Pigeons and Doves in Australia

Description

A highly illustrated volume depicting all thirty native species of pigeons and doves to be found in Australia. Because of an almost universal familiarity with the Feral Pigeon, a domesticated form of the Rock Dove and possibly the most successful urban bird, pigeons and doves in the Order Columbiformes are one of the most easily recognised groups of birds. They are an ancient and very successful group with an almost worldwide distribution, being absent only from highest latitudes and highest altitudes, but are most strongly represented in tropical and subtropical regions, including Australia. In most species simple plumage patterns feature mainly grey and brown with black, white or dull reddish markings, but the highly colourful fruit-doves include some of the most beautiful of all birds.

Joseph M Forshaw is one of Australia's foremost ornithologists. Prior to his retirement, he held a senior position with the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service. He is a Research Associate in the Department of Ornithology at the Australian Museum, Sydney, and is a Corresponding Fellow of the American Ornithologists Union. In 1977 he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for his services to ornithology and conservation. It was in the early 1960s, while working as a biologist with the then CSIRO Division of Wildlife Research, that he turned a lifelong fascination with birds into a serious academic interest, and his efforts were rewarded in 1964 when he was granted a Frank M. Chapman Memorial Fellowship by the American Museum of Natural History to study specimens of Australian parrots in collections at that institution. In partnership with the eminent Australian bird artist William Cooper, he has produced a number of widely acclaimed books. aWilliam T Cooper AO is Australia's leading natural history artist. In collaboration with Joseph Forshaw, he has illustrated several ornithological books including Parrots of the World, The Birds of Paradise and Bower Birds,Australian Parrots, Kingfishers and Related Birds and Turacos. In 1990 he was awarded the Philadelphia Academy of Science (USA) Gold Medal, and in 1994 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his contribution to art and to ornithology. In 2014 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the Australian National University. A collection of Cooper's original paintings is owned by the National Library of Australia, another two collections are owned by the State Library of NSW (Mitchell Library), and many others are in private collections around the world.

"This volume deserves a place among the classic bird books of the world. It can sit proudly among the works of Caley, Gould and Audubon and adds greatly to our knowledge of the many and varied members the pigeon tribe. William Cooper's beautiful illustrations are a delight and for those who may not be all that interested in scientific description they alone would be reason enough to buy the book."-- "NPA Quarterly Review" (5/22/2015 12:00:00 AM) BEST BIRD BOOK of 2015 by THE BIRDBOOKER REPORT "RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for anyone who's a fan of Cooper's artwork. Also for anyone that collects bird family monographs or has a serious interest in the birds of Australia."--Ian Paulsen "The Birdbooker Report" (11/1/2015 12:00:00 AM)