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Friday, March 28, 2008

Audubon's Birds of America

The University of Pittsburgh’s digital library is one of the fortunate few to own one of the rare, complete sets of John James Audubon’s Birds of America. It is considered to be the single most valuable set of volumes in the collections of the University Library System. These prints have been scanned at a high resolution and can be viewed on their website. Each plate also has the accompanying text that goes with it – also available for viewing. This is really a neat collection! I’m glad that it’s now available online for all to see.

Here is the web link: http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon/


Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Becks Petrel Re-discovered

Many of you may be aware of this recent announcement, but those who may not know…
A bird not seen for almost 80 years has been discovered in the Pacific. Not seen for 80 years, the Becks Petrel (Pseudobulweria becki), thought to be extinct, was photographed last summer by an Israeli ornithologist in the Bismarck Archipelago, a group of islands northeast of New Guinea. Click the link below to read more.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080308223914.htm


Other articles relating to the Becks petrel:
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/06/becks_petrel.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck's_Petrel
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010269917