The Bird World

Part detective story, part love affair, and pure adventure storytelling at its best, a celebration of the thrill of exploration and the lure of wild places during the search for the elusive Nechisar Nightjar. In 1990, a group of Cambridge scientists arrived at the Plains of Nechisar in Ethiopia. On that expedition, they collected more than two dozen specimens, saw more than three hundred species of birds, and a plethora of rare butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles, mammals, and plants. As they were gathering up their findings, a wing of an unidentified bird was packed into a brown paper bag. It was to become the most famous wing in the world. This wing would set the world of science aflutter. Experts were mystified. The wing was entirely unique. It was like nothing they had ever seem before. Could a new species be named based on just one wing? After much discussion, a new species was announced: Nechisar Nightjar, or Camprimulgus Solala, which means "only wing." And so birdwatchers like Vernon began to dream. Twenty-two years later, he joins an expedition of four to find this rarest bird in the world. In this gem of nature writing, Vernon captivates and enchants as he recounts the searches by spotlight through the Ethiopian plains, and allows the reader to mediate on nature, exploration, our need for wild places, and the human compulsion to name things. The Rarest Bird in the World is a celebration of a certain way of seeing the world, and will bring out the explorer in in everyone who reads it.

This volume is a synopsis of the diversity of all birds. It distills the voluminous detail of the 17-volume Handbook of Birds of the World into a single book. Based on the latest systematic research and summarizing what is known about the life history and biology of each group, this volume is the best single-volume entry to avian diversity available.

How does a bird experience a city? A backyard? A park? As the world has become more urban, noisier from increased traffic, and brighter from streetlights and office buildings, it has also become more dangerous for countless species of birds. Warblers become disoriented by nighttime lights and collide with buildings. Ground-feeding sparrows fall prey to feral cats. Hawks and other birds-of-prey are sickened by rat poison. These name just a few of the myriad hazards. How do our cities need to change in order to reduce the threats, often created unintentionally, that have resulted in nearly three billion birds lost in North America alone since the 1970s? In The Bird-Friendly City, Timothy Beatley, a longtime advocate for intertwining the built and natural environments, takes readers on a global tour of cities that are reinventing the status quo with birds in mind. Efforts span a fascinating breadth of approaches: public education, urban planning and design, habitat restoration, architecture, art, civil disobedience, and more. Beatley shares empowering examples, including: advocates for “catios,” enclosed outdoor spaces that allow cats to enjoy backyards without being able to catch birds; a public relations campaign for vultures; and innovations in building design that balance aesthetics with preventing bird strikes. Through these changes and the others Beatley describes, it is possible to make our urban environments more welcoming to many bird species. Readers will come away motivated to implement and advocate for bird-friendly changes, with inspiring examples to draw from. Whether birds are migrating and need a temporary shelter or are taking up permanent residence in a backyard, when the environment is safer for birds, humans are happier as well.

What makes a bird a bird? All birds have feathers, wings, and beaks. But birds come in many varieties of colors, shapes, and sizes, with different habits and homes. Take a beautifully illustrated journey -- with an adorable kiwi bird as your guide -- through the vast and colorful world of birds, with its tapestry of textures, sounds, and sights. Even the kiwi chick -- who struggles to see at first how he fits in -- finds that he too belongs to this fascinating family of feathered friends. 32-page full-color picture book with dust jacket. Sturdy hardcover binding. Picture book measures 8-3/4'' wide x 11-1/4'' high. Author/illustrator David Opie holds a BFA and MFA in illustration and lives with his wife in Connecticut.

Your biggest enemy just might become your best friend. In this lovable parable, the feared alligator, Fred, not only saves the lives of a family of birds-he becomes one of the family! Moral *Making new friends that are different than you is hard and scary. *Everyone is scared about something, and we are all unique. *Change is hard but can lead to new adventures. *New friends are fun and exciting. *We must become comfortable feeling uncomfortable.

• Real-life scientific adventure • A thought-provoking exploration of how the Endangered Species Act works--and how it fails Thirty years ago, researchers discovered a previously unknown species of bird in the rain-soaked and remote mountains of Hawaii. As they studied the creature--which sported a black mask and was called the po'ouli--they soon learned that its population was shrinking quickly, and they worked frantically to find out what was killing the species and how they might prevent its extinction. This fast-paced account of their work, done in one of the world's most inhospitable environments, describes a stirring fight for survival. It also illustrates the challenge of protecting endangered species in a rapidly changing world.