The NHBS Conservation Hub – news, reviews and resources
Congratulations to Bethany Simmons of Nottinghamshire who has won a £50 NHBS Gift Voucher!
Bethany says:
“Thank you very much, I loved coming to the bird show it was so different, and I loved being welcomed by everyone and I think I will give the voucher to my stepfather Kevin as I know he wants a new camera.”
We look forward to seeing Bethany, and everyone else again at Birdfair 2012…
If you’d like to purchase NHBS Gift Vouchers, click here.
by Anthony Sheridan
“This book contains unique information and analyses 80 leading zoological gardens in 21 European countries. This is a must-have book for all those interested in zoos – enthusiasts, sceptics, visitors, sponsors, zoo owners, politicians, wildlife conservationists and all those working in and for zoos. The book deals with a wide variety of zoo-related aspects, some of which rarely dealt with in other publications, such as the role of the zoo director, landscape design, education, ex situ and in situ conservation, marketing strategies, future plans and zoo associations. Each of the 80 zoos covered is portrayed in detail on three pages each. The book includes tables containing the evaluation of the presentaion of a number of iconic species in each of the zoos as well as ranking lists concerning visitor factors, education and conservation, and commercial and organisation.
All the profits from the sale of this book are being donated to Stiftung Artenschutz, a German in situ conservation charity supported by more than 20 of the German and Austrian zoos covered in the book. This donation will support a specific conservation project for gibbons in Vietnam. It contains almost 400 pages with numerous full-colour photographs, maps and tables. ”
Markus Gusset,
What Zoos Can Do is distributed by NHBS
NHBS is on Wills Road, on the edge of Totnes, a small town in Devon. Wills Road is named after William John Wills, of the Burke and Wills expedition, who famously perished in the wilds of South Australia in 1861 at the age of 27. Wills was born in Totnes, hence the name of the road, and the statue in the town centre. Robert O’Hara Burke, though not from Totnes, is also commemorated by having a road named after him, his road runs behind the NHBS warehouse; in other words we are right between the two of them.
We were reminded of Totnes’ famous son when we read the announcement of a new book recently: Burke and Wills: The Scientific Legacy of the Victorian Exploring Expedition, published by CSIRO and due to be available in the UK in November. This book deals with the scientific achievements of the expedition and its successive relief groups, rather than the much-publicised failures that led to the deaths of seven of the expedition’s members.
Regardless of the serendipitous connection between Burke & Wills and NHBS, I am rather looking forward to seeing a copy of this book, as it fills a large gap in the scientific literature of exploration, and it contains many original illustrations.
Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:
by John D. Altringham
2nd edition of John Altringham’s 1996 OUP publication, Bats: Biology and Behaviour
Why?
This rigorous and authoritative textbook is updated to reflect the current state of research on
all aspects of bat biology, ecology and and conservation. Popular interest in bats is at an all-time high with many amateurs becoming involved monitoring their local bat populations and the construction industry legally bound to take their conservation needs into account, reflecting the vulnerability of this diverse and unique group.
Bats: From Evolution to Conservation is a global study covering evolutionary biology, ecology, flight, migration, physiology and much more – and whilst presented as a text for students and researchers, its accessible and enthusiastic style means it also holds appeal for amateur naturalists and anyone interested in bat conservation.
Review of the previous edition:
“This is an excellent book from one end to the other and I highly recommend it to students and colleagues. It is a book that meets its stated goal … to use bats to illustrate processes and concepts in biology. When it comes to ecology and behaviour, he has more than succeeded … Bravo!” Journal of Animal Ecology
John D. Altringham is Professor of Animal Ecology and Conservation at the University of Leeds, UK, where he has been since 1989. He completed his BSc at the University of York, and his PhD at St. Andrews University, where he returned as a research fellow from 1983-1989. During his career he has travelled widely, studying animals as varied as tuna fish and tarantulas before focusing on bat ecology and conservation. He has published over 100 scientific papers, numerous book chapters, and two previous books: Bats: Biology and Behaviour (OUP, 1996), and British Bats (Harper Collins, 2003). He is also a regular advisor and contributor to BBC Natural History Unit productions for TV and radio, and is a member of a number of conservation advisory groups, including the Nature Conservation Panel of the National Trust. John lives on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales with his wife, Kate, and two children, Alex and Anne.
