Audubon Video Guide to Butterflies Common & Endangered (DVD Review)

10 Jun, 2009 By: John Latchem

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Endangered Beauty

Mastervision’s latest DVD guide is an invaluable tool for naturalists who enjoy observing butterflies. The Audubon Video Guide to Butterflies Common & Endangered, now available for $39.95, is an extended butterfly recognition guide divided into three parts. A narrator guides viewers through the different species, though there is a “music only” setting as well. With its beautiful photography and lovely music, the program is ideal as a background display, though it is shot in a 4:3 full-frame presentation that will have to be expanded for widescreen televisions.

The first half focuses on common North American butterfly species, such as the monarch butterfly, that most people might see on a daily basis if they look for it. The second section focuses on 20 rare butterflies listed as threatened or endangered, and describes a bit of the history of their plight. While the intent is to aid observers in finding and protecting these species, at the very least the video serves as a valuable record of them in the unfortunate event they do disappear.

This leads to a final part that displays photos of butterflies that haven’t been observed for years and are considered extinct. The inclusion of this brief chapter provides a hopeful message that maybe the last vestiges of certain species are still out there, waiting to be rediscovered.
 

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