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What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Jennifer Ackerman points out in the introduction to What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds , that we don’t know much, but that very soon we may know a lot more. What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds is a joyous, fascinating read.

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15 Australian Birds (Episode 2)

10,000 Birds

Quite likely, these birds are also the inspiration for Australian science communicator Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki. Anecdotally, this first volume is reported to have been much more successful than its successor, “The Useless Birds of Southern Australia”, R Hall, 1908. This is the most common swallow in Australia. .

Australia 208
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15 Australian Birds (Episode 4)

10,000 Birds

When going to Australia, one of the two birds I wanted to see most was the Tawny Frogmouth. Birdlife Australia does not try to hide being puzzled over the naming of the Pacific Black Duck : “Despite being predominantly brown, the Pacific Black Duck has always been known as the ‘black duck’.

Birds 242
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The Bird Way: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

There is a lot of extreme behavior here (and a lot of that behavior takes place in Australia), but this is not simply a collection of the world’s most fantastic bird tales. For one thing, we become more aware of cultural biases in our science (new findings on warbling female birds, for example, reveal both gender and geographic biases).

Research 237
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The popstars are back: Paradise Flycatchers in Shanghai

10,000 Birds

Here goes: Paradise Flycatchers are a genus in the broader (and rather large) family of Monarchidae. Fear not, science has an answer: about 1.16 This name is derived from Commander John Matthew Robert Ince (1812-1850) Royal Navy, surveyor, collector in Australia, New Guinea and China (source: HBW).

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Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History from Cave Art to Conservation–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Birkhead, the experienced storyteller who is also Emeritus Professor at the School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, author of multiple scientific articles as well as books of popular science, knows how to make it readable and fun. Colonialism and appropriation of knowledge is discussed in Chapter 6, The New World of Science.

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Restless New Zealand Fantails

10,000 Birds

Fantails are a family that, apart from the aberrant Silktail and Pygmy Drongo, are extremely similar in appearance and behaviour. The New Zealand Fantail was once placed with the Grey Fantail of Australia, but are now treated as separate, because of science. The family also reaches into India and as far east as samoa and Fiji.