Dr. Dale Zimmerman’s life experiences are as colorful as the birds documented in a new memoir, Turaco Country: Reminiscences of East African Birding, a lengthy publication that took more than a decade to write.
Zimmerman’s memoir details a half-century of ornithological investigations in East Africa, researching birdlife and wild habitats through decades of change in the country for which he considers a second home.
“I have been in love with Africa since I first went there in 1961,” said Zimmerman. “The memoir details my experiences from 1961 to 1992 where I made over 20 trips to the country.”
While a professor and head of the biology department at Western New Mexico University, Zimmerman was awarded a national science grant allowing him to explore birdlife, at a time when the subject material had seen little investigation.
Often traveling with his wife Marian, also an ornithologist and botanist, the couple’s adventures are brought to life in the more than 900 photos, most taken by the Zimmermans, included in the book.
An acclaimed artist as well as scientist, Zimmerman co-authored and co-illustrated two field guides, Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania and Birds of New Guinea. His life’s work was recently recognized by the American Birding Association with the prestigious Ludlow Griscom Award for Contributions in Regional Ornithology.
Turaco Country has received praise for capturing the sights and sounds of what is described as a vanishing world. The book can be published online at skyislandpress.com.