Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs

Continuing our weekly selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

The Natural History of Hoverflies

by Graham E. Rotheray and Francis Gilbert

What?

A groundbreaking new publication on the Syrphidae.

Why?

This is the first book of its kind to present an in-depth examination of the natural history of this diverse and fascinating insect family. Both authors have a long-standing academic interest in the subject (see below), and have delivered a volume that makes a comprehensive assessment of current research and understanding of the Syrphidae, which surely can be considered an essential addition to the entomologist’s library.

Who?

Graham E. Rotheray In 1976, after completing a joint honours Biology/Philosophy degree at Keele University, Graham moved to Cardiff University where he completed a PhD on hoverfly parasitoids under Professor Mike Claridge. In 1979 he moved to Liverpool Museum as Assistant Curator of Invertebrates and in 1981, went to the University of Maryland, USA to undertake a post doctoral position researching natural enemies of the Gypsy Moth. On return to the UK, in 1984 he became Head of the Entomology Section at the National Museums of Scotland, a position he has held ever since.

He is a founder member of the Malloch Society, the Scottish diptera society that specialises in undertaking research on rare flies and was a founder member of the Initiative for Scottish Invertebrates, a federation of Scottish based invertebrate biologists concerned with the biodiversity and conservation of invertebrates in Scotland. He is Honorary Lecturer in the Division of Environmental Sciences, Glasgow University and a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society.

Francis Gilbert completed his undergraduate and PhD degrees at St John’s College, Cambridge between 1975 and 1981. For his PhD he studied the morphology and foraging behaviour of adult hoverflies in natural and garden habitats, and particularly the possibility that competition structures hoverfly communities. After finishing his PhD, he went to the USA for two years as a Harkness Fellow, again studying the morphological structure of communities of adult hoverflies in Maine, Florida, Arizona and Oregon. He returned to a Junior Research Fellowship at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, but within a year had obtained a lectureship at the University of Nottingham, where he has remained ever since.

His research concentrates on the evolutionary biology of hoverflies, and the impact of habitat fragmentation on communities and conservation, studying the latter with both model ecosystems in the laboratory and real ecosystems in the Sinai in Egypt.

Martin Kelsey reviews the best-selling Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia, and its companion volume, the Checklist of the Birds of Colombia – both of which are distributed by NHBS.

“This book will be indispensable for anyone interested in Colombia and will be an essential companion in the field.”

Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia

“When I first visited Colombia, A Guide to the Birds of Colombia (Hilty & Brown 1986; reviewed in Ibis 130: 136) had just been published. Not being able to afford a hardback edition, but worried about how its 800+ pages would survive as a paperback in the field, I followed local advice and got it hard-bound in Bogotá. Thereafter I carried my 1.45 kg treasure, wrapped in a plastic bag, in a special shoulder bag along forest trails. It was invaluable. The new guide, however, fully deserves its epithet ‘Field’. A full kilogram lighter than Hilty and Brown and less than 250 pages long, this remarkable book will fit in a pocket. Unlike the former, it illustrates in colour all of the species (nearly 1900) recorded in Colombia. This it achieves in 225 plates, which despite also fitting in distribution maps and brief notes for each species, appear far less crowded than in Hilty and Brown, especially for groups such as hummingbirds (Trochilidae), antbirds (Thamnophilidae) and tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae). There are coloured maps showing relief, political boundaries, vegetation types, rainfall, Endemic Bird Areas and Protected Areas, as well as lists of endemics, ‘near-endemics’, threatened species and species lists for Colombia’s offshore islands in the Caribbean and Pacific. Unlike Hilty and Brown, there is no separate text section. To meet this book’s rigorous requirements for economy, species notes are restricted to the few words that can be fitted onto the plates, highlighting information to help identification: habitat, status, diagnostic behaviour, perhaps one or two plumage features to separate from confusion species and, for some groups only, voice. It is a practical compromise which works extremely well to meet the stated objective of the book: to be easy and quick to use in the field, with the emphasis on identification. Its compact design is based on an extensive consultation with birders. There will, of course, be times when you need to refer back to the more extensive and comprehensive coverage of Hilty and Brown, but I recall that even with that work, which was my starting point in those days, I still needed to consult additional literature and museum skins from time to time. This book will be indispensable for anyone interested in Colombia and will be an essential companion in the field. There is also another important reason why I warmly recommend it. It is published by the pioneering Colombian NGO ProAves and all profits from sales will go towards their work in bird conservation and education. In just over 10 years since its formation, this group of energetic young fieldworkers and conservationists have made many exciting discoveries, helped to establish two national parks and currently own and manage a network of 18 bird reserves, as well as implementing integrated conservation and rural development projects and promoting bird tourism. The authors intend to publish a Spanish edition soon, which should have great appeal to both students and the general public in Colombia. As the country becomes safer to travel in, there is a growing interest in getting to know its extraordinary biodiversity through visits to reserves and national parks offering access and good infrastructure. ”

