The Roberts Bird Guide (2nd Edition) has gone to great trouble to concentrate on, and illustrate, difficult-to-identify species and family groups such as raptors, warblers, cisticolas and waders. Special attention has been given to make sure there is far greater coverage of male-female differences and there are also many more juvenile illustrations. Unlike all previously published southern African bird guides, this new edition will be scattered with informative photographs that are incorporated in the text pages and each plate illustration is augmented with an introduction. Apart from the approximately 240 plate spreads, the guide also has 12 photographic and illustrated double spreads that show head enlargements and other details. Plates are annotated far more definitively than other guides – highlighting key identification features, especially for difficult-to-identify species.

Few ecosystem destinations are as abundant in their biodiversity as Costa Rica. Having the right field guides in hand can make all the difference when you're enjoying the country’s birdlife. Photo Guide to Birds of Costa Rica, which features 549 excellent photographs, is designed to be equally useful for two distinct sets of readers. First are birders new to birding—or new to birding in Costa Rica—who want a guide to the birds that one is most likely to see, as well as to a few of the rarer species that one would hope to encounter. It treats more than 40 percent (365) of the species known from Costa Rica but is a guide to at least 75 percent of the birds commonly seen in a week or so of birding. The book will also be welcomed by experienced birders in search of a companion volume to The Birds of Costa Rica, second edition, an illustrated guide to all the birds of Costa Rica. The photographs in the species accounts in Photo Guide to Birds of Costa Rica are accompanied by names, measurements, field marks, habitat and behavior, voice, status and distribution, and range maps.

A guide to birdwatching sites in the Greater Antilles: this book shows you where to go and when to visit for the best birding experience. This guide is best used alongside your field guide - it does not include information about identifying birds. This site guide covers the Greater Antilles, which comprises five groups of islands and six countries. From Cuba, with about 360 species, to the Cayman Islands, with just over 220, the Greater Antilles have recorded just over 550 species. This total includes more than 100 single island endemics and many more restricted range species, making the islands a very attractive proposition to the visiting birder. The site accounts have details of location and tips on birding strategy and accommodation. More than 80 sites are described, many with accompanying maps. A full species list shows exactly what has been seen in each country, and the selective list helps to target the best places to visit. As well as covering the best birding sites, the authors have tried to include some locations close to main holiday centres used by birders with families. This is a site guide, not an identification guide.

Thailand is probably the most popular destination for tourists in Asia, and birders have long travelled there to observe its wealth of wildlife. This comprehensive guide to the birds of Thailand is an indispensable field reference for birdwatchers, residents and visitors to the country alike. It covers all 950 species that have been recorded in Thailand, with 166 magnificent colour plates covering most plumage variations. Each plate is accompanied by concise text for each species and distinctive subspecies, detailing identification, voice, habitat and behaviour. In addition, there is a distribution map for every species, based on the very latest information.

Sasol First Field Guide to Birds of Prey of Southern Africa provides fascinating insight into the birdlife of the region. With the help of full-colour photo graphs and distribution maps, and easy-to-read text, the young adult and budding naturalist will be able to identify the more common birds of prey in southern Africa, discover where they live, and learn about their unique feeding and nesting habits.

Spend a day in the life of a bird keeper and learn how they are "hatching" new plans to help endangered birds! Students will learn how an egg hatches, the incubation period, and about bird species such as the Kiwi, the emperor penguin, and the Guam rail. Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, this STEAM book will ignite a curiosity about STEAM topics through real-world examples. It features a hands-on STEAM challenge that is perfect for makerspaces and that guides students step-by-step through the engineering design process. Make STEAM career connections with career advice from Smithsonian employees working in STEAM fields. Take a virtual tour of the Smithsonian with this STEAM book that is ideal for ages 6-8.

