Australia Natural History Books

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gerenuk

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I am curious about which books on Australia wildlife or natural history are considered the best or are personal favorites? My library is rather slim in this area and I am looking to add some great books.

I recently purchased "The Biggest Estate on Earth" by Bill Gammage, and I have an old Australia bird guide that I picked up at a flea market. What other books/field guides are recommended?
 
For bird field guides there are two I would recommend:
The field guide to the birds of Australia. : Pizzey, Graham and Frank Knight, edited by Sarah Pizzey. - Andrew Isles and
The Slater field guide to Australian birds. : Slater, Peter, Pat Slater, and Raoul Slater. - Andrew Isles

For mammals, the best book reference is:
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Mammals-Australia-Third-Ronald-Strahan/dp/1877069256/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372892908&sr=1-3&keywords=Mammals+of+Australia]Mammals of Australia: Third Edition: Ronald Strahan, Steve Van Dyck: 9781877069253: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

And for reptiles the best reference (considered the 'bible') is Hal Cogger's "Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia", eighth edition (2000). Rare as hen's teeth and disgustingly expensive because of it's rarity (I think they were about $80 when published).

Instead, a great field guide to reptiles would be:
A complete guide to reptiles of Australia. : Wilson, Steve and Gerry Swan. - Andrew Isles

:p

Hix
 
Frogs of Australia by Michael Tyler: Field Guide to the Frogs of Australia , Michael J Tyler and Frank Knight, 9780643103986

(See also here for more CSIRO publications, which includes loads of relevant material such as books on freshwater fish, platypus, tree kangaroos, etc etc etc: CSIRO PUBLISHING - Books)

I also would recommend The Greening of Gondwana by Mary White: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/The-Greening-Gondwana-Third-Edition/dp/0864178956]The Greening of Gondwana: Third Edition: Mary E. White: 9780864178954: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]


Anything by Tim Flannery as well.

Australia is impressively endowed with books on its wildlife and natural heritage.
 
Any thoughts on this book?

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Australia-World/dp/0120931559/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373039615&sr=1-2&keywords=australian+natural+history]A Natural History of Australia (Natural World): Tim M. Berra: 9780120931552: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]
 
for $1.24 that would have to be a bargain even if it's not a great book! (I've never seen it before so I wouldn't know).
 
It's a little dated now (1998) and, like Chlidonias, I've not seen it either. But considering it has lots of information for the traveller, it probably is not too technical or detailed, but might give you a good overview.

:p

Hix
 
Wildlife of Tropical North Queensland, a Queensland Museum Publication I bought it at the Cairns sky rail station and have often delved into it. it's pretty comprehensive rather weighty at 806 grammes, 368 pages of photographs of all species likely to be encountered but sadly in my case mostly weren't!

Australian Tropical Butterflies Peter Valentine with Clifford and Dawn Frith paper back booklet very usefully even in Sydney. 70 pages of photos.

Another nice book is a Key Guide to Australian Wild flowers Leonard Cronin with 600 species illustrated. I bought mine here in UK at a used book stall for £1 (224 pages.)
 
gerenuk said:
Any recommendations on New Zealand wildlife or natural history books?
Click to expand...

I got myself "A field guide to the birds of New Zealand" by Julian Fitter and Don Merton. It is a nice field guide. Plus being the last publication of Don Merton it has something extra.
 
An addendum to my first post in this thread:

The last edition of Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia by Hal Cogger in 2000 was not the eighth, but the sixth. AS I said, extremely rare and as such, very expensive. Amazon advertises that edition for $490, and the previous edition (1992) starts at $350 - although one seller had a copy for $1875 !

Anyway, the seventh edition is due to be published in March. So if you are interested in Aussie herps, get your order in now as they will go quickly.

Reptiles and amphibians of Australia. : Cogger, Harold G. - Andrew Isles

:p

Hix
 
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