Checklist of the Birds of Colombia

“The bilingual Checklist to the Birds of Colombia serves as a companion volume to the Field Guide. It is the most up-to-date list for Colombia, which has more bird species recorded than for any other country. Subspecies are given (with an indication of where they are found) and endemic species are highlighted in bold. A further column indicates whether the species carries a threatened status and in which ProAves bird reserves it is known to occur (no fewer than 1130 species have been recorded in these 18 reserves, a remarkable 12% of the world’s total!). There are eight blank columns for personal use. The inside back cover carries a coloured map showing the location of these reserves, as well as national parks and other protected areas. Much as I still treasure my copy of Hilty and Brown, I wish that these publications had been around as well during my early travels in Colombia, to complement the former and save on considerable wear and tear! I will certainly be using this new field guide and the checklist on my next trip and I unreservedly recommend others to do the same.”

Martin Kelsey,

IBIS The International Journal of Avian Science

Browse our full trade catalogue

Continuing our weekly selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

Plant Galls

by Margaret Redfern

What?

The latest volume in the New Naturalists series takes on one of the more enigmatic aspects of botany.

Why?

Oak apples, robin’s pincushions, marble galls and witches’ brooms. Margaret Redfern’s expertise on the curious subject of plant galls, presented in this new volume in the New Naturalist series, opens a window onto a less considered aspect of botany. What are they? How are they formed? Here you will find insight into the organisms that cause plant galls, the structure and ecology of the galls themselves, and the effect these complex and diverse phenomena have on the host plants, as well as broader evolutionary and historical perspectives.

Margaret Redfern is an authority on plant galls who has written numerous books on the subject.

Continuing our weekly selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

Gorillas: Living on the Edge

by Andy Rouse

What?

Another brilliant photo-story, introducing the critically endangered mountain gorillas of the Virunga Volcanoes of East Africa.

Why?

A follow-up to his incredibly successful previous project, Tigers: A Celebration of Life, Gorillas: Living on the Edge is full of vivid portraits of episodes in the gorillas’ daily lives. Rouse demonstrates his superb “knack for capturing this great ape doing interesting things”, picking up an extraordinary range of facial expressions and intimate and entertaining moments. As 25% of the profits of Tigers went to tiger conservation projects, so 25% of the profits of Gorillas will go to conservation projects in Rwanda, supporting their continued protection of this characterful ape in its last stronghold.

Who?

Andy Rouse is an inspirational wildlife photographer who is well-known the world over. He is famed for his ability to capture moments from the lives of animals and birds in the wild, getting “up close and personal” with some of the most fascinating and often potentially dangerous animals.

Andy has starred in his own TV series and made numerous TV appearances, has been a pioneering user of digital technology in his work, and he has consistently won awards in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. He has also been runner up in the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year and had several winners in the Nature’s Best competition.

Read more on Andy Rouse’s website

Continuing our weekly selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

Plant-Animal Communication

by H. Martin Schaefer and Graeme D. Ruxton

What?

A summary of all the latest research on this poorly understood but significant area of ecological and evolutionary research. 