'I think that, if required on pain of death to name instantly the most perfect thing in the universe, I should risk my fate on a bird's egg' Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1862 How are eggs of different shapes made, and why are they the shape they are? When does the shell of an egg harden? Why do some eggs contain two yolks? How are the colours and patterns of an eggshell created, and why do they vary? And which end of an egg is laid first - the blunt end or the pointy end? These are just some of the questions A Bird's Egg answers, as the journey of a bird's egg from creation and fertilisation to its eventual hatching is examined, with current scientific knowledge placed within an historical context. Beginning with an examination of the stunning eggs of the guillemot, each of which is so variable in pattern and colour that no two are ever the same, acclaimed ornithologist Tim Birkhead then looks at the eggs of hens, cuckoos and many other birds, revealing weird and wonderful facts about these miracles of nature. Woven around and supporting these facts are extraordinary stories of the individuals who from as far back as Ancient Egypt have been fixated on the study and collection of eggs, not always to the benefit of their conservation. Firmly grounded in science and enriched by a wealth of observation drawn from a lifetime spent studying birds,A Bird's Egg is an illuminating and engaging exploration of the science behind eggs and the history of man's obsession with them.

This new field guide deals with the nesting habits of the 730 bird species known to breed in Southern Africa. It is set out in a standard field-guide format (text pages facing colour plates), covering 4-5 species per double-page spread. The information given is an up-to-date summary of what is known about the nesting habits of each species: where they nest, when they nest, what the nest looks like, how many eggs they lay, how long these take to hatch, etc.

Approximately 1 300 colour photographs, taken by 68 different photographers, illustrate most of the nests and birds, many reproduced here for the first time. Also included are 1 200 photographic images of the eggs of each species, accurately coloured and all reproduced at life size, ranging from the large eggs of the vultures and eagles to the tiny eggs of waxbills and cisticolas. The book is comprehensively cross-referenced and if one wanted to know, for example, about the nesting habits of a hoopoe, the book provides a comprehensive summary of the information known about the species, a couple of photographs of the birds at different nests to show the situations they use, and a range of illustrations of their eggs to show what these look like.

Although the book is technical in content, it is easy to use and will provide an essential resource to a broad spectrum of people with an interest in birds, as well as having an appeal to nature-lovers in general.

This well-illustrated volume covers the birds of Singapore, peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand and the tip of Tenasserim (Burma) with their associated island archipelagos. David Wells' historically complete accounts draw on a full range of recent field and museum research. Over 380 species are described, including topics such as systematics, distribution, plumage, biometrics, status, habitat, food and foraging, voice, behaviour, breeding biology, moult and conservation. Along with an accompanying volume, on passerine species, it brings together the most complete modern summery of field survey work and other research on all the birds found in the peninsula. Volume 1 and Volume 2 available as a shrinkwrapped set: 0 7136 7483 0 GBP99

In a remarkably fresh, sometimes humorous style, wildlife artist Catherine Clark captures the birds around us in her art. These are the avian creatures that populate our backyards, forests, and seashores, from coast to coast, bringing color and beauty into our lives. The artwork, reproduced in full color, shows her keen eye, skilled hand, and deep love of the natural world. Over 200 drawings and paintings are accompanied by observations about the birds and their habits, as well as reflections on the process of creating the paintings. The images represent the artist's choice of her favorites among the hundreds she has created to illustrate articles on birds and wildlife. They demonstrate not only her unique artistic viewpoint, but commitment to the care and preservation of the world around her. They will bring enjoyment to the reader while inspiring them to take a look out their windows, to stroll in a field, wander in the woods, and, perhaps, to take some small action to save what they see.