NHBS Ambassador Nick Baker will be visiting the NHBS Stand on Saturday 20th August between 12pm and 1pm, and on Sunday 21st August between 10am and 11am.
Come and talk to Nick about the wonderful world of bugs, the secret life of a TV wildlife presenter, and just how good those chair hides really are! Nick will also be signing copies of his books, including the new Nick Baker’s Bug Book: Discover the World of the Mini-Beast! which will be available at the stand.
We look forward to seeing many of you at Rutland Water over the course of next weekend!
Find out who else will be signing their books with NHBS at Birdfair 2011 here.
Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:
by David Lindo
A personal account of a life’s passion for birds, seeded in the urban sprawl of 1960s London.
Why?
Urban environments are attractive to a diverse selection of bird life, with the patchwork mix of
gardens and parks, rivers and reservoirs creating unique ecosystems.
David Lindo has a passion for birds and in the Urban Birder he tells his story from growing up in London to adventures in Brooklyn, Hollywood and beyond. Throughout weaves the thread of his main crusade which is to encourage “urbanites to realise that there is a whole world of wildlife under their noses in the world’s cities.”
This entertaining autobiography has a simple message and is a great read, and as more people migrate to towns and cities it will become increasingly important that people learn to live alongside their avian neighbours, following David Lindo’s lead and becoming urban birders.
From the author’s website:
“I am David Lindo and I am The Urban Birder — writer, broadcaster, speaker and bird guider. My whole vibe is about getting urbanites to realise that there is a whole world of wildlife under their noses in the world’s cities.
I was a twitcher in the womb and was born clutching for a pair of binoculars. An interest in wildlife and in particular watching birds was a natural thing for me to get into, despite being surrounded by non-birders and having no mentors in my north London neighbourhood…” – read more on www.theurbanbirder.com.
David Lindo will be signing copies of The Urban Birder at Birdfair on Saturday 20th
New from Whittles Publishing, Malcolm Smith’s Life with Birds: A Story of Mutual Exploitation zips around the world picking up sublime and ridiculous, sobering and frivolous facts from all its corners. Truly bulging with bird-lore, this makes for an engrossing read for all ornithology enthusiasts.
What’s your background in the bird world, and how did you first become interested in avian-human mutual relations?I think I’ve always noticed bird/human interactions wherever I’ve been – though probably more subconsciously – until I began to think about compiling and organizing them into chapters for the book.
It’s been part of a life-long interest in birds combined with a training as a biologist, though with very limited time to pursue these interests personally when I was Chief Scientist at the Countryside Council for Wales.
Quite the contrary, there are probably just as many examples of bird/human interactions left out of my book! I’ve tried to include examples of all the major ones and many of the more unusual, bizarre and intriguing. But I had to be selective! It would be quite possible to write a whole book on birds inspiring literature and art for example but I particularly wanted to weave an interesting story using a whole range of examples to show how widespread our links are with birds.
I think most people will continue to be oblivious to birds, almost forgetting that they eat them regularly, make use of their feathers, see them every day on their homes and in their streets, and hear them almost constantly.
I’m pretty sure that more species will take to city life, mostly causing no problems to people. But I think I have probably underestimated the future impact of city gulls – which are taking over from city pigeons – and are likely to cause more and more summer-time injuries by attacking people. Local Authorities will soon be wishing that their docile city pigeons were back! If we don’t want a growing gull problem, we need to keep our streets very much cleaner and food discard-free, something we seem to find impossible.
Human greed knows seemingly few boundaries and it’s easy to get depressed when you witness the illegal wild bird trade first hand. Unless some of the worst offending countries start acting on their international responsibilities, it’s set to continue apace.
