Our wide selection of books about birds reflects their variety around the world as well as humanity’s continuing fascination with them, from Francis Willughby’s efforts to categorize them in the 17th century to modern-day pleas to reevaluate their importance for the natural world and our culture. Alongside reference tomes and comprehensive guides for birdwatching, whether in the British Isles or far away, we have writings about birds and their histories, artists’ birds, and titles to encourage the next generation of avian enthusiasts.
The Life of Birds by David Attenborough (1998)
Harnessing Attenborough’s unsurpassed ability to engage readers and audiences with the natural world, this classic volume introduces the extraordinary variety of birdlife around the world. From Japan’s green-backed herons who have learned to bait fish using bread thrown by visitors, to flamingoes building mud nests in Kenya and families of woodpeckers in North America who store – and guard – thousands of acorns in dead trees, it offers beautifully illustrated insights into topics such as flight, birdsong, feeding and mating.
Reed and Bush Warblers by David Pearson (2010)
Difficult to find, let alone identify, reed and bush warblers present real challenges for birdwatchers. For those keen to learn more about Locustellidae, Acrocephalidae and Cettidae – ‘little brown jobs’ to the uninitiated – this definitive guide presents hundreds of drawings, photographs and diagrams that show different plumages and variations between species. It also contains detailed descriptions of habitats and behaviours, as well as soundwave charts illustrating warblers’ birdsong, which often plays a key role in their definition.
Migration by Melissa Mayntz (2020)
Taking examples such as Arctic terns, whose pole-to-pole flights ensure they see more daylight each year than any other creature, and whose lifetime flight distance is greater than a round trip to the moon, Melissa Mayntz explores various aspects of bird migration.
Her interest in birds’ long-distance journeys began during her childhood in Michigan, watching the seasonal arrival and departure of the American robin. This developed into a fascination that has taken her around the world, observing birds while also studying the reasons behind their journeys. In this informative text, accompanied by Katy Christianson’s illustrations, Mayntz sheds light on bird migration, how it is achieved, what can go wrong, and what we can do to help.
The Wonderful Mr Willughby by Tim Birkhead (2018)
Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1661, when he was just 27, Francis Willughby undertook several journeys across Europe in a bid to collect the specimens and information needed to classify bird species scientifically. Following his death at 36 years old, Willughby’s contributions to the field of natural history were overshadowed by those of his collaborator John Ray, but in this volume Tim Birkhead draws on the Willughby family archives to shed light on the achievements of ‘the first true ornithologist’.
Collins BTO Guide to British Birds by Paul Stancliffe and Paul Sterry (2015)
Written in conjunction with the British Trust for Ornithology, this comprehensive guide offers both beginner and experienced birdwatchers information on how to identify different species and the best places in Britain to find them.
For those with no prior knowledge, it introduces ‘default birds’ – those which are most easily recognized, and on which trickier identifications can be built – before presenting 1,200 photographs of different plumages, as well as typical postures, of all Britain’s common birds. For some species, their call can help identify them, and notes on recognizing birds’ songs are included, as well as silhouettes for birds of prey that are more likely to be seen from a distance.
The Bird Atlas: A Pictorial Guide to the World’s Birdlife by Barbara Taylor (2021)
Exploring different habitats and climates around the world, this illustrated atlas introduces young ornithologists to a remarkable variety of birdlife. From little auks that rarely venture beyond the Arctic Circle, to Amazonian harpy eagles capable of catching capuchin monkeys, the flightless cormorants unique to the Galápagos Islands, and Emperor penguins incubating their eggs throughout the harsh Antarctic winter, its colourful pages provide insights into a broad array of species, with notes and maps introducing each region. Age 9+
