From the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds, a radical investigation into the bird way of being, and the recent scientific research that is dramatically shifting our understanding of birds -- how they live and how they think. “There is the mammal way and there is the bird way.” But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries –– What they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own: deception, manipulation, cheating, kidnapping, infanticide, but also ingenious communication between species, cooperation, collaboration, altruism, culture, and play. Some of these extraordinary behaviors are biological conundrums that seem to push the edges of, well, birdness: a mother bird that kills her own infant sons, and another that selflessly tends to the young of other birds as if they were her own; a bird that collaborates in an extraordinary way with one species—ours—but parasitizes another in gruesome fashion; birds that give gifts and birds that steal; birds that dance or drum, that paint their creations or paint themselves; birds that build walls of sound to keep out intruders and birds that summon playmates with a special call—and may hold the secret to our own penchant for playfulness and the evolution of laughter. Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world, from the tropical rainforests of eastern Australia and the remote woodlands of northern Japan, to the rolling hills of lower Austria and the islands of Alaska’s Kachemak Bay, Jennifer Ackerman shows there is clearly no single bird way of being. In every respect, in plumage, form, song, flight, lifestyle, niche, and behavior, birds vary. It is what we love about them. As E.O Wilson once said, when you have seen one bird, you have not seen them all.

Explores the frontiers of research on animal cognition and emotion, offering a surprising examination into the hearts and minds of wild and domesticated animals.

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

An essential reference for anyone involved in protecting the environment, this book identifies and describes Virginia's endangered species and suggests ways that they might be managed to ensure their survival. It incorporates the contributions of more than eighty biologists. The volume provides extensive information for each endangered species, including a description, a written summary and a map of its distribution in Virginia and North America, an overview of its natural history, a synopsis of its legal and recommended statuses, a discussion of threats to its continued survival in Virginia, and recommendations for its conservation. Color photographs are included for mot of the plants and animals described in the book. Virginia's Endangered Species, first published in 1991, won the 1992 Outstanding Book Award from the Wildlife Society, Southeastern Section, and was cited by the American Library Association as one of the nation's Notable Government Documents in 1993. Karen Terwilliger is associated with the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

This field guide, organized by color, features full-color photographs and information to help readers quickly and easily identify the Virginia birds they see.

A variety of animals common to North America pose for portraits against a white background while narrating distinctive aspects of their natural histories: animals such as the American bullfrog, American toad, blue jay, Ohio crawfish, goldfish, southern flying squirrel, big brown bat, fox snake, eastern screech-owl, gray treefrog, bush katydid, Virginia opossum, Chinese praying mantis, jumping spider, red flat bark beetle, black swallowtail, eastern spiny softshell turtle, red-eyed vireo, eastern box turtle, spotted salamander, monarch. Includes curious critters silhouettes quiz and answer key.