National Science Week 2011 Events at CSIRO Discovery
Book Launch: 'Stray Feathers'
Start: 13 August 2011 3 pm
Location
CSIRO Discovery
Clunies Ross Street
Acton ACT 2601
Australia
General Information
Mike Preece, Director of ABRS, will launch Stray Feathers a new book from
CSIRO Publishing that explores how Australian birds move, how they feed, and
how they have evolved.
Did you know that Barn Owls can hunt in absolute darkness and that cuckoos
commence incubation before their egg is laid? That some Australian bird
species have different vocal dialects, depending on their postcode? Or that
some birds will sing for up to half-a-day to try and attract a mate.
"Stray Feathers explores the notion that when we see a bird in the field, we
are really looking at the results and actions of evolution," says Dr Leo
Joseph, co-author and Director of CSIRO's Australian National Wildlife
Collection.
"A bird's appearance and behaviour, the sounds it makes as vocalisations or
even with specially modified wing feathers, where it nests, how it builds
its nest, and what its eggs look like, all reflect the current point at
which a bird finds itself on an evolutionary lineage. That lineage is a path
that its ancestors have travelled as the species has evolved."
Through these kinds of lenses Stray Feathers examines every aspect of birds'
lives. Its various sections take the reader into how evolution has tailored
birds for finding food and mates, rearing their young and or even for
migrating across the planet.
The behaviour of our birds is quite a revelation, and Stray Feathers:
Reflections on the Structure, Behaviour and Evolution of Birds, details just
how amazing they are.
About the Speaker
Penny Olsen AM is a research scientist and experienced author and editor,
with a fascination for birds. She has written 14 books, four of which have
won Whitley Awards, and over 200 papers in refereed journals. An Associate
Professor at the Australian National University, she sits on various
conservation and natural resource management committees and hopes to keep
writing about Australia's wonderful wildlife until she drops off the perch.
Leo Joseph is the Director of the Australian National Wildlife Collection,
CSIRO, Canberra. He has been involved in ornithology as an amateur and
research scientist for some 35 years and has published widely in national
and international scientific journals. From 1997-2005, he was the Research
Curator in the department of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences,
Philadelphia. Passionate about the evolution of Australian birds, he sees
this book as an opportunity to acquaint a broad audience with the
spectacular results of evolution in Australian birds.
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