Originally published in 1942, this book is an introduction to the study of bird psychology. Armstrong covers a wide variety of subjects relating to 'ceremonials' and other rituals conducted by various species of birds, including social hierarchy, courtship, song and arena displays. The text is illustrated with a variety of photographs illustrating some of the practices described. This book will be valuable to anyone with an interest in the conduct and communication of birds.
For millions of people the world over, the annual visit to a department store to view the festive window displays and visit Santa in his winter wonderland is a treasured holiday tradition. In America, the Thanksgiving holiday is almost inconceivable without Macy's annual parade. But how did holiday traditions like this begin? Who are the behind-the-scenes magicians that conjure up this unique blend of imagination, showmanship, and salesmanship? Holidays on Display is a comprehensive overview of the art and industry of the holiday display. Author William L. Bird, Jr., traces its evolution as holiday decorations moved from shop windows to building exteriors and out into the street in the form of parade floats. In this fascinating and colorful history we are introduced to turn-of-the-century "trimmers" hiredby merchants to maintain product displays, and we marvel as advances in lighting, animation, and miniaturization lead to the incredible feats of creative self-expression practiced by today's window artists. Packed with rarely seen photographs and ephemera, Holidays on Display makes it easy to see why we have such lasting emotional attachments to animated Christmas windows, passing parades, and the ambient glow of holiday lights.
Welcome to the Bird Show! Award-winning author-illustrator Susan Stockdale offers a front-row seat to a vibrant fashion show starring the world's most diverse and spectacular birds. Just like people, birds contribute to our beautiful world, made more vibrant by their diversity. Readers will marvel at the unique "clothes" worn by eighteen familiar and exotic birds in Susan Stockdale's colorful book. With feathers both plain and fancy, spotted and striped, birds' magnificent differences are celebrated in her stunning portraits and lyrical, rhyming text. Future ornithologists and fashionistas will marvel at the book's color and style, and an afterword provides more information about each species as well as an entertaining pattern matching game.
In this dazzling photo essay, Laman and Scholes present gorgeous full-color photographs of all 39 species of the Birds of Paradise that highlight their unique and extraordinary plumage and mating behavior.
This beautifully illustrated, inspirational guide to bird photography is packed with practical advice for how to photograph birds presented in an informative but accessible writing style. Creative Bird Photography offers a fresh approach to its subject, looking closely at how to photograph specific aspects of birds’ lives, such as eating and drinking, courtship, and flight. The author gives examples, demonstrating particular points and approaches for taking great shots of all of these daily bird activities as well as taking "mood" photographs at dawn and dusk. Each shot is accompanied by detailed technical data, information about locations, and advice about other challenges that will need to be surmounted in order to achieve the perfect shot. Coster also shares fascinating anecdotes about his encounters with the birds featured. There are also up-to-date sections on bird photography basics, including equipment and storage of digital images.
Throughout the bird world, examples of strange and seemingly inexplicable behaviours abound. For example: Why do Male Fairywrens bring flowers to females as a nuptial gift in the pre-dawn darkness? Especially when the gift-givers are not the official mates of the females concerned, but visitors, and furthermore they may give these gifts in full view of the official mate. Why do gangs of White-winged Choughs 'kidnap' their neighbours' fledglings and then keep them in their 'gang'. Which bird is so big, strong and fierce that stories abound of it killing humans? This book looks at accounts of murderous Cassowaries and explains just what might have happened. What happens in an albatross 'divorce'? This book divides the world by continent and takes a series of extraordinary stories from each to illustrate a great diversity of bird behaviour. Each continent will have around five or six stories, each described in 1500 to 2000 words and examining the truths and the mythology behind each example. An intriguiguing book from an author with an ability to engage with his audience.
Everything you ever wanted to know about storks, ibises and spoonbills. Some of the world's largest and most spectacular birds are to be found among this group of wading birds. Tragically, they also include many of the world's most endangered species, as changes in land use erode their wetland habitats. Some like the White Stork have lived alongside humans for hundreds of years and are well known from numerous studies. Others, like the Storm's stork and ibises of West Africa, South-East Asia and South America live so secluded a life in the remote corners of the globe that they will probably be extinct before even the most basic details of their biology are known. In this monograph, three authors and two artists have combined their skills to capture what is known of this group of wading birds. The text opens with general chapters on taxonomy and feeding, breeding and behaviour, followed by detailed coverage of each species.
