An Interview with Andrew Richford, the Commissioning Editor of the first six volumes of the Birds of Africa published by Academic Press. Seven volumes of The Birds of Africa were published between 1982 and 2004. Originally begun with Academic Press, volume 7 was published by Christopher Helm. The series editors were C. Hilary Fry, Stuart Keith, and Emil K. Urban. The principal artist was Martin Woodcock with key artistic contributions from others including Ian Willis. […]
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BOC Blog
Richard Sale & Steve Watson, The Peregrine Falcon
An interview with Richard Sale & Steve Watson on their book ‘The Peregrine Falcon’ published by Snowfinch Publishing. [Reproduced with permission from the June 2023 issue of the Quarterly Newsletter (No. 269) of the London Natural History Society] Richard Sale Steve Watson Richard Sale has co-authored several books on raptors including the Poyser ‘The Gyrfalcon’ and ‘The Snowy Owl’. He has also co-authored self-published books on ‘Steller’s Sea Eagle’, and ‘The Eurasian Hobby’. He also […]
Read moreRichard Grimmett, Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, Second Edition
An interview with Richard Grimmett, lead author of ‘’Birds of the Indian Subcontinent: Second Edition’, published by Bloomsbury in the Helm Field Guides series. Richard Grimmett is a keen birder who has visited southern Asia many times. He has co-authored numerous identification guides to the Indian Subcontinent and its constituent regions, mainly in collaboration with Carol and Tim Inskipp. Richard has worked for BirdLife International for more than 40 years and was in charge […]
Read moreDale Forbes, Habitats of Europe
An interview with Dale Forbes, lead author of ‘Habitats of Europe’ published by Princeton University Press. Dale Forbes is a lifelong naturalist and conservationist with an MSc in Biogeography. He works in strategy and marketing at Swarovski Optik, is a member of BirdLife International’s Advisory Board, and is the regional coordinator for eBird in Austria. He loves creating soundscapes that capture the essence of being immersed in nature https://soundcloud.com/capepolly Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne interviews Dale […]
Read morePursuing Parakeets in the Pages of the Past
The Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) was the United States’ only native parrot[i]. It occupied a remarkably wide range, from the swamps of Florida all the way to the plains of Nebraska, where it persisted even in snow and cold. The species often occurred in cypress woods in the southeast, and amidst sycamores in the midwest, and was never found far from water. With its bright green plumage and shrill, discordant calls, the birds were hard […]
Read moreDouglas Russell, Interesting Bird Nests & Eggs
An interview with Douglas Russell, author of ‘Interesting Bird Nests & Eggs’, published by the Natural History Museum. Douglas G. D. Russell is the Senior Curator responsible for the internationally renowned birds’ egg and nest collections at the Natural History Museum (NHM). After studying Biological Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University, he began his curatorial career at the Royal Museum of Scotland (now National Museum of Scotland) preparing bird specimens from the 1996 Sea Empress oil […]
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