RSPB Bird Tales


Book Description

A beautiful celebration of Britain's best-loved birds, featuring illustrations, folktales, stories and seasonal crafts and activities that can be enjoyed by the whole family. A rich treasury of fact, folklore, traditional tales and seasonal crafts and activities, RSPB Bird Tales celebrates 25 of our most familiar and best-loved British birds, offering a wealth of ways to deepen our relationships with our feathered friends. Organised by month and highlighting important moments for birds throughout the year – including courtship, nest-building and migration – in-depth portraits of each species give vivid insights into their fascinating, hidden lives. Each beautifully illustrated bird biography includes a roll call of folk names, a traditional tale, fascinating folklore covering traditions, superstitions and beliefs, key identification features, tips to help birdlife thrive and awe-inspiring facts that reveal the true wonder of birds' lives. From learning to recognise distinctive bird songs and calls to making a mini pond and bird box to benefit garden birds, this enriching and practical book encourages readers to reconnect with nature through bird-related activities for the whole family.




My First Book of Garden Birds


Book Description

A picture book about garden birds that will appeal to families with young children. Each bird is introduced on a right-hand page in an illustration where it is partly obscured or turned away from the viewer. The text gives some clues and invites readers to guess the bird's identity. The reader then turns the page to find out more.




RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds


Book Description

A compact, lightweight and informative guide to 310 of the most common birds found in the UK. RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds is a compact, lightweight and informative field guide, featuring 310 bird species regularly seen in the UK. Species are illustrated in all distinct plumage forms likely to be observed in the wild by renowned bird artist Stephen Message, and a detailed distribution map for the British Isles is also provided. Concise text covers appearance, behaviour and voice – focusing on key identification points – and also outlines where you will find the species, describes its seasonal movements and includes the latest UK population data. Finally, confusion species are cross-referenced, with their most important and easily noted differences from the subject species described. A comprehensive introduction provides a guide on how and where to find birds, and how to make the most useful and rewarding observations for newcomers to birdwatching. Uniquely, this guide also provides images and descriptions for not only a selection of rarer visitors, but also for a range of domestic species and certain commonly observed aberrant forms of more familiar birds, all of which are omitted from most field guides but can cause great confusion for beginners when encountered in the wild.




Birds in a Cage


Book Description

At Warburg, Germany, in 1941, four British PoWs find an unexpected means of escape from the horrors of internment when they form a birdwatching society, and embark on an obsessive quest behind barbed wire. Through their shared love of birds, they overcome hunger, hardship, fear and stultifying boredom. Their quest draws in not only their fellow prisoners, but also some of the German guards, at great risk to them all... Derek Niemann draws on original diaries, letters and drawings, to tell of how Conder, Barrett, Waterston and Buxton were forged by their experiences as POWs into the giants of post war wildlife conservation. Their legacy lives on, in institutions such as the RSPB and the British Wildlife Trust.




RSPB Handbook of British Birds


Book Description

The bestselling RSPB Handbook of British Birds is the most comprehensive reference for birdwatchers of all levels of interest and experience. Now in its fifth edition, it remains the most accessible field guide to more than 300 bird species likely to be encountered in Britain and Ireland. Alongside artworks depicting all common plumages, the detailed text describes each bird's behaviour, habitat, voice, breeding biology, longevity and seasonal movements, as well as other useful information. The guide also includes UK population trends and up-to-date distribution maps. Completely revised and updated, this fifth edition also features new artwork and comparison spreads, additional rarities, the most recent taxonomic order, as well as each species' conservation status, a summary of the threats UK species are currently facing and details of what conservationists are doing to help.




RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds


Book Description

A compact, lightweight and informative guide to 215 of the UK's most common birds. Featuring 950 colour illustrations and 215 up-to-date colour distribution maps, this new edition of RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds showcases 215 bird species regularly seen in the UK. Each species is illustrated in all distinct plumage forms likely to be observed in the wild, and includes concise and succinct descriptions, with details on identification, calls and song, habitat, distribution and behaviour. Along with helpful distribution maps, the species accounts also feature confusion species, with their most important and easily noted differences described. Portable and easy-to-use, RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds is the perfect guide for use in the field.




Birds of Sri Lanka


Book Description

The definitive photographic guide to the amazing avifauna of Sri Lanka. The island of Sri Lanka is one of Southern Asia's most popular birding destinations, boasting a remarkably high number of endemic species. The perfect companion for any wildlife-friendly visitor, Birds of Sri Lanka provides photographic coverage of more than 320 species that regularly occur in the region. Concise text for each species includes information on identification, songs and calls, behaviour, distribution and habitat, with each photo having been carefully selected to guide identification. A guide to the best birdwatching sites in Sri Lanka is also included. Portable yet authoritative, this is the perfect guide for travellers and birdwatchers visiting this spectacular and bird-rich destination.




RSPB British Birds of Prey


Book Description

This book is a celebration of British raptors (including owls), with 200 stunning colour photographs. An authoritative text examines the biology and ecology of each species, following their fortunes as British breeding birds from historical times to the present day. This book serves as a showcase of these fabulous birds and highlights the diverse work of the RSPB in ensuring their survival.




The Secret Language of Birds


Book Description

Containing historical facts, myths and real-life spiritual encounters with birds, this book features information for bird lovers who are interested in esoterica, history, folklore, and spiritual symbolism of birds throughout the world.




Birds: Myth, Lore and Legend


Book Description

The stories, myths and legends associated with more than 80 kinds of birds from around the world. Why are owls regarded either as wise or as harbingers of doom? What gave rise to the fanciful belief that storks bring babies? Why is the eagle associated with victory or the hummingbird with paradise? The answers are here in this engaging book. By re-telling the many legends, beliefs, proverbs and predictions associated with more than 80 birds from many nations, it brings into focus the close – and often ancient – links between humans and these remarkable feathered descendants of dinosaurs. Discover, for instance: - Why the cockerel features on many church spires - The one sacred bird that symbolises life and peace in most cultures - How to dispel bad luck if you see a certain black-and-white bird - The South American 'devil bird' once thought to be a dragon Birds: Myth, Lore and Legend draws on historical accounts and scientific literature to reveal how colourful tales or superstitions were shaped by human imagination based on each bird's behaviour or appearance. It offers a fresh and enchanting perspective on birds across the world.