Why?

The literature on the subject is wide-ranging and of interest to a diverse section of the scientific community, and here Schaefer and Ruxton provide a much-needed synthesis of the latest research in sensory ecology, plant physiology, evolution and the behavioural sciences as applicable to plant-animal communication.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Communication and the Evolution of Plant-Animal Interactions
2. Animal Sensory Ecology and Plant Biochemistry
3. Animals as Seed Dispersers
4. Visual Communication in Fleshy Fruits
5. Evolutionary Ecology of Non-Visual Fruit Traits
6. Flower Signals and Pollination
7. The Potential for Leaf Colouration to Communicate to Animals
8. Plant Crypsis, Aposematism, and Mimicry
9. Chemical Communication by Plants about Herbivores Sensory Aspects of Carnivorous Plants
10. Final Thoughts

Glossary
References
Index

Who?

H. Martin Schaefer is Associate Professor in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology at the University of Freiburg. His main research interests are the sensory ecology of plant-animal interactions in the three fields covered in this book, seed dispersal, plant defence and carnivory.

Graeme D. Ruxton is Professor of Theoretical Ecology at the University of Glasgow. His main research interests are in sensory ecology and how one species can exploit the senses of another.

ANIMA MUNDI – Adventures in Wildlife Photography is a FREE quarterly wildlife and nature travel and photography online magazine.

ANIMA MUNDI – Adventures in Wildlife Photography is available as a FREE fully interactive 100+ page, widescreen pdf and is published over the internet four times a year in January, April, July and October.

ANIMA MUNDI – Adventures in Wildlife Photography is published in cooperation with X-RAY MAGAZINE, the largest and best-ranked dive periodical of its kind in the world.

Each issue of ANIMA MUNDI features extensive, 50-page long, fully illustrated articles about prime wildlife photography locations worldwide, with field-tested, user-friendly information about trip destinations, local facilities, guides and specialized tour operators.

You will also find in-depth features about all sorts of fascinating wildlife – both terrestrial and marine – plus interactive videos and links, wildlife photographers personal galleries, book reviews, field equipment and techniques tips and a lot more.

Anima Mundi is on Facebook

NHBS have worked with Andrea and Antonella Ferrari, the creators of Anima Mundi, for the last few years as distribution agents for their publishing company, Nautilus Publishing. These three great books have been long-term best-sellers, and are available now from NHBS:

A Diver’s Guide to Reef Life
A Diver’s Guide to Underwater Malaysia Macrolife
A Diver’s Guide to the Art of Underwater Photography

Here Andrea talks about the Anima Mundi project, and his passion for wildlife photography:

Continuing our weekly selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

The Norfolk Bird Atlas: Summer and Winter Distributions 1999-2007

by Moss Taylor and John H Marchant

What?

A survey of Norfolk’s breeding and wintering avifauna.

Why?

As with all their projetcs, the BTO have produced this excellent survey with conservation in mind. A huge undertaking, it has involved the work of over 300 observers. Not only does it document the distribution in Norfolk of the all the different bird species, it also assesses their abundance. It also highlights the changes since previous atlases – for instance, the new breeding colonists such as the Mediterranean Gull, the Little Egret and the Goosander.

In-depth charts and figures, deft analysis by the authors, and beautiful full-colour photography and illustrations give this substantial volume wide appeal and an enduring and deserved place on any ornithologists bookshelf.

Who?

Moss Taylor has had a lifelong interest in ornithology and has 50 years experience as a bird ringer. He has been involved with previous BTO atlas projects and served on several BTO committees, and was the instigator and co-ordinator of the fieldwork on which The Norfolk Bird Atlas is based, as well as being an active participant. His previous books include The Birds of Norfolk and Collins Identifying Birds by Colour.

John Marchant joined the BTO in 1973. Bird surveys occupy a major part of his paid and personal time. He has served on the BOU Records Committee and the British Birds Rarities Committee, for which he is archivist. He has written many scientific papers and reports, and among the books he has co-authored is Population Trends in British Breeding Birds.