Division of Bird Habitat Conservation
Birdscapes: News from International Habitat Conservation Partnerships
The Bookshop
The Ghost with Trembling Wings
Three or four times an hour, 80 or more times a day, a species of plant or animal vanishes forever. It is, scientists say, the worst global extinction crisis in the last 65 million years—the hemorrhage of 30,000 irreplaceable life-forms each year. And yet, every so often one of these lost species resurfaces, such as the Indian forest owlet, considered extinct for more than a century when it was rediscovered in 1997. Like heirlooms plucked from a burning house, they are gifts to an increasingly impoverished world.In The Ghost with Trembling Wings, naturalist Scott Weidensaul pursues these stories of loss and recovery, of endurance against the odds, and of surprising resurrections. The search takes Weidensaul to the rain forests of the Caribbean and Brazil in pursuit of long-lost birds; to the rugged mountains of Tasmania for the striped, wolflike marsupial known as the thylacine; to cloning laboratories where scientists struggle to recreate long-extinct animals; and even to the moorlands and tidy farms of England on the trail of mysterious black panthers, whose existence seems to depend on the faith of those looking for them. This is a book of exploration and survey of the frontiers of modern science and wildlife biology. It is, in the end, the story of our desire for a more complete natural world.
Hard cover, 6 x 9, 325 pages. Cost is CN$32.95. Available in bookstores.
Birders: Tales of a Tribe
As a boy, Mark Cocker was an avid stamp collector. His seemingly innocent pastime turned into a passion when he discovered a nest of pigeon eggs in the attic of his home. The boy philatelist turned specialist, collecting stamps that featured birds. But soon, he found that birds on paper were not enough. He obtained a pair of “bins” (binoculars), and their alchemical powers turned a passion into an obsession of a different kind.
Growing up, Cocker and his bins found themselves traveling in the company of birder legends. In his book, Birders: Tales of a Tribe, Cocker relates his adventures with everything from pipits, puffins, and plovers to border patrol officers and horseback bandits. He tells the tale of three friends who suffer a nearly fatal car crash on a trip to see the secretive Radde’s warbler, but being birders in the truest sense, they will not be deterred and find a way to complete their mission—bandages and all. Another story of husband-and-wife “twitchers” (rare-bird spotters) details their draining trek of thousands of miles for a once-in-a-lifetime sighting of the Pallas’s sandgrouse, only to hear, on their return, that an even rarer bird had been spotted on a remote island a mere 300 miles away. What else can an exhausted couple do but set the alarm for a very early wake-up call.
With stories ranging from the hilarious to the tragic to the inspirational, this book is a captivating invitation to join in the magical experience of birding. Hard cover, 6 x 9, 217 pages. Cost is CN $32.95. Available in bookstores.
Birds of the Yukon Territory
The Yukon is a land of remarkable wilderness, diverse ecosystems, and profound beauty. It is also home to a unique assemblage of birds. As of 2002, 288 bird species have been documented in the Yukon, with 223 occurring regularly. They occupy an amazing range of habitats, from the most barren mountain peaks to lush valley-bottom forests, and are an integral part of the cultural heritage of Yukon First Nations people. The vast areas of natural habitat with limited road access can make the study of birds challenging but are key in defining the nature of birding in the Yukon.
Birds of the Yukon Territory is edited by Pamela H. Sinclair, Wendy A. Nixon, Cameron D. Eckert, and Nancy L. Hughes. It is the result of a decade-long project to gather and share what is known about the Yukon’s birdlife. Lavishly illustrated with 400 color photographs and 223 hand-drawn bird illustrations, the book presents a wealth of information on bird distribution, migration and breeding chronology, nesting behavior, habitat use, and conservation concerns. Two hundred and eighty-eight species of birds are documented, including 223 regular species and 65 casual and accidental species. In compiling this meticulously researched volume, the authors consulted over 166,000 records in a database created by the Canadian Wildlife Service, with information dating back to 1861.
Hardcover, 8 1/2 x 11, 596 pages, 235 maps, 400 color photos, 223 drawings, 225 graphs. Cost is CN$125.00. ISBN 0-7748-1012-2. Available in Canada from UNIpresses by calling toll-free (877) 864-8477, or outside Canada (905) 873-9781.
