Bird Guide and More

The Multi-ethnic Bird Guide of the Sub-Antarctic Forests of South America (UNT Press/Universidad de Magallanes) by Ricardo Rozzi and collaborators is much more than a bird guide. Its entries on 50 bird species of southern Chile and Argentina, such as the giant hummingbird and the Andean condor, include indigenous accounts of the birds in history and folklore.

Rozzi, associate professor of philosophy and religion studies and director of UNT’s Chile Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program and Field Station, says the Yahgan and Mapuche people of the area have handed down bird stories for hundreds of years. Accompanying the book are two audio CDs of bird narratives translated from interviews with elders, birdcalls and pronunciations of the birds’ names in four languages.

 

 

 

 

 

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