Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Contemplate the deep and long-term interactions between birds and humans. Beginning in ancient times, explore the roles birds have played in diverse civilizations, and how birds have benefited people in ways ranging from hunting to pest control. In today's world, take account of citizen science efforts, bird banding, and other ways birders can contribute to scientific knowledge.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Professor Donaldson spends an entire lecture demonstrating how to train tricks, including distance drop, fugitive frisk, and sit pretty. She explains that, from here, you can string these tricks together to make a chain of tricks, or use the same principles to train your dog to do any trick he is physically capable of doing.
43) The National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America: Episode 6,Introduction to Birding Optics
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
This lecture discusses the core optical tools that aid us in observing birds in the field. Study the parts of a pair of binoculars, and the pros and cons of different types of binoculars. Learn how to use binoculars for birding, highlighting matters such as magnification, field of view, and depth of field. Also take account of spotting scopes, and how they provide detail that binoculars can't.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Track the behavior of birds when they form flocks or colonies. Grasp the diverse benefits of group foraging, and how birds form mixed-species foraging flocks. Investigate group roosting and breeding behavior, and study fossil evidence that suggests some dinosaurs nested just like modern wading birds. Assess why birds form colonies and investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the colonies.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
By now your dog is figuring out that "good things come to those who wait" and is starting to work on impulse control without being told. At this point in training, your dog has also figured out that obedience is the strategy to get what he wants. This empowering realization means your dog understands he can take charge and control the situation.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Examine the difference between tricks and obedience. Explore why teaching tricks can be beneficial to your dog as you work through three types of trick training: non-transitive or simple actions, transitive, and behavior chains. By using the foundation of obedience training you've already established, you can teach old (and young) dogs new tricks.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
In these 12 vividly illustrated lessons, biologist and bird expert Professor Bruce E. Fleury takes you on a journey through the amazing world of birds—their evolution, their lives in the wild, and the science that underlies their behaviors. Whether you’re an experienced birder or a newcomer to the bird world, you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for the beauty and diversity of our feathered friends.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Consider guidelines for ethical birding, based in respect for fellow birders and non-birders alike. Conclude with a far-reaching look at matters affecting bird welfare, at both the individual and species level. Review current environmental factors that endanger birds, and actions you can take, both individually and through organizations, to safeguard our precious bird species.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Now travel into the world of these iconic and alluring birds of prey, and their distinguishing features, ranges, and behaviors. Learn about New World vultures, including the magnificent California condor. Also encounter the osprey, kites, eagles, hawks, falcons, kestrels, and the crested caracara. Consider the challenges of raptor-watching, and their unusual history with humans.
51) The National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America: Episode 11,Essentials of Bird Migration
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Migration seasons provide excellent opportunities to sight unfamiliar bird species. Here, uncover the evolutionary origins of migration, and why birds migrate. Study the triggers and geographical patterns of migration, and the four principal "flyways" (migration zones) of North America. Learn how to maximize your sightings of migrating birds, and how technology can aid this.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Start the proofing process, which means your dog will be proving he knows behaviors even in different conditions or environments. Professor Donaldson demonstrates how taking the same training regimen on the road can have different results and what to do to get over obstacles such as competing motivation, distractions, or problems with generalization.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Dig into the "software your dog comes bundled with" and discover how common psychological practices can help us train dogs to overcome their instinctual behaviors. Professor Donaldson defines terms you'll be using throughout the training such as prompting, capturing, and shaping. Master the first basic obedience commands: sit and down.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Begin by contemplating the integral connections between birds and dinosaurs. Examine mounting evidence that birds not only evolved directly from dinosaurs, but also that they are themselves dinosaurs. Consider how bipedal reptiles gained the ability to fly, becoming birds, and how the cursorial (from the ground) and arboreal (gliding) theories of the origin of flight may intersect.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Investigate three forms of avian polygyny, where one male mates with several females, and the factors that make it a useful adaptation. Then discover "leks," courtship arenas where males compete for mates, and witness the dramatic courtship displays of some male birds. Marvel at the Australian bowerbirds, who build elaborate, decorated structures whose only purpose is to attract a mate.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Discover the remarkable physiological features of birds that undergird flight. First, note how and why feathers evolved. Then, investigate the high metabolism of birds - they must burn energy at an astounding rate. See how birds are adapted for flight by many weight-reducing factors, and how their respiratory, circulatory, and excretory systems, as well as heightened senses, keep them airborne.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
After a brief review of how respondent conditioning, also known as classical conditioning or Pavlovian conditioning, works, Professor Donaldson reveals tips for using this method to train your dog. She shares the rules for using conditioning and demonstrates how it works by conditioning a dog for having his teeth brushed.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2017.
Language
English
Description
Look into six categories of bird behavior, as they provide vital information for identification. See how individual species are distinguished by typical or unique behavioral traits. Study the distinctive feeding habits of many species, and how we can recognize species from flight and flocking behavior. End by exploring the extraordinary mating and nesting customs of North American birds.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2018.
Language
English
Description
Explore the multifaceted phenomenon of birdsong, distinguishing between birds' songs and calls. Grasp the physics of song/call production, and how some birds can actually sing two songs at once. Learn about the innate versus the learned components of birdsong, how birds need to practice and perfect their songs, and the amazing variety of the individual and social functions of birdsong.
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