Many stand out, particularly those where I had personal experience such as a Parsi funeral or collecting eiderdown from nests. But one story that does stand out particularly is that of Honeyguides leading African tribesmen to wild bee nests. I was able to gather it from a N’dorobo tribesman in northern Kenya via an Italian ornithologist working there who translated his words for me! And next week I join them both in the isolated Mathews forested mountains in Kenya. So I will be able to follow Honeyguides with Robet Lentaaya, the tribesman concerned. It’s a practice that’s dying out.
What was special, too, was the information that he can follow three different Honeyguide species, each with a different call and different response call back from the tribesman. I can’t find any mention of that anywhere in the literature!
That our lives and theirs remain very strongly bound together, more closely than most people would ever imagine, even in our supposedly advanced western society.
Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:
by James Ferguson-Lees, Richard Castell and Dave Leech
A guide to the identification of the nests of 146 British and Irish bird species, and a source of information and guidelines about monitoring nests.
Along with the species accounts, this compact and well-illustrated guide provides a wealth of detail about
fieldcraft, legislation, the BTO Nest Record Scheme and the importance of nest monitoring for conservation. It includes the key points of the BTO Code of Conduct for Nest Recorders plus a link to the full code on the BTO website.
In recognition of the potentially contentious nature of nest research, this guide gives clear information and links about the legal issues surrounding monitoring nests, so that conservation work may be carried out with greatest sensitivity to the welfare of birds and their young.
Who?
James Ferguson-Lees and Richard Castell are two of Britain’s leading experts in the field of monitoring nests, having seen and studied the nests of all 146 species covered by this book. Their wealth of field experience delivers a level of information beyond that seen in other publications on this subject.
Dr Dave Leech is a Senior Research Ecologist at the BTO, and also
an experienced nest recorder. His analysis of BTO nest record datasets has delivered much of the supporting information presented in this book.
NHBS are off to Rutland Water again this month for Birdfair 2011.
We look forward to seeing you all there again – as usual you will encounter a great range of books covering ornithology from all angles: field guides, monographs, avian science, photography; plus a wide selection of books concerning British and World wildlife: entomology, wildlife travel, natural history writing and much more.
You’ll also be able to browse a huge range of wildlife conservation equipment and field kit – and we are hoping you can come and chat with NHBS Ambassador, Nick Baker at the stand about all things wild, and see how he got on with the Stealth Gear One Man Chair Hide – probably on the Saturday (time to be confirmed…*CONFIRMED, see times here*)!
Come and see us in Marquee: 2, at Stands 15, 33, 34 and meet the authors that will be visiting the NHBS stand to sign copies of their books.
Birdfair 2011: NHBS Author Signings Schedule
Saturday 20th August
11.30am Nils van Duivendijk: Advanced Bird ID Handbook
2pm Mike Unwin: The Atlas of Birds
3pm David Lindo: The Urban Birder
Sunday 21st August
11am Richard Crossley: The Crossley ID Guide
Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:
by Janice Wormworth and Cagan H Sekercioglu
An exploration of the effects of climate change on various groups of birds, what can be done about the threats and the possible consequences of inaction.
“The ability of the birds to show us the consequences of our own actions is among their most important and
least appreciated attributes. Despite the free advice of the birds, we do not pay attention.”
Marjory Stoneman Douglas as quoted in the introduction to Winged Sentinels.
The chapters of this book take the reader on a global tour looking at the timing of seasonal activities of birds, their shifting distributions, and the abundance and make-up of avian communities – among various other factors – as ‘fingerprints’ which provide clues to the overall story of how our changing climate is taking its toll on the global bird community. It then provides an assessment of the current state and effectiveness of conservation efforts.
With its absorbing style and generous complement of colour photography Winged Sentinels is accessible to a general readership while being scientifically thorough, and tells a story that is of great interest to all scientists and policy-makers involved not only in avian conservation, but across the spectrum of climate-related ecological research.
Who?
Janice Wormworth is a freelance science writer.
Cagan H Sekercioglu is Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Utah and the director of the non-profit environmental organisation KuzeyDoga
