According to Michael Steinberg, guest editor of the special issue on avian geography in the Geographical Review Volume 100, 2 (April 2010, iii): “Birds are geographical creatures. In fact, we can map connections between birds and politics, recreation, economics, global health, mythology, aviation, and even professional sports. In other words, birds are a pervasive presence in various geographies.”

The special issue on avian geography offers a broad overview of the contributions of geographers to the understanding of human-avian relations, bird conservation strategies, and the impact of human activities on avian habitats. The issue’s aim is to promote future research on avian geographies, as geographers provide “a broader, more complete portrait of birds in and part of a landscape, not simply birds as single units in an ecosystem” (Steinberg, 2010, iv).

Contributors to the issue include Professor Robin Doughty, one of the first human geographers to examine the relations between humans and birds within the context of the bird protection movement in the United States. Doughty is also a new member of the Transnational Ecologies project. See: Robin Doughty, Feather Fashions and Bird Preservation: A Study in Nature Protection (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975).

Links:

• Professor Robin Doughty, new member of the Transnational Ecologies project
• The articles in the special issue of Geographical Review will be inputted to the Transnational Ecologies, Birds Bibliography
• Geographical Review: http://www.amergeog.org/gr/current_issue.html

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Featured image: Chickadee in Algonquin Park, Ontario. Photo by Amanda Frank on Unsplash.