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Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley
by Adam Scott Kennedy

From Princeton University Press:

Kenya’s Rift Valley includes four major national parks–Lake Nakuru, Lake Bogoria, Mount Longonot, and Hell’s Gate–as well as many smaller areas that are outstanding for wildlife. Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley features the 320 bird species that are most likely to be encountered on safari in this world-famous region, which runs from Lake Baringo in the north to Lake Magadi in the south. Featuring over 500 stunning color photos, this beautiful guide breaks new ground with its eye-catching layout and easy-to-use format. The book follows a habitat-based approach and provides interesting information about the ecology and behaviors of each species. Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley avoids technical jargon in the species descriptions, which makes the guide easily accessible to anyone. With it, you will be identifying birds in no time.

• Stunning photos of 320 bird species
• Major plumage variations depicted
• Jargon-free text
• Helpful notes on what to look and listen for, behavior, and why some birds are so named

This is Kennedy’s third photographic guide to East African hotspots, following Birds of the Masai Mara and Birds of the Serengeti. I really like these guides; they make a good primary field guide for most visitors and a supplemental photo guide for more serious birders. Just be aware that there is quite a bit of overlap between their coverage. I’ll detail that further in a more detailed review.

Birds of Kenya’s Rift Valley
by Adam Scott Kennedy
Paperback; 256 pages
Princeton University Press; May 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-0691159072
$29.95

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New Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America
by Bill Thompson III

From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

What a new birder needs is a field guide that shows most of the birds he or she is going to see but doesn’t overwhelm with rarities unlikely to be seen. This is that book. Covering 300 of the most common birds in the United States and Canada, this guide has just the right amount of information about how to identify birds, where and when to look for them, what they sound like, and how they behave.

The New Birder’s Guide includes easy-to-understand descriptions and maps, clear photos, drawings of common and interesting behaviors, and fun “Wow!” facts for each bird, plus expert advice on identification basics, how to get started, and how to improve your birding skills.

This guide is essentially a re-branding of the author’s previous The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America. The main changes are to the formatting (for the better) and about 9 more introductory pages. The species accounts are untouched, except for the occasional new photo. While this guide may still be more suited to younger birders, it would be a good choice for any new birder, young or old.

New Birder’s Guide to Birds of North America
by Bill Thompson III
Paperback; 368 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-0544070479
$16.95

American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New Jersey
by Rick Wright (Author) and Brian E. Small (Photographer)

From Scott & Nix, Inc.:

From High Point State Park to Cape May Point, New Jersey is home to an amazing diversity of bird species. More than 375 types of birds nest in the dozens of state parks, forests, and natural areas created by local, state, and national authorities, including the centimeters-long ruby-throated hummingbird and large raptors such as the bald eagle. This guide to the Garden State’s birds features 235 bird species in their natural habitats, presented in stunning color photographs complemented by detailed information on their habitats, birdsongs, and tips on when and where to see them. The birds are organized by species for quick reference, and the book includes a complete state bird guide and a directory of birding destinations. This is an excellent resource for birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts who want to learn more about New Jersey’s natural history and the diversity of its birds.

• 565 beautiful color photographs featuring 255 bird species in natural habitats
• Clear and concise introduction, identification, habitat, and birdsong text
• Tips on when and where to see species
• Organized by type of bird from waterfowl to finches
• Table of excursions and birdwatching throughout the seasons
• Complete state bird checklist, detailed state map, index, and quick index

Intended for beginning and intermediate birders, this would be a great field guide for anyone in New Jersey just getting interested, or yet to be interested, in birds.

American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New Jersey
by Rick Wright (Author) and Brian E. Small (Photographer)
Flexibound with jacket; 370 pages
Scott & Nix, Inc.; April 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-1935622420
$24.95

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Phillipps’ Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan
by Quentin Phillipps and Karen Phillipps

From Princeton University Press:

This is the fully revised and updated third edition of an acclaimed field guide to the birds of Borneo, covering Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan. The result is the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and user-friendly guide to the island’s remarkably diverse birdlife. The book covers all 673 species living or reported on Borneo, including all 59 endemic species. Each species is superbly illustrated in 141 color plates containing more than 2,000 full-color bird images, which provide multiple large views of each species, including most of the sexual variants and immature forms of polymorphic species. Each plate is accompanied by facing-page species descriptions covering taxonomy, size, call, range, distribution, habits, and status. Distribution is also shown with 567 detailed color thumbnail maps on facing pages. Other features include seven habitat plates, twelve regional maps showing Borneo’s top 90 birding sites, fast-find identification plates to the birds of Kinabalu and other habitats, and a full overview of Borneo’s vegetation, climate, and ecology. This is a guide that any outdoor visitor to the island will treasure.

