After having for a couple of years Julian Hume's "Lost land of the Dodo" in my library, where he makes an amazing description of what we know of the pre-human arrival ecosystem in the Mascarenes I was wondering if there are similar books on New Zealand?
New Zealand ecosystem book
- Thread starter DDcorvus
- Start date
Check out "The Lost World of the Moa" by T. Worthy and Richard Holdaway.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-World-Moa-Prehistoric/dp/0253340349"]The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand: T H Worthy, Richard N Holdaway: 9780253340344: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-World-Moa-Prehistoric/dp/0253340349"]The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand: T H Worthy, Richard N Holdaway: 9780253340344: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]
I still haven't read my copy of Lost Land of the Dodo. It is still in its packaging inside one of my storage boxes!
Holdaway's Lost World of the Moa is really good, but very expensive. Well worth the price though. There are some smaller books too, but they are aimed more at a general audience and often relate to extinct birds and not the overall ecosystem. I'll come up with a list later on when I have some time.
Holdaway's Lost World of the Moa is really good, but very expensive. Well worth the price though. There are some smaller books too, but they are aimed more at a general audience and often relate to extinct birds and not the overall ecosystem. I'll come up with a list later on when I have some time.
Are you serious? I can probably get you a copy for ever so slightly less than that if you give me some time. Maybe I should put my copy on sale!!A book I have sitting right in front of me which would also be of interest to you is Ghosts of Gondwana: the history of life in New Zealand by George Gibbs.
I would not be at all surprised to find such an infestation in the storage locker
A book I have sitting right in front of me which would also be of interest to you is Ghosts of Gondwana: the history of life in New Zealand by George Gibbs.
http://www.amazon.de/gp/offer-listi...1427358982&sr=8-1&keywords=flight+of+the+huia
And you might make quite some money on your copy! Maybe enough to start funding another epic Chlidonias road-trip.
And if you would find a normal priced copy in New Zealand it would be great. And I put Ghosts of Gondwana on my wishlist at bookdepository. the Lost world of the Moa was 75 euro so I will read that one first before going for that book. It has an interesting approach and focus.
And off topic: I had some talks on a possible book on Cyanoramphus, but the two publishing houses I talked to considered that there is not enough market for such a specialised book
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I also have these two sitting in front of me right now:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Australian-Zealand-Antarctic-Birds/dp/0195530705"]Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 3: Snipe to Pigeons: P. J. Higgins, S. J. J. F. Davies: 9780195530704: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Australian-Zealand-Antarctic-Birds/dp/0195530713"]Amazon.com: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds: Volume 4: Parrots to Dollarbirds (9780195530711): Peter Higgins: Books[/ame]
In amongst my other books I have this one:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Birds-Wallacea-Sulawesi-Indonesia/dp/0959025731"]A Guide to the Birds of Wallacea: Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia: Brian J. Coates, K. David Bishop, Dana Gardner: 9780959025736: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]
Lots of similar examples of out-of-print books. My oldest book is one on aviculture from the 1850s but I have no idea how much it is worth (and I can't remember the name of it now). I don't like selling my books once I have them though!!
I will keep an eye out. I see them quite often in shops, but probably now I won't be able to find any. It's always the way.DDcorvus said:
I would be interested in such a specialised book! Maybe talk to some NZ publishers (like the university ones)?DDcorvus said:And off topic: I had some talks on a possible book on Cyanoramphus, but the two publishing houses I talked to considered that there is not enough market for such a specialised book
for books on NZ extinct bird species (as opposed to books on the entire ecosystem), the best is Extinct Birds of New Zealand by Alan Tennyson, followed by New Zealand's Extinct Birds by Brian Gill. Both are (of course) now out of print.
Chlidonias maybe you should put your writing skills to use and build on all of those books for a new one!! And the Cyanoramphus book will come, I only need to finish some projects that I took on and need to be finished by September :S:S:S.
And somehow when your family expands you end up with a lot less time available for writing than before.
And somehow when your family expands you end up with a lot less time available for writing than before.
I just received "The lost land of the Moa" and the book is well worth it's price. It is very complete and very detailed. On first sight I only saw one minor point and that is that the non-avian species are only touched upon very briefly and I think Wetas are not touched upon at all. But this is just a minor comment.
that was fast!! Glad you like it.
It arrived this Saturday and the postman was not happy, but I am 
. And if I were you I would read Julian Hume's book. That book seems even more complete and on first sight is more accessible while staying of a high detailed level. Also that book has the cool drawings of extinct species.
. And if I were you I would read Julian Hume's book. That book seems even more complete and on first sight is more accessible while staying of a high detailed level. Also that book has the cool drawings of extinct species.
nothing to do with NZ, but relating to the Mauritius book: there is also a Madagascar book released last year (see thread http://www.zoochat.com/183/extinct-madagascar-374723/)
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