Birdbooker Report 81

tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books

The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and enjoyment. Below the fold is this week's issue of The Birdbooker Report which lists ecology, environment, natural history and bird books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.

FEATURED TITLE:

1. Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Trees. 2009. Knopf. "Turtleback": 426 pages. Price: $39.95 U.S. [Amazon: $26.37]. SUMMARY: This guide is similar in format to the authors: "The Sibley Guide to Birds." It includes over 4100 paintings of over 600 species of trees found in North America (north of Mexico). Color range maps are included. If you like Sibley's bird guides, you'll like this tree guide! GrrlScientist comment: I am a huge fan of Sibley and his work, so of course, I MUST have this book so I can review it on my blog!

New and Recent Titles:

1. Levin, Simon A. (editor). The Princeton Guide to Ecology. 2009. Princeton University Press. Hardbound: 809 pages. Price: $95.00 U.S. [Amazon: $94.13]. SUMMARY: This guide is a concise reference to the field's major subjects and key concepts. This book includes more that 90 articles and more than 200 illustrations (including 16 pages in color). Anyone with a serious interest in ecology will want this book! GrrlScientist comment: This book looks fascinating: I would love to read and review it on my blog!
2. Menon, Vivek. Mammals of India. 2009. Princeton University Press. Paperback: 201 pages. Price: $35.00 U.S. [Amazon: $23.10]. SUMMARY: This slim guide covers 400 species of mammals found in India. It is illustrated mostly with color photographs (the marine mammals are illustrated by paintings). A color range map is provided for some of the species. General naturalists will find this guide useful.
3. O'Donald, Peter. The Arctic Skua: A study of the ecology and evolution of a seabird. 2009 (1983). Cambridge University Press. Paperback: 324 pages. Price: $45.00 U.S. [Amazon: $45.00]. SUMMARY: This is a digital reprint of the author's study of the Arctic Skua (known as the Parasitic Jaeger in North America) at Fair Isle, Shetland Islands, Scotland. It contains results of his long-term study of the ecology, evolutionary genetics and sociobiology of the species. This book will be useful to seabird biologists. GrrlScientist comment: I am aware that this book will have a limited audience, but I would love to read and review it on my blog!
4. Novas, Fernando E. The Age of Dinosaurs in South America. 2009. Indiana University Press. Hardbound: 452 pages. Price: $49.95 U.S. [Amazon: $36.46]. SUMMARY: This book is the first of its kind to describe the dinosaurs of South America. It is well illustrated with black-and-white figures and 20 color plates. Anyone with a technical interest in dinosaurs will want this book! GrrlScientist comment: I know I'd like to review this book on my blog!

You can read all the Birdbooker Reports in the archives on this site, and Ian now has his own website, The Birdbooker's Bookcase, where you can read his synopses about newly published science, nature and animal books. But Ian assures me that he still loves us here, so he'll still share his weekly Birdbooker Reports with us!