Natural Science / Natural History > Birds / Ornithology

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The albatross is a creature of legend, poetry and dreams. But today, over three-quarters of albatross species are edging towards extinction. This book is a celebration of these amazing birds, featuring photographs by award-winning wildlife photographer Tui De Roy, the latest research by leading international experts and a factual natural history.

Esther Woolfson has been fascinated by corvids, the bird group that includes crows, rooks, magpies and ravens, since her daughter rescued a fledgling rook sixteen years ago. That rook - named Chicken - has lived with the family ever since. Other birds have also taken their place in the household - a magpie, starling, parrot and the inhabitants of an outdoor dove-house. But above all, it has been the corvids (a talking magpie named Spike, Chicken the rook, and, recently, a baby crow named Ziki) that she has formed the closest attach... read more

Esther Woolfson's daughter rescued Chicken, a fledgling rook sixteen years ago. Amazed by their intelligence and personalities, Woolfson became fascinated by corvids. Chicken, Spike the magpie, and, most recently, Ziki the Crow, have formed sibling relationships with Woolfson's daughters and with each other; cached food in her kitchen wall and laid eggs in her living room; called to her at dawn, and perched companionably on her knee of an evening; and taught her more than she ever expected about birds and about human beings. Woolfs... read more

Most people dream of packing in their humdrum city life, selling up and heading off into the unknown for a life of adventure. For Ruth Miller and Alan Davies this dream became a reality, albeit with a twist; they decided to pack in their jobs, sell their house and take on the ultimate birder's challenge - to smash the world record for the number of species seen in one calendar year. This book is the story of their great expedition, searching for birds from Ecuador to Ethiopia via Argentina, Australia and Arizona. We follow t... read more

Like a lot of young people in the 1970s, Mark Bittner took the path of the "dharma bum". When the counterculture faded, Mark held on, seeking shelter in the nooks and crannies of San Francisco's fabled bohemian neighborhood, North Beach. While living on the eastern slope of Telegraph Hill, he made a magical discovery: a flock of wild parrots. In this unforgettable story, Bittner recounts how he became fascinated by the birds and patiently developed friendships with them that would last more than six years. When a documentary film... read more

As prize-winning journalist Steve Braunias stands on an apartment balcony on a sultry summer evening, a black-backed gull flies so close he is instantaneously bowled over with happiness.'I thought: Birds, everywhere. I wanted to know more about them.' This book is the result - a wondrous personal journey into the amazing world of birds, and the people ensnared, captivated and entranced by them: the passionate tribe of bird-watchers and twitchers. First published May 2007.

In recent years there has been a sharp decline in the populations of several seabird species, particularly albatrosses. The decline has been widely attributed to fishing with longlines. Seabirds feed on longline baits, get hooked, and drown. This book has been written to help scientific observers identify those seabirds likely to be caught in the Southern Ocean, and takes into account the requirements of the CCAMLR Scheme of International Scientific Observation. It covers the identification of 36 species of birds from the Southern... read more

Featured in the vast majority of mythologies and religions, birds are generally associated with creativity and the human spirit. From the Christian dove to Quetzalcoatl (the Aztec plumed serpent), and from Raven Man to Plato's description of the soul growing wings and feathers, birds have represented the soul in contrast to the body, the spiritual as opposed to the earthly. The Bedside Book of Birds is an unexpected and fascinating treasure trove of paintings, drawings, essays and scientific observations: it marvellously conveys t... read more

The perfect gift for birdwatchers and literary ornithologists everywhere. Featured in the vast majority of mythologies and religions, birds are generally associated with creativity and the human spirit. From the Christian dove to Quetzalcoatl (the Aztec plumed serpent), and from Raven Man to Plato's description of the soul growing wings and feathers, birds have represented the soul in contrast to the body, the spiritual as opposed to the earthly. The Bedside Book of Birds is an unexpected and fascinating treasure trove of painti... read more

