You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Brings together everything we know about the biology and behaviour of this unusual species.
The tawny frogmouth is one of Australia’s most intriguing and endearing birds. Written by award-winning author Gisela Kaplan, one of Australia’s leading authorities on animal behaviour and native birds, this second edition of Tawny Frogmouth presents an easy-to-read account of these unique nocturnal birds, which can be found across almost the entire continent. Fully revised and updated throughout, this book combines 20 years of systematic observation with published research and information from regional surveys, and represents the most comprehensive single study ever conducted on tawny frogmouths. We learn that tawny frogmouths are very affectionate, have close bonds with lifelong partne...
In her comprehensive and carefully crafted book, Gisela Kaplan demonstrates how intelligent and emotional Australian birds can be. She describes complex behaviours such as grieving, deception, problem solving and the use of tools. Many Australian birds cooperate and defend each other, and exceptional ones go fishing by throwing breadcrumbs in the water, extract poisonous parts from prey and use tools to crack open eggshells and mussels. The author brings together evidence of many such cognitive abilities, suggesting plausible reasons for their appearance in Australian birds. Bird Minds is the first attempt to shine a critical and scientific light on the cognitive behaviour of Australian land birds. In this fascinating volume, the author also presents recent changes in our understanding of the avian brain and links these to life histories and longevity. Following on from Gisela’s well-received books on the Australian Magpie and the Tawny Frogmouth, as well as two earlier titles on birds, Bird Minds contends that the unique and often difficult conditions of Australia's environment have been crucial for the evolution of unusual complexities in avian cognition and behaviour.
Some Australian native birds become childhood sweethearts and court for years before they get 'married'. Others divorce because of personality clashes and different skill levels. Many negotiate their parenting duties. But how do these personal life events link to long-lasting bonds, long life-spans and exceptional overall intelligence? Professor Gisela Kaplan, an eminent voice in animal behaviour, and particularly bird behaviour, draws on the latest insights in the evolution of particular cognitive and social abilities. She uncovers motivations and attractions in partner choice that are far more complex than was once believed. She shows how humans and birds may be more alike in attachment and mating behaviour than we think - despite the enormous evolutionary distance between us. Based on a wealth of original research and complemented by illustrations and colour photographs, Bird Bonds is a valuable resource and a beguiling insight into the world of the birds around us.
The authors criticise the new, genetic explanations for human behaviour. They describe the theory of biology, and the reality in which a gendered world and the women's biology and the consequences are described. In the chapter 'Perpetuity' they discuss the gay and queer gene.
Age range 9 to 14 Aussie STEM Stars is an inspiring children's series that celebrates Australia's experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Gisela Kaplan’s story begins in post-World War II Germany. Despite incredible challenges as a child, she retained a profound curiosity, care and compassion for all living things. Her captivating, ground-breaking scientific research on Australian magpies, tawny frogmouths and other iconic bird species, as well as primates, make Prof. Kaplan a world-leading expert in animal behaviour, especially of Australian birds. Professor Kaplan is on a mission to spread the word about how intelligent and surprising birds are, before time runs out for many of them.
Age range 9 to 14 Aussie STEM Stars is an inspiring children's series that celebrates Australia's experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Gisela Kaplan's story begins in post-World War II Germany. Despite incredible challenges as a child, she retained a profound curiosity, care and compassion for all living things. Her captivating, ground-breaking scientific research on Australian magpies, tawny frogmouths and other iconic bird species, as well as primates, make Prof. Kaplan a world-leading expert in animal behaviour, especially of Australian birds.
Written confidently and with compassion, this is the story of a long revolution that has set out to change predominant attitudes and transform value hierarchies and human lifestyles. By outlining the postwar histories of individual countries Kaplan contextualises women's movements and documents a significant chapter of European social history. She poses questions about the interrelationship between the new movements and the parliamentary democracies in which they occurred, while analysing the contradictions of living in modern capitalist countries. Contemporary Western European Feminism also tackles important contradictions, such as those between the welfare state and the free market economy; industrialisation and religious value systems; social engineering and the production of wealth; and dissent and patrimonial systems of democracy.
Gisela Kaplan traces the story of post-war Australian feminism, highlighting the ambivalence toward lesbian, migrant and Aboriginal women. From a feminist perspective, she assesses the achievements of the women's movement, arguing that despite appearances, for many women it has been a meager harvest. Meagre Harvest is a provocative account of the promises and mistakes of the 1970s and 1980s and the current status of women in Australia. The first book to offer an overview of the second wave Australian women's movement, it is written with compelling honesty and insight.
From the calling macaw and the roaring lion to the dancing lyrebird, animals all around us can be heard and seen communicating with each other and, occasionally, with us. Why they do so, what their utterances mean, and how much we know about them are the subject of Songs, Roars, and Rituals. This is a concise, yet comprehensive, introduction to the complexities of communication in animals. Rogers and Kaplan take us on an exciting journey through communication in the animal world, offering insights on how animals communicate by sight, sound, smell, touch, and even electrical signaling. They explore a wide variety of communication patterns in many species of mammals and birds and discuss in detail how communication signals evolved, how they are learned, and what song and mimicry may mean. An up-to-date account of the science of animal communication, this book also considers modern concepts (such as that of deceptive communication) and modern controversies, primarily those surrounding the evolution of human language and the use of symbolic language by apes. It concludes with a thought-provoking look at the future of communication between humans and animals.