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Regional bird field guides are few and far between in South Australia and Chris Baxter's photographic guide to the birds of Kangaroo Island is the stand-out in this genre. This comprehensive account covers all 267 bird species recorded on the Island or offshore over the seas. It builds on the annotated list produced by the same author in 1989 and revised in 1995. The photographs provided by some of Australia's most highly regarded photographers beautifully illustrate the detailed descriptions of the birds, their habits, habitats, breeding, status, abundance and distribution on the Island. In addition there are recommendations on where to look for each species, with cautions about not getting too close to endangered birds and their nests. Chris Baxter has called on a lifetime of bird watching on Kangaroo Island and observations from visitors and residents to present an attractive field guide that is a must for all birdwatchers from casual observers to serious ornithologists.
Recent classifications of Australian birds have been limited to lists of "species" which are inadequate as biodiversity indicators. The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines fills a huge gap in ornithological knowledge by separating out and listing not only 340 species of song-birds but also the 720 distinct regional forms. Covering about half the national bird fauna, the Directory provides science and the community with baseline information about what bird it is and where it lives in an Australia-wide context. Identity is taken down to the level of distinct regional population. No other compendium on Australian birds does this.
This fully revised second edition describes the best-known sites for all of Australia's endemic birds, plus regular migrants such as seabirds and shorebirds. Covers all states and territories, plus all Australia's island and external territories.
In Boom and Bust, the authors draw on the natural history of Australia's charismatic birds to explore the relations between fauna, people and environment in a continent where variability is 'normal' and rainfall patterns not always seasonal. They consider changing ideas about deserts and how these have helped us understand birds and their behaviour in this driest of continents. The book describes the responses of animals and plants to environmental variability and stress. It is also a cultural concept, when it is used to capture the patterns of change wrought by humans in Australia, where landscapes began to become cultural about 55,000 years ago as ecosystems responded to Aboriginal management. In 1788, the British settlement brought, almost simultaneously, both agricultural and industrial revolutions to a land previously managed by fire for hunting. How have birds responded to this second dramatic invasion? Boom and Bust is also a tool for understanding global change. How can Australians in the 21st century better understand how to continue to live in this land as its conditions are still dynamically unfolding in response to the major anthropogenic changes to the whole Earth system? This interdisciplinary collection is written in a straightforward and accessible style. Many of the writers are practising field specialists, and have woven their personal field work into the stories they tell about the birds.
The Australian bustard is Australia's heaviest flying bird. It is an icon of the Australian outback where it is more commonly known as the bush or plains turkey. It is also culturally and spiritually significant to Aboriginal people, who prize it as a favourite bush tucker. This book provides the first complete overview of the biology of the Australian bustard, based on the first major study of the species. The author explores the bustard's ecology and behaviour, its drastic decline since European settlement, and the conservation issues affecting it and its environment. Colour photographs of juvenile and adult birds complement the text as well as showcase particular behaviours, such as the spectacular display routines of males when mating. Australian Bustard is the perfect book for natural history enthusiasts.
Possibly the most successful urban birds, pigeons and doves in the Order Columbiformes are one of the most easily recognised groups. They are an ancient and very successful group with an almost worldwide distribution and are most strongly represented in tropical and subtropical regions, including Australia. In most species simple plumage patterns feature mainly grey and brown with black, white or dull reddish markings, but the highly colourful fruit-doves include some of the most beautiful of all birds. From dense rainforests of north Queensland, where brilliantly plumaged Superb Fruit-Doves Ptilinopus superbus are heard more easily than seen, to cold, windswept heathlands of Tasmania, where Brush Bronzewings Phaps elegans are locally common, most regions of Australia are frequented by one or more species. For more than a century after arrival of the First Fleet, interest in these birds focused on the eating qualities of larger species. In addition to contributing to declines of local populations in some parts of Australia, excessive hunting brought about the extinction of two species on Lord Howe Island and another species on Norfolk Island. In Pigeons and Doves in Australia, Joseph Forshaw and William Cooper have summarised our current knowledge of all species, including those occurring on Christmas, Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands, and with superb artwork have given readers a visual appreciation of the birds in their natural habitats. Historical accounts of extinct species are also included. Detailed information on management practices for all species is presented, ensuring that Pigeons and Doves in Australia will become the standard reference work on these birds for ornithologists and aviculturists.
Mound-builders are unique in being the only birds that do not incubate their eggs using body heat; rather, a variety of naturally occurring sources of heat is exploited such as solar energy and the heat generated by decomposing organic matter. This book shows how this remarkable adaptation influences every part of these birds’ lives, including the development of the embryo, the parentless life of the hatchlings, their social organisation and their survival. Twenty-two species of mound-builders exist within the Megapode family. Mound-builders examines the three occurring in Australia: the Scrubfowl in the humid tropics; the Brush turkey in dense forested areas from Cape York to Sydney; and most remarkable of all, the Malleefowl in the arid interior. Scientific interest in these birds has increased considerably in recent decades, and Mound-builders summarises many significant discoveries. With a strong emphasis on conservation and changing interactions between mound-builders and people, this is an excellent introduction to one of the most unusual bird families.