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Chargement... Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird (2017)par Katie Fallon
Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. I really enjoyed this book. Soaring vultures always catch my eye, and until I read this, when I recognized the birds, I always thought to myself, disappointed, "Oh, they're just vultures." Now that I understand more about these birds, their importance, and the threats they face, I will freely admire their soaring flight. ( ) Cette critique a été écrite dans le cadre des Critiques en avant-première de LibraryThing. About a year ago or so, I discovered the Safari Live channel on YouTube; for three hours at sunrise and again at sunset, three guides (two on vehicle, one on foot) take viewers through the Djuma Private Game Reserve of Kruger National Park, the South African bush country. While the guides naturally tend to focus on the wildlife that people want to see (the big cats, elephants, hippos, antelope, etc.), there will be the occasional views of vultures at a carcass: "the clean-up crew," more than one guide has said, "nothing goes to waste here in the bush."Being the custodian is apparently as low-prestige in the wild as it in among us "civilized" humans in cities and towns. It is truly sad that such a vital and necessary function of life and death is so derided and ignored. Katie Fallon, co-founder of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, feels the same way; hence her book, "Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird." Her small book (a little over 200 pages) introduces the reader to the individuals and groups who have dedicated their professional lives and resources to the preservation, protection, and defense of the various species of vultures (more familiarly known as buzzards in parts of the US). Ms. Fallon writes with a quiet passion. She imparts much information about the various vulture species, but in a down-to-earth fashion, no overloading the reader with professional jargon. In relating her own research, for example, Ms. Fallon parallels her pregnancy with that of the recently-hatched vultures she's studying (and attempting to tag). Her love of these funky birds is not only apparent, but also infectious. Read this book, and you will have a new appreciation (if not affection) for these indispensable birds. Cette critique a été écrite dans le cadre des Critiques en avant-première de LibraryThing. I enjoyed almost every aspect of this treatise on vultures. Personally, I never understood the animosity shown by many to these birds. They are a major player in keeping down all the things which which people associate these birds (disease, pestilence, etc). Fallon does a good job of describing the biology of the birds, their personalities, and their role in society. While it doesn't quite rise to a "Ravens in Winter" quality, it is a solid book for anyone wanting to know about this undeservedly unloved bird. The only part I found a bit hokey was the prefaces to each chapter. They didn't fit the book to me and felt like someone who couldn't get a novella published found a way to sneak one in to another book. Cette critique a été écrite dans le cadre des Critiques en avant-première de LibraryThing. Vultures are very maligned birds. This author attempts to impart an understanding of their significance in nature. However, although quite knowledgeable about these birds there is not much cohesion to the chapters or natural transition from one chapter to another. Fallon's writing style is not overly scholarly and very readable to a degree. By including insignificant details about her personal life in telling about her birding adventures to find out about vultures one is put off by these personal facts. I did learn some facts about vultures and other raptors heretofore I did not know. The part of this book that gave me the most enjoyment was the small adjunct about the life of a female vulture that carried over from one chapter to another. This I found quite lyrical and wished all her writing was like that. Footnotes in some of the chapters could have been included to indicate that there was an included photo that would better assist in illustrating a point. All photos were grouped together not in any particular order. An afterword included significant organizations that advocate for avian conservation and also some helpful ways an individual might help vultures. Moreover, an extensive bibliography and an index were also part of this book.I am a birding enthusiast so I did plow through this book. As a former librarian, however, I would not recommend this book for purchase in a general public library. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Turkey vultures, the most widely distributed and abundant scavenging birds of prey on the planet, are found from central Canada to the southern tip of Argentina, and nearly everywhere in between. In the United States we sometimes call them buzzards; in parts of Mexico the name is aura cabecirroja, in Uruguay jote cabeza colorada, and in Ecuador gallinazo aura. A huge bird, the turkey vulture is a familiar sight from culture to culture, in both hemispheres. But despite being ubiquitous and recognizable, the turkey vulture has never had a book of literary nonfiction devoted to it--until Vulture. Floating on six-foot wings, turkey vultures use their keen senses of smell and sight to locate carrion. Unlike their cousin the black vulture, turkey vultures do not kill weak or dying animals; instead, they cleanse, purify, and renew the environment by clearing it of decaying carcasses, thus slowing the spread of such dangerous pathogens as anthrax, rabies, and botulism. The beauty, grace, and important role of these birds in the ecosystem notwithstanding, turkey vultures are maligned and underappreciated; they have been accused of spreading disease and killing livestock, neither of which has ever been substantiated. Although turkey vultures are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which makes harming them a federal offense, the birds still face persecution. They've been killed because of their looks, their odor, and their presence in proximity to humans. Even the federal government occasionally sanctions "roost dispersals," which involve the harassment and sometimes the murder of communally roosting vultures during the cold winter months. Vulture follows a year in the life of a typical North American turkey vulture. By incorporating information from scientific papers and articles, as well as interviews with world-renowned raptor and vulture experts, author Katie Fallon examines all aspects of the bird's natural history: breeding, incubating eggs, raising chicks, migrating, and roosting. After reading this book you will never look at a vulture in the same way again. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Critiques des anciens de LibraryThing en avant-premièreLe livre Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird de Katie Fallon était disponible sur LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)598.92Natural sciences and mathematics Zoology Birds Raptors, birds of prey VulturesClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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