Birds in Their Habitats Journeys with a Naturalist

About this book

Everywhere we go there are birds, and they all have mysteries to be unravelled. These mysteries include the way they look, from bizarre to apparently mundane, why they live where they live, and the things they do, many of which are far too incredible ever to be imagined as fiction.

Birds in Their Habitats is a collection of stories and experiences, which introduce fascinating aspects of birdlife, ecology and behaviour. Informed by a wealth of historical and contemporary research, Ian Fraser takes the reader on a journey through four continents: from places as unfamiliar as the Chonos Archipelago of southern Chile and the arid Sahel woodlands of northern Cameroon to those as familiar as a suburban backyard. This is a book of discovery of birds and the places they live. And with humour and personal insight, it is a book about the sometimes strange world of the people who spend a life absorbed in birds.

Contents

Prelude
Introduction

Chapter 1: Deserts
Chapter 2: Rainforests
Chapter 3: Oceans and islands
Chapter 4: Mountains
Chapter 5: Wetlands and rivers
Chapter 6: Suburbia
Chapter 7: Woodlands and grasslands

Bird species index
General index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Ian Fraser is a naturalist, conservationist, author, regular contributor and commentator on ABC Radio (local and national), natural history tour guide and adult educator who has lived and worked in Canberra since 1980. He was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion in 2006, for services to conservation and education. He is the author of A Bush Capital Year (2011), with artist Peter Marsack, and Australian Bird Names: A Complete Guide (2013), with Jeannie Gray – both were awarded Whitley Certificates.