction of as many as 600,000 species. Tropical Forest Remnants provides the best information available to help us understand, manage, and conserve the remaining fragments. Covering geographic areas from Southeast Asia and Australia to Madagascar and the New World, this volume summarizes what is known about the ecology, management, restoration, socioeconomics, and conservation of fragmented forests. Thirty-three papers present results of recent research as well as updates from decades-long projects in progress. Two final chapters synthesize the state of research on tropical forest fragmentation and identify key priorities for future work.
Boreal Birds of North America
Author: Jeffrey V. WellsPublisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520271009
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 160
Book Description
“A wonderful book that highlights the globally unique and important boreal forest ecoregion from an avian perspective, with fresh twists. Your ideas about where those migrant and wintering birds in your backyards have come from will be forever changed after you read this.”--Gordon Orians, Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of Washington “One of the planet's most amazing spectacles is the seasonal ebb and flow of migrants from the boreal forests to warmer winter quarters, with stopovers in our neighborhoods in between. This book tells you how connected the world is and what's at risk if we damage any part of it.”--Stuart Pimm, Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology, Duke University, winner of the 2006 Dr. A. H. Heineken Prize “This diverse set of contributions about birds that nest in and migrate to and from North America's boreal forest demonstrates the remarkable interconnectedness of ecosystems across the hemispheres and the incredible responsibility we face to protect them.”--Bridget Stutchbury, York University, author of Silence of the Songbirds and The Private Lives of Birds “The fact that billions of birds breed in North America’s boreal forest is amazing enough, but this assemblage is even more remarkable when understood as playing completely different, major ecological roles across the temperate and tropical Americas during the northern winter. This book definitely will broaden your thinking about ecological connections across the hemisphere and the global-scale phenomenon that crosses our skies twice each year.”--John W. Fitzpatrick, Louis Agassiz Fuertes Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
The Great Eagles
Author: Michael O'Neal CampbellPublisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1315278081
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 648
Book Description
This book examines the current literature and knowledge on the evolution and ecology of all the birds named as eagles, with particular emphasis on the larger species. It also examines the past and current relations between eagles and people, including habitat change and conservation issues. Eagle ecologies and conservation are currently seriously impacted by human activities such as industrialization, urbanization, pollution, deforestation and hunting. Some eagle species have consequently experienced extreme population changes. There are, however, some positive developments. Eagles have a strong, historic bond with human civilization, due to their status as the world’s most charismatic birds. Conservation policies have also been successful in repopulating some ecosystems with breeding eagles. Therefore, despite the complexity of this relationship, there may yet be hope for this unique species group, frequently rated as the kings of birds, and symbolic of human power, ambition, royalty, nationality, and even concepts of God. It is hoped that this book will contribute to the further understanding of these unique and fantastic birds.
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