Author: Joel Greenberg Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA ISBN: 1620405369 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 305
Book Description
This beautifully written cautionary tale reveals how passenger pigeons have become extinct and how no series effort was made to protect this species that inspired awe in the likes of John James Audubon, Henry David Thoreau and James Fenimore Cooper until it was too late.
Author: Joel Greenberg Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA ISBN: 1620405350 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 305
Book Description
The epic story of why passenger pigeons became extinct and what that says about our current relationship with the natural world. When Europeans arrived in North America, 25 to 40 percent of the continent's birds were passenger pigeons, traveling in flocks so massive as to block out the sun for hours or even days. The downbeats of their wings would chill the air beneath and create a thundering roar that would drown out all other sound. John James Audubon, impressed by their speed and agility, said a lone passenger pigeon streaking through the forest “passes like a thought.” How prophetic-for although a billion pigeons crossed the skies 80 miles from Toronto in May of 1860, little more than fifty years later passenger pigeons were extinct. The last of the species, Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914. As naturalist Joel Greenberg relates in gripping detail, the pigeons' propensity to nest, roost, and fly together in vast numbers made them vulnerable to unremitting market and recreational hunting. The spread of railroads and telegraph lines created national demand that allowed the birds to be pursued relentlessly. Passenger pigeons inspired awe in the likes of Audubon, Henry David Thoreau, James Fenimore Cooper, and others, but no serious effort was made to protect the species until it was too late. Greenberg's beautifully written story of the passenger pigeon paints a vivid picture of the passenger pigeon's place in literature, art, and the hearts and minds of those who witnessed this epic bird, while providing a cautionary tale of what happens when species and natural resources are not harvested sustainably.
Author: Errol Fuller Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 140085220X Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 182
Book Description
A haunting, beautifully illustrated memorial to this iconic extinct bird At the start of the nineteenth century, Passenger Pigeons were perhaps the most abundant birds on the planet, numbering literally in the billions. The flocks were so large and so dense that they blackened the skies, even blotting out the sun for days at a stretch. Yet by the end of the century, the most common bird in North America had vanished from the wild. In 1914, the last known representative of her species, Martha, died in a cage at the Cincinnati Zoo. This stunningly illustrated book tells the astonishing story of North America's Passenger Pigeon, a bird species that—like the Tyrannosaur, the Mammoth, and the Dodo—has become one of the great icons of extinction. Errol Fuller describes how these fast, agile, and handsomely plumaged birds were immortalized by the ornithologist and painter John James Audubon, and captured the imagination of writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain. He shows how widespread deforestation, the demand for cheap and plentiful pigeon meat, and the indiscriminate killing of Passenger Pigeons for sport led to their catastrophic decline. Fuller provides an evocative memorial to a bird species that was once so important to the ecology of North America, and reminds us of just how fragile the natural world can be. Published in the centennial year of Martha’s death, The Passenger Pigeon features rare archival images as well as haunting photos of live birds.
