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New Zealand ecosystem book

Discussion in 'TV, Movies, Books about Zoos & Wildlife' started by DDcorvus, 25 Mar 2015.

  1. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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?
     
  2. DavidBrown

    DavidBrown Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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]
     
  3. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Thanks a lot David
     
  4. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  5. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Flight of the Huia: Ecology and conservation of New Zealand's frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals by Kerry-Jayne Wilson is a great read on NZ's antural history. I haven't read Lost World of the Moa.
     
    Last edited: 25 Mar 2015
  6. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Thanks everybody and Chlidonias it seems your storage boxes have the biggest natural history book collection in New Zealand and don't be surprised if one day when you go to them you'll find some Zoochatters reading books in them.
     
  7. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    And I ordered a copy of Lost World of the Moa, unfortunately both books are out of print and event though Worthey and Holdaway's book isn't cheap, it was still cheaper than the 1400 euro someone is asking for a second hand copy of Flight of the Huia.
     
  8. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    :eek: 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.
     
  9. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I would not be at all surprised to find such an infestation in the storage locker :D
     
  10. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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 :(.
     
  11. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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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.


    I would be interested in such a specialised book! Maybe talk to some NZ publishers (like the university ones)?
     
  12. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  13. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  14. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  15. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    that was fast!! Glad you like it.
     
  16. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    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.
     
  17. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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  18. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    It looks like a good books, but are ecosystems that are not dominated by avian-dinosaurs interesting ;)?