The Cassowary's Egg PDF Download

Author: Garry Fleming
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780977572069
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Calvin the cassowary is left to mind the nest while his partner Carla goes away. All is well as Calvin quietly counts away the days -- until he is tricked by a wily, lisping goanna who wants some eggs for his supper. This is a rollicking tale with wonderful illustrations.

Author: Arone Raymond Meeks
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781865045252
Category : Aboriginal Australians
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
When Sisi slips away from her mothers and sisters to catch a tortoise in the waterhole, she surfaces from a deep dive and realises she is lost. A boy offers to help, then disappears. How will Sisi get back to her people? And what part do the bright blue quandong berries play in her return?

Author: Rob Levandoski
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504011945
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
Calvin Cassowary is ready to do whatever it takes to keep Cassowary Farm in the family for one more generation. Hatching a scheme to specialize in chickens, soon he’s got a million hens laying eggs for Gallinipper Foods, but he still finds himself deeper and deeper into debt. To make matters worse, his chicken-loving daughter Rhea is spending far too much time with the chickens and is starting to act very strange. Filled with as many tears as chuckles, Rob Levandoski’s Fresh Eggs is a provocative father-daughter tale guaranteed to make you ponder the realities of modern farming and think twice the next time someone asks, “white or dark meat?”

Author: Sy Montgomery
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0731815408
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
Meet the ladies: a flock of smart, affectionate, highly individualistic chickens who visit their favorite neighbors, devise different ways to hide from foxes, and mob the author like she's a rock star. In these pages you'll also meet Maya and Zuni, two orphaned baby hummingbirds who hatched from eggs the size of navy beans, and who are little more than air bubbles fringed with feathers. Their lives hang precariously in the balance-but with human help, they may one day conquer the sky. Snowball is a cockatoo whose dance video went viral on YouTube and who's now teaching schoolchildren how to dance. You'll meet Harris's hawks named Fire and Smoke. And you'll come to know and love a host of other avian characters who will change your mind forever about who birds really are. Each of these birds shows a different and utterly surprising aspect of what makes a bird a bird-and these are the lessons of Birdology: that birds are far stranger, more wondrous, and at the same time more like us than we might have dared to imagine. In Birdology, beloved author of The Good Good Pig Sy Montgomery explores the essence of the otherworldly creatures we see every day. By way of her adventures with seven birds-wild, tame, exotic, and common-she weaves new scientific insights and narrative to reveal seven kernels of bird wisdom. The first lesson of Birdology is that, no matter how common they are, Birds Are Individuals, as each of Montgomery's distinctive Ladies clearly shows. In the leech-infested rain forest of Queensland, you'll come face to face with a cassowary-a 150-pound, man-tall, flightless bird with a helmet of bone on its head and a slashing razor-like toenail with which it (occasionally) eviscerates people-proof that Birds Are Dinosaurs. You'll learn from hawks that Birds Are Fierce; from pigeons, how Birds Find Their Way Home; from parrots, what it means that Birds Can Talk; and from 50,000 crows who moved into a small city's downtown, that Birds Are Everywhere. They are the winged aliens who surround us. Birdology explains just how very "other" birds are: Their hearts look like those of crocodiles. They are covered with modified scales, which are called feathers. Their bones are hollow. Their bodies are permeated with extensive air sacs. They have no hands. They give birth to eggs. Yet despite birds' and humans' disparate evolutionary paths, we share emotional and intellectual abilities that allow us to communicate and even form deep bonds. When we begin to comprehend who birds really are, we deepen our capacity to approach, understand, and love these otherworldly creatures. And this, ultimately, is the priceless lesson of Birdology: it communicates a heartfelt fascination and awe for birds and restores our connection to these complex, mysterious fellow creatures

Author: Mark E. Hauber
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022605781X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 657