Author: A. W. Schorger Publisher: ISBN: 9781258154455 Category : Languages : en Pages : 452
Book Description
Published in 1955 by the University of Oklahoma Press, this is the classic study of the extinction of the passenger pigeon. The passenger pigeon, once probably the most numerous bird on the planet, made its home in the billion or so acres of primary forest that once covered North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Their flocks, a mile wide and up to 300 miles long, were so dense that they darkened the sky for hours and days as the flock passed overhead. Population estimates from the 19th century ranged from 1 billion to close to 4 billion birds. Total populations may have reached 5 billion birds and comprised up to 40% of the total number of birds in North America. This may be the only species for which the exact time of extinction is known. No appreciable decline in the numbers was noted until the late 1870s but, thereafter, their destruction took only twenty-five years. The immense roosting and nesting colonies invited over-hunting. Tens of thousands of individuals were harvested daily from nesting colonies, and shipped to markets in the east. Modern technology hastened the demise of the passenger pigeon. With the coming of the telegraph, the locations of flocks could be ascertained, and the birds relentlessly pursued. The last bird died in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoological Garden before any competent ornithologists could write an account of the species. A. W. Schorger reconstructed the life history of the passenger pigeon. Through painstaking research, he examined every aspect of the species -- behavioral characteristics, feeding methods, traveling and roosting habits, nesting - and the various stages of the species encounter with man, from utilization by the Native American to extinction at the hands of white settlers. From the original reviews: "This really shocking book ought to be required reading for every thoughtful citizen" Audubon Magazine "Reads as fascinatingly as many a novel" Cleveland Plain Dealer "Prodigious" Newsweek "Absorbing" Scientific American "An excellent book" Michigan History
Author: Joel Greenberg Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 0226306496 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 614
Book Description
"In A Natural History of the Chicago Region, Greenberg takes you on a journey that begins with European explorers and settlers and hasn't ended yet. Along the way he introduces you to the physical forces that have shaped the area from southeastern Wisconsin to northern Indiana and Berrien County in Michigan; the various habitat types present in the region and how European settlement has affected them; and the insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, and mammals found in presettlement times, then amid the settlers and now amid the skyscrappers. In all, Greenberg chronicles the development of nineteen counties in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin across centuries of ecological, technological, and social transformations."--BOOK JACKET.
Author: Tony Fitzpatrick Publisher: ISBN: 9781940430508 Category : American essays Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Renowned Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick's Dime Stories captures his raucous rants and pithy musings alongside full-color prints of his paintings.
Author: Dr. Laurie Marker Publisher: Partridge Africa ISBN: 1482878496 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 216
Book Description
“The cheetah is a magical and graceful animal and no one is more qualified to share its journey with you than Dr. Laurie Marker. Through the use of Suzi Eszterhas’ beautiful photographs and Laurie’s narration and nearly 40 years of experience you’ll gain a unique insight into what makes the cheetah so special and what can be done to save it from extinction.” — Charles Knowles, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Wildlife Conservation Network A Future for Cheetahs is a simple and elegant large-format book of incredible photography that provides insight on the past, present, and future of cheetahs in the wild. It features commentary by Dr. Laurie Marker, world renowned authority on cheetahs, and imagery captured by renowned wildlife photographer, Suzi Eszterhas. Through the eyes of the cheetah, this picture book story will bring you, the reader, face to face with some of the rarest and most beautiful images taken of wild cheetah. Equally as powerful, compelling stories and photos will weave a story of the conservation initiatives that are the key to their very survival. “Ever since I first met Dr. Laurie Marker, I have been a fan of her work and share her fascination with the cheetah as an icon of speed and grace. Laurie has devoted her life to learning about the cheetah and using her knowledge to assure the cheetah as a species survives to future generations. Readers of A Future for Cheetahs are not only getting a treasure trove of remarkable images of the cheetah, but also the extraordinary story of what a boots-on-the-ground conservationist is doing to save it from extinction, in her own words.” —Jeff Corwin, Television personality and conservationist “A Future for Cheetahs is a gorgeous and significant book. Amazing and elegant photographs by world-class photographer Suzi Eszterhas are mixed with a haunting narrative of the cheetah’s march for survival penned by guardian angel of the cheetah, Laurie Marker. Any curious world citizen or committed conservationist needs to ingest this book. All will enjoy the wonder and majesty of evolution’s most enriching and skillful creation, the African cheetah, through the lens and words of incomparable witnesses in the plight of a fragile beautiful species.” —Stephen J O’Brien, Author Tears of the Cheetah and Other Tales from the Genetic Frontier
Author: Joel Greenberg
Author: Joel Greenberg
Author: Joel Greenberg
Author: Errol Fuller
Author: John Audubon
Author: A. W. Schorger
Author: Joel Greenberg
Author: Tony Fitzpatrick
Author: Dr. Laurie Marker
Author: Peter Matthiessen