Owls are enduringly popular birds, but due to their nocturnal habitsmost species are difficult to see well. The plumages of many speciesare cryptic and difficult to separate by plumage alone. This problem iscompounded by the different morphs that many adopt. This book fullydescribes every known species and subspecies of owl, as well aspresenting the latest evidence on owl taxonomy, based on DNA work andvocalisations. Because voice is vital in owl identification, muchemphasis is placed on it in the book and sonograms are provided fo... read more

Famous for their size and elegance in flight, albatrosses are familiar to anyone who has travelled through the southern oceans, and are a flagship family of conservation concern. However, albatrosses are just one of several groups of 'pelagic' birds - those that visit land only to breed, and spend the rest of their lives far from the coast, soaring from ocean to ocean in a never-ending search for food. Mysterious and graceful, these birds can present a formidable identification challenge to even the most experienced birder. Thi... read more

They have been worshipped as fertility goddesses and revered as symbols of peace. Domesticated since the dawn of humankind, they have been crucial to wartime communications for every major historical superpower from ancient Egypt to the United States and are credited with saving thousands of lives.

Another magnificent achievement and a unique work of huge importance - a handsome, easy-to-read, comprehensive cultural study, species by species, of all the birds in Britain. Companion volume to Flora Britannica. Birds Britannica is neither an identification guide nor a behavioural study (though both these subjects enter its field). It covers cultural links; social history; birds as food; ecology; the lore and language of birds; myths, art, literature and music; anecdotes, birdsong and rare facts; modern developments; migration, t... read more

What draws us to the beauty of a peacock, the flight of an eagle, or the song of a nightingale? Why are birds so significant in our lives and our sense of the world? And what do our ways of thinking about and experiencing birds tell us about ourselves? "Birdscapes" is a unique meditation on the variety of human responses to birds, from antiquity to today, and from casual observers to the globe-trotting 'twitchers' who sometimes risk life, limb, and marriages simply to add new species to their 'life lists'. Drawing extensively on li... read more

Can a parrot understand complex concepts and mean what it says? Since the early 1900s, most studies on animal-human communication have focused on great apes and a few cetacean species. Birds were rarely used in similar studies on the grounds that they were merely talented mimics--that they were, after all, "birdbrains." Experiments performed primarily on pigeons in Skinner boxes demonstrated capacities inferior to those of mammals; these results were thought to reflect the capacities of all birds, despite evidence suggesting that s... read more

Since it was first published in 1984, Simpson and Day's Field Guide to the Birds of Australia has been one of the most respected bird guides in the country. The guide contains 132 superb full-colour plates showing all Australian bird species; key points of identification using the latest classification system; distribution maps for all species; over 900 black-and-white line illustrations; breeding information; a vagrant bird bulletin; a core library list; and easy-to-use indexes. This edition has been revised and updated, including... read more

Each year, invisible to the naked eye, millions of migrating shorebirds fly from Australasia towards the tidal flats of the Yellow Sea bordering China and Korea. Each flock is made up of individuals using whatever strategies they can muster to endure the flights, weather the storms and find safe havens to rest and refuel on their long journeys to the breeding grounds in Siberia or Alaska. Once there, successful reproduction of as many individuals as possible is key to survival. Shorebird migration is one of nature's most spectacul... read more

Seventeen years ago, when she adopted a neglected, orphaned thirty-year-old parrot named Tiko, the internationally renowned ornithologist Joanna Burger entered one of the most complex relationships of her life. Sullen and hostile when he entered Dr. Burger

Godwits: Long-haul champions, an enchanting, wonderfully illustrated book by shorebird expert Keith Woodley, tells the miraculous story of the godwits and their migrations - why and how they do it. It follows the birds on their intrepid journeys, examining the places they visit, be it an estuary in northern New Zealand, a mudflat on the Chinese-North Korean border, or a tundra nesting site in Alaska. Woodley, respected godwit expert and manager of the Miranda Shorebird Centre, details the amazing changes these birds undergo before ... read more