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Book Description
From the brilliantly green and glossy eggs of the Elegant Crested Tinamou—said to be among the most beautiful in the world—to the small brown eggs of the house sparrow that makes its nest in a lamppost and the uniformly brown or white chickens’ eggs found by the dozen in any corner grocery, birds’ eggs have inspired countless biologists, ecologists, and ornithologists, as well as artists, from John James Audubon to the contemporary photographer Rosamond Purcell. For scientists, these vibrant vessels are the source of an array of interesting topics, from the factors responsible for egg coloration to the curious practice of “brood parasitism,” in which the eggs of cuckoos mimic those of other bird species in order to be cunningly concealed among the clutches of unsuspecting foster parents. The Book of Eggs introduces readers to eggs from six hundred species—some endangered or extinct—from around the world and housed mostly at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. Organized by habitat and taxonomy, the entries include newly commissioned photographs that reproduce each egg in full color and at actual size, as well as distribution maps and drawings and descriptions of the birds and their nests where the eggs are kept warm. Birds’ eggs are some of the most colorful and variable natural products in the wild, and each entry is also accompanied by a brief description that includes evolutionary explanations for the wide variety of colors and patterns, from camouflage designed to protect against predation, to thermoregulatory adaptations, to adjustments for the circumstances of a particular habitat or season. Throughout the book are fascinating facts to pique the curiosity of binocular-toting birdwatchers and budding amateurs alike. Female mallards, for instance, invest more energy to produce larger eggs when faced with the genetic windfall of an attractive mate. Some seabirds, like the cliff-dwelling guillemot, have adapted to produce long, pointed eggs, whose uneven weight distribution prevents them from rolling off rocky ledges into the sea. A visually stunning and scientifically engaging guide to six hundred of the most intriguing eggs, from the pea-sized progeny of the smallest of hummingbirds to the eggs of the largest living bird, the ostrich, which can weigh up to five pounds, The Book of Eggs offers readers a rare, up-close look at these remarkable forms of animal life.

Author: Sean Flynn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982101083
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Until Flynn’s neighbor in North Carolina offered him one, he had never considered whether he wanted a peacock. His family became the owners of not one but three charming yet fickle birds: Carl, Ethel, and Mr. Pickle. Here he chronicles their first year as peacock owners, from struggling to build a pen to assisting the local bird doctor in surgery to triumphantly watching a peahen lay her first egg. He also examines the history of peacocks, from their appearance in the Garden of Eden. And Flynn travels across the globe to learn more about the birds firsthand. His book offers surprising lessons about love, grief, fatherhood, and family. -- adapted from jacket.

Author: Ian Saem Majnep
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
This is a bird book with a difference. A young New Ginuea Highlander, born before Europeans first entered his home area, describes the birds his people know and name. Ian Saem Mjnep is a Kalam, from the Kaironk Valley in the Schrader Range, on the northern fringes of the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea. In the twenty-five square miles of the mountain forest, garedn land, and grasslands of the Upper Kaironk 140 bird species are known to occur, including many of the birds of paradise for which New Guinea has for so long been famous. Saem describes 137 of these, as well as others from neighboring areas at lower altitudes, an impressive documentation of the extent and accuracy of neolithic natural history. He also describes six kinds of bats, for bats are classified as birds by Kalam. Saem not only describes the appearance and habits of the birds, but relates bird lore to many aspects of the life and thought of his people, to hunting, gardening, ceremonials, mythology, and magic. He reveals the Kalam knowledge of other animals and of plants. He also gives an insight into the momentous transition his people have undergone in the past twenty years, from stone-age isolation and autonomy to integration and participation in the newly independent nation of Papua New Guinea.