• The most up-to-date, comprehensive, and user-friendly guide to the birds of Borneo
• Features handy, facing-page format
• Illustrates and describes all 673 species, including 59 endemics
• Contains more than 2,000 superb full-color images, providing multiple large views of each species, and 567 color maps
• Describes and maps Borneo’s top 90 birding sites
• Includes fast-find identification plates to the birds of Kinabalu and other habitats
• Provides a full overview of Borneo’s vegetation, climate, and ecology

This looks like a good, standard field guide. One thing jumped out at me, though – it’s filled with sidebars with more information on the birds and their ecology, stuff not found in most field guides. I found myself not just flipping through to look at the gorgeous birds, but actually reading the field guide. I’d definitely want this with me on any trip to this island.

Phillipps’ Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan (Third edition)
by Quentin Phillipps and Karen Phillipps
Paperback; 384 pages
Princeton University Press; March 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0691161679
$35.00

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The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration
by Bernd Heinrich

From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

Acclaimed scientist and author Bernd Heinrich has returned every year since boyhood to a beloved patch of western Maine woods. What is the biology in humans of this deep-in-the-bones pull toward a particular place, and how is it related to animal homing?

Heinrich explores the fascinating science chipping away at the mysteries of animal migration: how geese imprint true visual landscape memory; how scent trails are used by many creatures, from fish to insects to amphibians, to pinpoint their home if they are displaced from it; and how the tiniest of songbirds are equipped for solar and magnetic orienteering over vast distances. Most movingly, Heinrich chronicles the spring return of a pair of sandhill cranes to their home pond in the Alaska tundra. With his trademark “marvelous, mind-altering” prose (Los Angeles Times), he portrays the unmistakable signs of deep psychological emotion in the newly arrived birds—and reminds us that to discount our own emotions toward home is to ignore biology itself.

While not exclusively about birds, this should be a good, informative read.

The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration
by Bernd Heinrich
Hardcover; 367 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; April 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-0547198484
$27.00

Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?
by Rita Gray (Author) and Kenard Pak (Illustrator)

From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

Woodpecker calls from a tree, “cuk-cuk-cuk.” Starling sings, “whistle-ee-wee.” But have you heard the nesting bird?

In this book, we hear all the different bird calls in counterpoint to the pervasive quiet of a mama bird waiting for her eggs to hatch. Fun and informative back matter takes the shape of an interview so that readers learn more right from the bird’s bill. Ken Pak’s lively illustrations, paired with Rita Gray’s words, render a visual and sonorous picture book to be enjoyed by young naturalists.

This is a charming children’s book, with a suggested age range of 4 – 8 years. I like the illustrations and, if my children are any indication, reading aloud the rendered bird sounds will be a big hit. My four-year-old daughter definitely enjoyed me reading this to her.

Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?
by Rita Gray (Author) and Kenard Pak (Illustrator)
Hardcover; 32 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-0544105805
$16.99

Searching for Pekpek: Cassowaries and Conservation in the New Guinea Rainforest
by Andrew L. Mack

From Cassowary Conservation and Publishing:

Andrew Mack immersed himself in a vast expanse of roadless, old growth rainforest of Papua New Guinea in 1987.

He and his co-investigator Debra Wright, built a research station by hand and lived there for years. Their mission was to study the secretive and perhaps most dinosaur-like creature still roaming the planet: the cassowary.

The ensuing adventures of this unorthodox biologist–studying seeds found in cassowary droppings (pekpek), learning to live among the indigenous Pawai’ia, traversing jungles, fighting pests and loneliness, struggling against unscrupulous oil speculators, and more–are woven into a compelling tale that spans two decades. Mack shares the insights he garnered about rainforest ecology while studying something as seemingly mundane as cassowary pekpek. He ultimately gained profound insight into why conservation is failing in places like Papua New Guinea and struggled to create a more viable strategy for conserving some of Earth’s last wild rainforests.

This promises to be an interesting book, even without the giant, dinosaur-like birds that can – and do – kill people. (Yes, I think Cassowaries are cool!)

