Alexander F. Skutch's Books

A Naturalist in Costa Rica

By: Alexander Frank Skutch

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A Naturalist in Costa Rica picks up Alexander F. Skutch's story in 1935, the year his memoir The Imperative Call ends. In it he recoreds his life, work, observations, and reflections during thirty-five years in the southeastern Pacific section of Costa Rica.

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Page Count

382

Published Date

ISBN 10

0813011485

ISBN 13

9780813011486

Orioles, Blackbirds, and Their Kin

A Natural History

By: Alexander F. Skutch

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Orioles, Blackbirds, and Their Kin

A Natural History

By: Alexander F. Skutch

From blackbirds and orioles to meadowlarks, grackles, and cowbirds, the variety and variation shown by members of the family Icteridae is legend. The family exhibits great diversity in size and coloration, mating and nest building, and habits and habitats. This group of 94 New World species once known as the troupials is well represented in backyards across America; yet most icterids are tropical or semi-tropical species that remain largely unstudied. The least known of these species are perhaps best known to Alexander Skutch, who has studied birds in a Costa Rican tropical valley for more than half a century. In this fascinating book the first devoted exclusively to the icterids—he combines his own observations with those of other naturalists to provide a comparative natural history and biology of this remarkable family of birds. Devoting a separate chapter to each major group or genus, he delineates the outstanding characteristics of each and includes observations of little-studied tropical species such as caciques and oropendolas. Orioles, Blackbirds, and Their Kin is an eminently readable natural history in the classic style. Enhanced by 31 scratchboard illustrations, this book will delight nature enthusiasts everywhere with its fascinating exposition of avian diversity. Because so much of the published information on the icterids is widely scattered, Skutch's painstaking compilation has created a valuable reference work that will provide students and researchers with a wealth of new insights into the tropical members of this New World family.

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Page Count

311

Publisher

University of Arizona Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0816546878

ISBN 13

9780816546879

Nature through Tropical Windows

By: Alexander F. Skutch

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Nature through Tropical Windows

By: Alexander F. Skutch

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983.

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Page Count

413

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520309308

ISBN 13

9780520309302

The Golden Core of Religion

By: Alexander F. Skutch

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The Golden Core of Religion

By: Alexander F. Skutch

First Published in 1970, The Golden Core of Religion develops the view that religion’s chief contribution to humanity has been its capacity to care deeply about things. More than any other institutions, it has encouraged men to care- for self, for neighbours, for the varied life around us, for the natural world that supports us. The golden core of religion is devoted care. Several chapters are concerned with the various forms of caring in primitive and advanced religions and religious philosophies, Eastern and Western. Religion likewise deserves our gratitude for fostering our highest aspirations such as that for a blessed life established upon true goodness- even if it cannot assure the fulfillment of these aspirations. In the two concluding chapters, the author develops his own religious views. In our growing appreciation of this splendour and wonder of the cosmos and deepening sense of responsibility for the preservation of the beauty and health of our planet, he discerns an essentially religious attitude, a new form of religion spontaneously taking shape, without, as yet a name or organization. This is a must read for scholars and researchers of religion.

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Page Count

335

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Published Date

ISBN 10

1003853072

ISBN 13

9781003853077

Antbirds and Ovenbirds

Their Lives and Homes

By: Alexander F. Skutch

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Antbirds and Ovenbirds

Their Lives and Homes

By: Alexander F. Skutch

Western Books Exhibition, Rounce and Coffin Club Antbirds and ovenbirds, two of the five largest families of birds found only in the Western Hemisphere, have been among Alexander Skutch's favorites for more than six decades. In this book, he draws on years of observations to describe the life cycle of these fascinating birds, which inhabit Latin America from tropical Mexico to Tierra del Fuego. Skutch covers all aspects of the birds' lives, including the various species in each family, food and foraging, daily life, voice, displays and courtship, nests and incubation, and parental care. He also recounts anecdotes from his own experiences, creating vivid pictures of antbirds foraging for the insects Skutch stirs up on walks through the rainforest and of ovenbirds repairing the observation holes that he opens in their elaborate nests. As some of tropical America's least studied birds, antbirds and ovenbirds surely merit the extensive treatment given them here by one of our most distinguished senior ornithologists. Over fifty line drawings by noted bird artist Dana Gardner make this book a delight for both armchair and field naturalists.