Author: George W. Cox
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1597269697
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
Changes in seasonal movements and population dynamics of migratory birds in response to ongoing changes resulting from global climate changes are a topic of great interest to conservation scientists and birdwatchers around the world. Because of their dependence on specific habitats and resources in different geographic regions at different phases of their annual cycle, migratory species are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In Bird Migration and Global Change, eminent ecologist George W. Cox brings his extensive experience as a scientist and bird enthusiast to bear in evaluating the capacity of migratory birds to adapt to the challenges of a changing climate. Cox reviews, synthesizes, and interprets recent and emerging science on the subject, beginning with a discussion of climate change and its effect on habitat, and followed by eleven chapters that examine responses of bird types across all regions of the globe. The final four chapters address the evolutionary capacity of birds, and consider how best to shape conservation strategies to protect migratory species in coming decades. The rate of climate change is faster now than at any other moment in recent geological history. How best to manage migratory birds to deal with this challenge is a major conservation issue, and Bird Migration and Global Change is a unique and timely contribution to the literature.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780646526058
Category : Cassowaries
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
Cassy's Tale is a Cassowary Children's Story Book and Australian Made & Owned! The cassowary is an endangered flightless bird, which is protected. The kid's book reflects the unique Australian wildlife and nature in its beautiful illustrations. Above all, it's educational, funny & cute! The outstanding art work is glossy, bright & colourful!11 Australian book titles available! Very popular!About Cassy's Tale Cassowary Children's Story Book: This Cassowary kid's picture book is about a cassowary chick from the moment she hatches. Her father teaches her about the rainforest, food and cyclones. Their habitat is Tropical North Queensland, Australia. It's a threatened species and protected. Additionally, other Australian animals are included. It's a very cute kid's story. Great illustrations of the diversity of the Australian rainforest are also included.Details about Cassy's Tale: The cassowary children's story book begins with a cassowary chick hatching out of her egg. Her proud father is watching. In nature, male cassowaries tend their young. Cassy learns to walk and discovers her powerful legs. Clearly, she enjoys jumping up trying to catch butterflies. Dad shows Cassy how to push through dense rainforest. The cassowary chick is amazed by the colourful rainforest fruits, and learns that they are good to eat. Later on, Cassy trips over a log. It's a fallen tree from the last cyclone. Subsequently, dad takes the opportunity to explain about the destruction caused by cyclones. But now, the rainforest has regrown and Cassy can be seen following the trail of colourful berries.Other Australian animals in this kids book include pythons, green tree snakes, green tree frogs, frog-mouth owls, Rainbow lorikeets, flying foxes, Cairns Birdwing butterflies, Ulysses butterflies, Azure Kingfishers and Sulphur Crested cockatoos. Tropical rainforest plants featured include Licuala Palms, Tree ferns, stag horn ferns, birds nest ferns and many more.Other book titles of evabooks are:Where is Croaky? (green tree frog), Bobby the Tree Kangaroo, Nipper the Crocodile, Paddles the Platypus, Shelly the Sea Turtle, Lyssie the Butterfly (Ulysses butterfly), Who is Laughing? (kookaburra), Spikey's Day Out (echidna), Fuzzy the Koala, Tippy the Kangaroo.

Author: Brian C.R. Bertram
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400863147
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
As the study of cooperative breeding systems expands, a number of key species form the examples that underpin our general understanding. The ostrich is increasingly becoming such a textbook species, on the basis of the results obtained in Brian Bertram's study of vigilance and egg discrimination in this extraordinary bird. Here Bertram presents new data on the ostrich communal nesting system, in which several females lay in one female's nest, with only one female and the male doing all the work. The Ostrich Communal Nesting System unravels the basis of the cooperation observed, and explains how a system involving apparent altruism is maintained by natural selection. It is now possible as never before to explain and quantify the effects of the different choices these birds make and to integrate ecological and morphological factors such as predation and size. Based on three seasons of study in Tsavo West National Park in Kenya, this book depended on recognizing individual birds, detecting and monitoring well-concealed nests, determining motherhood of eggs from their surface appearance, and time-lapse photography of nests. Key findings were that females could switch rapidly between reproductive strategies, that a nesting female could recognize her own eggs and when necessary discriminate against those of other females, and that the whiteness of ostrich eggs is an adaptation that protects them against overheating but at the cost of greater vulnerability to predation. Originally published in 1992. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.