Birds of New Guinea: Second Edition

November 17, 2014 By John E. Riutta in Newly Noted Books Tags: beehler, Birds, book, field, guide, guinea, new, pratt, Princeton

For those who are either presently in New Guinea, planning a trip there, or – like me – just fond of fantasizing about all the natural wonders to be found there, news of the recent publication by Princeton University Press of the second edition of Thane Pratt’s and Bruce M. Beehler’s Birds of New Guinea should be very welcome indeed.

And even if you’ve not previously given much thought to the birdlife of this area, just stop for a moment and consider this little piece of information from the book: 780 bird species are reported to be found in New Guinea – 366 of which are endemic. That’s nearly half! As a naturalist myself, that little fact alone makes my toes tingle. Which is why I’m very keen to spend a good bit of quality time with this new book to see just what else I might learn from it.

John E. Riutta

Founder and publisher of The Well-read Naturalist. Inveterate autodidact. Has repeatedly been found out standing in many fields. Plays well with otters.

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