Searching for Pekpek: Cassowaries and Conservation in the New Guinea Rainforest
by Andrew L. Mack
Paperback; 253 pages
Cassowary Conservation and Publishing; March 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-0989390309
$19.95

Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin
by Tim Birkhead, Jo Wimpenny, and Bob Montgomerie

From Princeton University Press:

Ten Thousand Birds provides a thoroughly engaging and authoritative history of modern ornithology, tracing how the study of birds has been shaped by a succession of visionary and often-controversial personalities, and by the unique social and scientific contexts in which these extraordinary individuals worked. This beautifully illustrated book opens in the middle of the nineteenth century when ornithology was a museum-based discipline focused almost exclusively on the anatomy, taxonomy, and classification of dead birds. It describes how in the early 1900s pioneering individuals such as Erwin Stresemann, Ernst Mayr, and Julian Huxley recognized the importance of studying live birds in the field, and how this shift thrust ornithology into the mainstream of the biological sciences. The book tells the stories of eccentrics like Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, a pathological liar who stole specimens from museums and quite likely murdered his wife, and describes the breathtaking insights and discoveries of ambitious and influential figures such as David Lack, Niko Tinbergen, Robert MacArthur, and others who through their studies of birds transformed entire fields of biology.

Ten Thousand Birds brings this history vividly to life through the work and achievements of those who advanced the field. Drawing on a wealth of archival material and in-depth interviews, this fascinating book reveals how research on birds has contributed more to our understanding of animal biology than the study of just about any other group of organisms.

I haven’t been able to start reading this book yet, but am really looking forward to it.

Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin
by Tim Birkhead, Jo Wimpenny, and Bob Montgomerie
Hardcover; 544 pages
Princeton University Press; February 16, 2014
ISBN: 978-0691151977
$45.00

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Rare Birds of North America
by Steve N. G. Howell, Ian Lewington, and Will Russell

From Princeton University Press:

Rare Birds of North America is the first comprehensive illustrated guide to the vagrant birds that occur throughout the United States and Canada. Featuring 275 stunning color plates, this book covers 262 species originating from three very different regions–the Old World, the New World tropics, and the world’s oceans. It explains the causes of avian vagrancy and breaks down patterns of occurrence by region and season, enabling readers to see where, when, and why each species occurs in North America. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features, taxonomy, age, sex, distribution, and status.

Rare Birds of North America provides unparalleled insights into vagrancy and avian migration, and will enrich the birding experience of anyone interested in finding and observing rare birds.

• Covers 262 species of vagrant birds found in the United States and Canada
• Features 275 stunning color plates that depict every species
• Explains patterns of occurrence by region and season
• Provides an invaluable overview of vagrancy patterns and migration
• Includes detailed species accounts and cutting-edge identification tips

The press copy is right – the plates are, indeed, stunning. How useful this will be to the average birder I’m not sure yet, but I have to say that I’m looking forward to perusing the accounts and learning about all these fantastic vagrants (many of which I’ve only read about on rare bird reports).

Rare Birds of North America
by Steve N. G. Howell, Ian Lewington, and Will Russell
Hardcover; 448 pages
Princeton University Press; February 16, 2014
ISBN: 978-0691117966
$35.00

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Lost Animals: Extinction and the Photographic Record
by Errol Fuller

From Princeton University Press:

A photograph of an extinct animal evokes a greater feeling of loss than any painting ever could. Often black and white or tinted sepia, these remarkable images have been taken mainly in zoos or wildlife parks, and in some cases depict the last known individual of the species. Lost Animals is a unique photographic record of extinction, presented by a world authority on vanished animals. Richly illustrated throughout, this handsome book features photographs dating from around 1870 to as recently as 2004, the year that witnessed the demise of the Hawaiian Po’ouli. From a mother Thylacine and her pups to birds such as the Heath Hen and the Carolina Parakeet, Errol Fuller tells the story of each animal, explains why it became extinct, and discusses the circumstances surrounding the photography.

Covering 28 extinct species, Lost Animals includes familiar examples like the last Passenger Pigeon, Martha, and one of the last Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, photographed as it peers quizzically at the hat of one of the biologists who has just ringed it. But the book includes rare images as well, many never before published. Collected together here for the first time, these photographs provide a tangible link to animals that have now vanished forever, in a book that brings the past to life while delivering a warning for the future.

Poignant and compelling, Lost Animals also includes a concise introduction that looks at the earliest days of animal photography, and an appendix of drawings and paintings of the species covered.

“A photograph of an extinct animal evokes a greater feeling of loss than any painting ever could.” So true. The photographs in this book aren’t glamorous, but they are incredibly moving. There have been plenty of books written on extinct animals, but this one takes a unique approach.

Lost Animals: Extinction and the Photographic Record
by Errol Fuller
Hardcover; 256 pages
Princeton University Press; February 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-0691161372
$29.95