This ambitious volume covers the 36 species of gulls that occur in North and South America, with detailed information to help you identify these fascinating but challenging birds in their many and varied plumages. With 1,160 carefully chosen color photographs, this new reference guide, written by two of North America's top gull experts, is the definitive new work on gulls of the Americas.Peterson Reference Guides offer authoritative, comprehensive information, including detailed tex...

Butterflies come in every colour of the rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black and white. But their vibrant wings aren't just beautiful, they give each butterfly a special power too.Over the years, butterflies' wings have brightened, dulled and transformed as they adapt to their ever-changing environments, helping them survive and thrive through everything from the industrial revolution to the climate crisis.Colours help butterflies camouflage and s...

An acclaimed natural history writer follows the trail of the remarkable hummingbird all over the world.Hummingbirds are a glittering, sparkling collective of over three hundred wildly variable species. For centuries, they have been revered by indigenous Americans, coveted by European collectors, and admired worldwide for their unsurpassed metallic plumage and immense character. Yet they exist on a knife-edge, fighting for survival in boreal woodlands, dripping clou...

A heady celebration of the beauty and history of the wild orchid species of the British Isles, embraced in one glorious and kaleidoscopic summer-long hunt by naturalist Jon DunnFrom the chalk downs of the south coast of England to the heathery moorland of the Shetland Isles, and from the holy island of Lindisfarne in the east to the Atlantic frontier of western Ireland, Orchid Summer is a journey into Britain and Ireland's most beautiful corners. The flowe...

A comprehensive photographic field guide to the mammals of Great Britain and IrelandBritain’s Mammals is a comprehensive and beautifully designed photographic field guide to all the mammals recorded in the wild in Great Britain and Ireland in recent times—including marine mammals, bats and introduced species that have bred. The book features 500 stunning photographs and incorporates invaluable tips and suggestions to help you track down and identify even t...

A “fantastically informative” exploration of the hummingbird from an acclaimed natural history writer that is “exceedingly well-researched and packed with fascinating lore” (Wall Street Journal)Hummingbirds are a glittering, sparkling collective of over three hundred wildly variable species. For centuries, they have been revered by indigenous Americans, coveted by European collectors, and admired worldwide for their metallic plumage and immense character. ...

A blend of history, science, philosophy, and environmentalism, The Tree is an engaging and elegant look at the life of the tree and what modern research tells us about their future.There are redwoods in California that were ancient by the time Columbus first landed, and pines still alive that germinated around the time humans invented writing. There are Douglas firs as tall as skyscrapers, and a banyan tree in Calcutta as big as a football field.Fr...

*** Original and Unabridged Content. Made available by GOLDEN CLASSIC PRESS***Synopsis:Insectivorous Plants is a book by British naturalist and evolutionary theory pioneer Charles Darwin, first published on 2 July 1875 in London. Part of a series of works by Darwin related to his theory of natural selection, the book is a study of carnivorous plants with specific attention paid to the adaptations that allow them to live in difficult conditions. It includes illustrations by D...

In its essence, science is a way of looking at and thinking about the world. In The Life of a Leaf, Steven Vogel illuminates this approach, using the humble leaf as a model. Whether plant or person, every organism must contend with its immediate physical environment, a world that both limits what organisms can do and offers innumerable opportunities for evolving fascinating ways of challenging those limits. Here, Vogel explains these interactions, examining through the example of ...

In ancient Ireland there were 365 different parts to the body, and a different plant to cure each part. So the wild plants of Ireland are bound up in our culture and folklore from the earliest times. To arry a four-leaved shamrock brings luck in gambling, while putting nine ivy leaves under her pillow means a girl will dream of her future husband. Here plants are described in seasonal order, a perspective dating back to our ancestors. Different aspects of plant folklore are examined follow...

“A beautifully illustrated reference book covers the origins, ecology and history of popular garden plants.” —Shelf AwarenessThe oldest rose fossil was found in Colorado and dates to 35 million years ago. Marigolds, infamous for their ability to self-seed, are named for an Etruscan god who sprang from a ploughed field. And daffodils—an icon of spring—were introduced to Britain by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago. Every garden plant has an origination s...

Pollination and Floral Ecology is the most comprehensive single-volume reference to all aspects of pollination biology--and the first fully up-to-date resource of its kind to appear in decades. This beautifully illustrated book describes how flowers use colors, shapes, and scents to advertise themselves; how they offer pollen and nectar as rewards; and how they share complex interactions with beetles, birds, bats, bees, and other creatures. The ecology of these interactions is cov...