Kakapo rescue :

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Title :

Kakapo rescue : saving the world's strangest parrot / text by Sy Montgomery ; photographs by Nic Bishop.

Title:

Kakapo rescue :

Author:

Montgomery, Sy.

Format:

Books

Series:

Scientists in the field

Scientists in the field.

Physical Description:

74 pages : color illustrations, color maps ; 24 x 29 cm.

ISBN:

9780618494170

Production / Publication Information:

Boston : Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, c2010.

Summary:

On remote Codfish Island off the southern coast of New Zealand live the last 91 kakapo parrots on earth. Originally this bird numbered in the millions before humans brought predators to the islands. Now on the isolated island refuge, a team of scientists is trying to restore the kakapo population.

Bibliography note:

Includes biblioographical references (p. 73) and index.

Language:

English

Added Author:

Bishop, Nic, 1955-

Subject Term:

Kakapo

Birds -- Protection.

Kakapo -- Juvenile literature.

Kakapo -- Conservation -- Juvenile literature.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Chelmsford Public Library	J/639.97871/MONT	31480009992097	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Amesbury Public Library	J639.97 MON	32114001914168	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Billerica Public Library	YA 639.9787/MONT	33934003219012	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Boxford Town Library Storage	J 598.7 MON	32115001664802	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Burlington Public Library	J 639.97 MON	32116002716534	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Essex - T.O.H.P. Burnham Free Library	J 639.9 MONTGOMERY	32119000271916	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Georgetown Peabody Library	J 639.97 MONTGOMERY	32120000798353	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Groton Public Library	J 639.9 MON	37003701273592	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Hamilton-Wenham Public Library	J 598.71 MON	30470000877950	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Littleton - Reuben Hoar Library	J 639.9 MON	39965001615698	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lowell - Pollard Memorial Library	J 639.9787 MON	31481005136978	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lowell - Pollard Memorial Library	J 639.9787 MON	31481004569948	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library	J 598.71 MON	32124001378298	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	J 639.97 MON - ROBERT F . SIBERT MEDAL	31478003027951	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	J 598.7 MON	32132002393356	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Topsfield Town Library	J 639.97 MONTGOMERY	32133001826917	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Wilmington Memorial Library	KIDS 598.71 MONTGOMERY	32136002699969	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

2011 Sibert Medal Winner

On remote Codfish Island off the southern coast of New Zealand live the last ninety-one kakapo parrots on earth. These trusting, flightless, and beautiful birds--the largest and most unusual parrots on earth--have suffered devastating population loss.

Now, on an island refuge with the last of the species, New Zealand's National Kakapo Recovery Team is working to restore the kakapo population. With the help of fourteen humans who share a single hut and a passion for saving these odd ground-dwelling birds, the kakapo are making a comeback in New Zealand.

Follow intrepid animal lovers Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop on a ten-day excursion to witness the exciting events in the life of the kakapo.

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-8-Take a parrot. Color it green. Give it soft, fluffy feathers, and whiskers. Give it sumo proportions and take away its power of flight. Make it nocturnal, and have it nest underground. Aha! A kakapo! Once millions of these rather affable birds waddled all over New Zealand. Reduced (at present) to fewer than 90, the kakapo have been isolated on Codfish Island (free of feral cats, weasels, and stoats-all introduced species) and are now under the strict, careful guardianship of the New Zealand National Kakapo Recovery Team. Montgomery and Bishop were granted 10 days in which to accompany members of the team (many volunteering their time and efforts) as they radio-tracked the birds night and day in their forest habitat, weighed chicks, watched nesting behavior through hidden cameras, and plowed through gale-force winds and torrential rain to monitor the well-being of their charges. Excellent photos and a readable, conversational text provide an intimate look at a concerted effort to save a drastically endangered species unfamiliar to most of the world outside Down Under. Readers who enjoyed this author/photographer team's The Tarantula Scientist (2007) or Quest for the Tree Kangaroo (2006, both Houghton) will gobble up this tribute to ecological science in action.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book Review

The world's strangest parrot is also the world's heaviest parrot, weighing up to nine pounds, and is described here as "sweet-smelling, beautiful, big, soft, trusting, and playful." Montgomery and photographer Bishop once again trek to a remote and exciting locale-this time, Codfish Island off the coast of New Zealand-to bring us a marvelous account of the valiant efforts of naturalists to save a critically endangered species from extinction. We tag along with a small team of field officers from the National Kakapo Recovery Team and nature-loving volunteers as they do everything possible to keep the flightless birds and their offspring alive. This includes sleeping in tents near kakapo nests in order to put warming blankets on chicks the second their mothers leave for food, keeping feeders filled with nutrient-rich foods, and recording every movement and activity using transmitters strapped to each parrot. Montgomery's in-depth descriptions and Bishop's glorious photographs cover all aspects of the conservation effort, from the detailed and sometimes strenuous tasks that the truly dedicated volunteers and officers carefully execute to the rustic accommodations in the communal living quarters that house the team. Layered into the account is information on New Zealand's history, its unique biodiversity, and the devastating consequences of human settlement on its fragile ecosystem. A selected bibliography and an index are appended. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Under the careful supervision of forest rangers and volunteers on an island off the New Zealand coast, the nearly extinct, flightless Kakapo parrot is the object of an intensive rescue effort described by this experienced writer-photographer team. Montgomery and Bishop waited five years for the opportunity to visit Codfish Island to document this work. They've hatched a fascinating account of their all-too-short but eventful stay. The author's well-organized narrative includes information about the parrots' habits, their near disappearance and current island habitat and the activities of those who monitor each individual parrot through occasional physical capture and daily radio telemetry observations, watch nests and provide supplemental food. Describing triumph and tragedy, she movingly conveys the magic of the forest and of an accidental encounter with a parrot in the wild. As always, the photographer's remarkable and clearly reproduced photographs support and enhance the text. The book's careful design is unobtrusive: The progress of an opening egg sets off page numbers, and fern patterns provide a subtle decoration. Bibliography and a website encourage readers' further explorations. Wonderful. (Scientists in the Field Series) (map, fundraising plug, acknowledgments, index) (Nonfiction. 9-13) ]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Montgomery and Bishop, whose highly lauded titles include two Sibert Honor Books, offer yet another winning entry in the Scientists in the Field series. This time, the intrepid duo heads to a remote island off the southern tip of New Zealand, where they join a local government-sponsored research team that is working to save the Kakapo parrot from extinction. Weighing in at nearly nine pounds, these beautiful, honey-scented, once-ubiquitous creatures, named the most wonderful of all living birds by a nineteenth-century naturalist, have become a symbol of human civilization's devastating effects on indigenous life, and the New Zealand government is directing significant resources to try to ensure the species' survival. As usual, Montgomery's delight in her subject is contagious, and throughout her enthusiastic text, she nimbly blends scientific and historical facts with immediate, sensory descriptions of fieldwork. Young readers will be fascinated by the incredible measures that the passionate workers follow to help the new birds hatch, and many will share the team's heartbreak when some chicks die. Bishop's photos of the creatures and their habitat are stunning; an awe-inspiring, closing image of the world's eighty-seventh known Kakapo emerging from its shell captures the miracle of birth, for any species. Like many of the team's previous titles, this offers excellent support for units about animal conservation.--Engberg, Gillian Copyright 2010 Booklist