North American Elk: Ecology and Management
The Wildlife Management Institute has done it again. Reviewer Don H. Peterson praised the 1982 edition of its North American Elk: Ecology and Management as “. . .simply an outstanding and remarkable achievement, probably the most useful wildlife book ever put together.” Imagine what will be said of the just released 2002 edition that contains 85 percent new material.
Dale Toweill, with Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and Jack Ward Thomas, former chief of the USDA Forest Service and currently Boone and Crockett professor of wildlife conservation at the University of Montana-Missoula, compiled and edited the tome published by Smithsonian Institution Press. The 96-page bibliography indicates that this duo left no stone unturned in their research. Richard McCabe, with the Wildlife Management Institute, is the book’s technical editor.
Nineteen chapters relate the most up-to-date information on elk distribution, physiology, nutrition, diseases, adaptive behaviors, population characteristics, migration, hunting, management, and more. Toweill and Thomas conclude their narrative with a chapter called “The Future of Elk and Elk Management” in which they describe the historic factors affecting elk management and discuss the current management challenges. Appendices include the common and scientific names of plants and animals cited and the editors’ references. Daniel Metz’ beautiful, original black-and-white illustrations introduce the chapters.
Hardcover, 8 3/4 x 11, 962 pages, tables, charts, maps, 550 black-and-white photographs, 44 color photographs, black-and-white illustrations. ISBN 1-58834-018-X. Cost is US$85.00, plus US$4.50 shipping for the first book and US$1.00 for each additional book. To order, contact Smithsonian Institution Press, P.O. Box 960, Herndon, Virginia 20172, or call toll free (800) 782-4612, in Virginia (703) 661-1599, or visit www.sipress.si.edu.
Smithsonian Book of National Wildlife Refuges
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuge System celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. This milestone event has been proclaimed in radio and television programming and by refuges throughout the year in celebratory events that showcase the beauty and bounty of these public lands.
For those of you who have been unable to personally participate in anniversary events, Eric Jay Dolin, with the help of wildlife photographers John and Karen Hollingsworth, takes you on a 100th anniversary virtual tour in Smithsonian Book of National Wildlife Refuges. As every good tour guide should, Eric explains the history behind the establishment of the refuge system and shares anecdotes of heroic individuals who went above and beyond the call of duty to preserve our natural resources. The creation of the refuge system is a story of trial and tribulation, success and challenge, doubt and, most of all, hope. It is a story of Americans conserving the best of what the Nation has to offer: creatures wild and free and lands natural and beautiful.
Hardcover, 9 1/4 x 10 1/2, 258 pages, 40 black-and-white photographs, 208 color photographs. ISBN 1-58834-117-8. Cost is US$39.95, plus shipping. To order, call Smithsonian Institution Press toll free at (800) 782-4612, in Virginia (703) 661-1599, or visit www.sipress.si.edu.
Upland Game Bird Cookery
Grilled Woodcock with Jack Daniels Barbecue Sauce. Sage Grouse Stroganoff. Quick-draw Doves. Sauer Chukar Soup. Pheasant Kiev. Quail Cacciatore. These are but a small sampling of the recipes in Ducks Unlimited, Inc.’s, new cookbook, Upland Game Bird Cookery. If the bird can be hunted, you will find instructions on how to cook it in ways, perhaps, never before thought possible.
Author Eileen Clarke, herself a hunter, does more in this book than tell you to add a teaspoon of this and a tablespoon of that. She has grouped recipes according to the shade of each bird’s flesh. Why? Color is a good indicator of taste and calls for different ways to cook the meat. Do you need to know how many birds to cook to feed your guests? Eileen gives you the formulas. You like a particular recipe, but you don’t have ruffed grouse, instead you have blue grouse? She provides a tip that will give you the same palate satisfaction. Prairie birds have never been a favorite? She has a three-prong approach to stop bad flavors. She demystifies old hunter’s cooking tales, gives instructions for field-care of the meat, and throws in a legend or two: Wyatt Earp, a gourmet cook, who when asked, “What’s the best shot you ever made?” replied, “Nine doves with one shot.” The Quick-draw Doves recipe is allegedly Wyatt’s.
Hardcopy, 10 x 8, 208 pages, color and black-and-white photographs. Cost is US$27.50, plus shipping. Order online at www.ducks.org/bookstore, or call toll free in the United States (800) 45-DUCKS.