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Page Count

289

Publisher

University of Texas Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

029278581X

ISBN 13

9780292785816

A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica

By: F. Gary Stiles,Alexander Frank Skutch

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A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica

By: F. Gary Stiles,Alexander Frank Skutch

Costa Rica, a country of no larger than West Virginia, hosts more than 830 species of birds, more than in all of North Amerian north of Mexico. It may well be the only country in the world with as many bird species and habitats to be found in such a small area. Within two hours' drive from San Jose, one can see quetzals in highland forests, antbirds in lowland forests, or shorebirds and ibises in mangrove swamps. This lavishly illustrated book is the most comprehensive treatment of a rich tropical avifauna ever presented in a single volume suitable for its use in the field. With is full coverage of waterbirds and migrants as well as resident tropical species, and its coverage of such topics as plumages, vocalizations, food habits, nesting, and distribution, it is truly a guide to the birds themselves, not merely a guide to their identification. Gary Stiles and Alexander Skutch first set the stage for the birds by briefly describing the landforms, vegetation, and climates of Costa Rica. For those who want to take "that second long look" to interpret what they see, the authors discuss some aspects of evolution, ecology, and behavior of Costa Rican birds, and report on the costly and courageous conservation efforts the country is making in face of discouraging odds. The family and species accounts that follow, covering some 400 pages, make up the bulk of the book, with 52 magnificent color plates illustrating virtually ever species of Costa Rican bird, migrants as well as residents. There are also practical tips for trips in the field and descriptions of good birding locations, with specific directions for travel by car, public transport, and on foot, as well as three maps. A highly readable, portable encylopedia to the fascinating, ever-surprising birds of Costa Rica, this book will be welcomed by birders and other naturalists, professional and amateur ornithologists, ecologists, travelers, and conservationlists throughout the northern Neotropics.

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Page Count

636

Publisher

Comstock Publishing Associates

Published Date

ISBN 10

0801496004

ISBN 13

9780801496004

The Imperative Call

A Naturalist's Quest in Temperate and Tropical America

By: Alexander F. Skutch

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The Imperative Call

A Naturalist's Quest in Temperate and Tropical America

By: Alexander F. Skutch

The Imperative Call explores the making of an extraordinary naturalist... No one since W. H. Hudson has approached nature from such a consistent moral position. No one has tried so scrupulously to define the murky boundary 'between science and vandalism...' Ultimately, the reader comes to see Alex Skutch not so much as a naturalist or a farmer but as an artist."-- Audubon magazine "Skutch offers us the botanical and zoological riches of the tropics, combining a gifted scientist's powers of observation with a committed humanist's reverence for life. Even those who have never been drawn to the tropics will find themselves entranced." -- American Birds In The Imperative Call, Alexander F. Skutch recounts his early years growing up in Maryland and Maine and his adventures in Central America and Jamaica during the 1920s and 1930s, well before modernization affected the region, when the began his classic studies of nesting birds. Weaving precise descriptions of tropical plan, bird, and animal life into a personal philosophy about man and nature, the book is both autobiography and natural history.

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Page Count

331

Published Date

ISBN 10

0813011493

ISBN 13

9780813011493

Book's by Alexander F. Skutch

A Naturalist in Costa Rica

A Naturalist in Costa Rica

Orioles, Blackbirds, and Their Kin

Orioles, Blackbirds, and Their Kin

Nature through Tropical Windows

Nature through Tropical Windows

The Golden Core of Religion

The Golden Core of Religion

Antbirds and Ovenbirds

Antbirds and Ovenbirds

A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica

A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica

The Imperative Call

The Imperative Call

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