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British Wildlife is the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiast and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Published eight times a year, British Wildlife bridges the gap between popular writing and scientific literature through a combination of long-form articles, regular columns and reports, book reviews and letters.

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Academic & Professional Books  Ornithology  Birds of Australasia

Birds of the West Wind How Australia Has Shaped New Zealand's Avian Life

Out of Print
By: Garry Sheeran(Author)
242 pages, 8 plates with colour photos
Publisher: G.J. Books
Birds of the West Wind
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  • Birds of the West Wind ISBN: 9780473356705 Paperback Nov 2016 Out of Print #233390
About this book Contents Biography Related titles

About this book

The origin of New Zealand birds is a story whose continuing evolution in the last 30 years especially has upset many apple carts – from the idea that the moa has evolved from a small South American bird which flew to ancient New Zealand, to the seeming preposterous suggestion that the kiwi is more closely related to the Madagascan elephant bird than the moa. What, then, of the kakapo, kea, tui, rifleman, stitchbird and the rest of New Zealand's iconic birds? Garry Sheeran has dug up what professionals are re-discovering about the origin of New Zealand birds with the help of modern scientific tools. A particular theme is the influence of Australian avifauna on New Zealand's bird life. In Part 1 he tells of his layman's latter-day interest in birds with enthusiasm, originality and charm. He also traces how the origin stories of birds are closely connected to the origins of the islands and continents on which they are found. Part 2 contains specific origin stories of more than 80 land and shore birds, and traces their possible connection to Australian birds.

Birds of the West Wind is aimed as much at readers with little knowledge of New Zealand's bird life as it is at enthusiastic and knowledgeable birders.

Contents

Preface 8

PART 1: THE STORY
- Hot pools & plovers 12
- Into enemy territory 21
- Rocks of ages 26
- Days of our lives 32
- Vicars & vagrants 39
- From fracture to flood 49
- From flood to freeze 58
- Between the ice sheets 68
- 3 Modern times 75
- Waifs, strays & misfits 86
- Migrants & freeloaders 93
- Eureka! 101

Eight pages of colour photos

PART 2: STORIES
- Moas 108
- Kiwis 112
- Penguins & albatrosses 115
- Song birds 119
- Parrots 135
- Ducks & geese 140
- Dotterels, gulls & terns 152
- Herons, egrets & bitterns 171
- Rails, swamphens & coots 179
- Pigeons & doves 185
- Game birds 188
- Grebes 191
- Falcons, harriers & eagles 194
- Shags, gannets & pelicans 198
- Cuckoos 207
- Owls & kingfishers 211

PART 3: APPENDICES
- When birds arrived in NZ 218
- Where NZ birds came from 224

Source reading 226
Notes 228
Index 232

Customer Reviews

Biography

When Garry Sheeran stepped back from regular full-time work seven years ago, writing a book was not on his agenda. And that despite the fact he had spent 45 years as a metropolitan newspaper journalist, both in New Zealand and overseas. His specialist field was business and finance. What he did do, however, was immerse himself in what had been the off-duty delight of his life – involvement in the outdoors and natural world. And it was his work over four years as a Department of Conservation volunteer on the scientific wildlife reserve of Tiritiri Matangi Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf took him back to his other love – writing. The result is this book.

Out of Print
By: Garry Sheeran(Author)
242 pages, 8 plates with colour photos
Publisher: G.J. Books
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