TAKE 5 - five featured titles available from BCIT Library:
May 3 – 10 is Bird Week in Vancouver so this Take 5 is dedicated to our fine feathered friends. And we have so many good bird books, we may have to Take 5 twice…or do a doubleTake – stay tuned….
The life of birds / BBC, PBS [3 DVD set – 580 minutes]
Call # QL 698.3 L54 2002
This is the definitive series on the most colorful, popular and perfectly adapted creatures on earth, covering 42 countries and examining over 300 different species. The filmmakers use ultra-slow motion film that unravels the complexities of bird flight and ultraviolet cameras that reveal the world from a bird’s point of view.
A murder of crows / CBC [DVD]
Call #: QL 696 P2367 S282 2005
This documentary explains how crows are one of the most intelligent species on the planet and shows how crows have a proven ability to reason and problem-solve, long and dependable memories, and complex social interactions that range from group play and hunting to gang-style killings and funerals. A friend who saw this DVD says she will never look at crows the same way again.
Bird brains: the intelligence of crows, ravens, magpies, and jays / Candace Savage
Call #: QL 696 P2367 S28 1997
Corvids – crows and their close relations – appear to have powers of abstraction, memory, and creativity that put them on a par with many mammals, even higher primates. this authoritative text documents the life and behavior of sixteen representative corvid species that inhabit North America and Europe. The author describes birds that recognize each other as individuals, call one another by name, remember and relocate thousands of hidden food caches, engage in true teamwork and purposeful play, and generally exhibit an extraordinary degree of sophistication.
The nature of hummingbirds : rainbows on wings / Harry Thurston
Call #: QL 696 A558 T58 1999
A thorough account of the life and times of hummingbirds, their place in history and in the cosmology of Native peoples throughout North and South America. This volume includes beautiful full page, full colour photographs.
Gatherings of angels: migrating birds and their ecology / Kenneth P. Able (ed.)
Call #: QL 698.9 G38 1999
The first two chapters cover a general introduction to the phenomenon of bird migration, followed by chapters on specific types of migrating birds, including the Blackpoll Warbler, the Broad-winged Hawk, Sandhill Cranes, the White Rumped Sandpiper and Hummingbirds.