An acclaimed journalist seeks to understand the mysterious allure of peacocks-and in the process discovers unexpected and valuable life lessons. 2022 Carnegie Medal for Excellence Longlist Selection When Sean Flynn's neighbor in North Carolina texted "Any chance you guys want a peacock? No kidding!" he stared bewilderedly at his phone. He had never considered whether he wanted a peacock. But as an award-winning magazine writer, this kind of mystery intrigued him. So he, his wife, and their two young sons became the owners of not one but three charming yet fickle birds: Carl, Ethel, and Mr. Pickle. In Why Peacocks?, Flynn chronicles his hilarious and heartwarming first year as a peacock owner, from struggling to build a pen to assisting the local bird doctor in surgery to triumphantly watching a peahen lay her first egg. He also examines the history of peacocks, from their appearance in the Garden of Eden to their befuddling Charles Darwin to their bewitching the likes of Flannery O'Connor and Martha Stewart. And fueled by a reporter's curiosity, he travels across the globe to learn more about the birds firsthand, with stops including a Scottish castle where peacocks have resided for centuries, a southern California community tormented by a serial killer of peacocks, and a Kansas City airport hotel hosting an annual gathering of true peafowl aficionados. At turns comically absurd and deeply poignant, Why Peacocks? blends lively, insightful memoir and illuminating science journalism to answer the title's question. More than that, it offers surprising lessons about love, grief, fatherhood, and family.

Life-affirming and lyrical, this beautiful picture book celebrates the awesome power of nature, while gently introducing young children to the concept of life and death. Over the course of a year, a young child and their dog watch kingfishers by the river with Grandpa. As spring turns to summer and autumn to winter, the kingfishers raise a family, while Grandpa teaches his grandchild about the power of nature and the circle of life. Written in memory of her father, whose favourite bird was the kingfisher, Anna Wilson takes readers on a lyrical journey though a year in the life of a kingfisher family. Stunning illustrations by Sarah Massini bring the riverbank to life in all its glory, while the powerful intergenerational bond between grandparent and grandchild shows that just as spring always follows winter, hope will always return if you know where to look for it. A positive story about life, death, and being a part of the natural world.

"What Rachel Carson did for the sea . . . Scott Weidensaul has now done for bird migration."
--Caroline Fraser, Outside

Bird migration is the world's only true unifying natural phenomenon, stitching the continents together in a way that even the great weather systems fail to do. Scott Weidensaul follows awesome kettles of hawks over the Mexican coastal plains, bar-tailed godwits that hitchhike on gale winds 7,000 miles nonstop across the Pacific from Alaska to New Zealand, and myriad songbirds whose numbers have dwindled so dramatically in recent decades. Migration paths form an elaborate global web that shows serious signs of fraying, and Weidensaul delves into the tragedies of habitat degradation and deforestation with an urgency that brings to life the vast problems these miraculous
migrants now face. Living on the Wind is a magisterial work of nature writing.

As a ten-year-old, the author contracted TB and was sent to an isolated sanatorium, deep in the Cheshire coun-tryside. There he was bedridden for six months. On fine days, nurses would push the young patients, in their beds, out onto a large veranda and it was there that his love of birdwatching developed. On leaving hospital, he shared his passion with three schoolmates and over the next five years this small band of birders explored wildlife locations on and nearby the Wirral. Their travels and love of nature was epitomised when, aged 16, they spent part of their summer on Bardsey, a remote island off North Wales as part of a small, professional team of naturalists. As a young birdwatcher, the author is fascinated when he observed nature first-hand and began to grasp the basics of the science of evolution. This is a 'rites of passage' story of one lad's journey through those early formative teenage years during 1957 to 1962 when birdwatching sat easily in his life alongside football, girls, radical politics and rock bands. Each chapter traces the boy's expanding world of nature and then, in later life, he reflects on those times. A passion for nature has stayed with him throughout his life and as an adult, he explores the way views are formed and become a base reference framework to work out his personal ethics and morality. On revisiting all his old haunts each visit triggers further questions, reflections and musings. How does nature manage, over all those years, to continue to inspire and stimulate him? What does it mean to be part of nature? How does nature manage to heal? An Eye for Birds is a series of reflections of an individual, trained in the sciences, revisiting his teenage wildlife haunts and looking back to those times with mature perspective and sentiment that add their own colours to the story.

This spectacular new field guide is the ultimate reference to the birds of Argentina and the islands of the South-west Atlantic, essential for researchers, birders and conservationists alike. Covers Argentina and all Fuegian and Hornean islands south to the Diego Ramírez Islands and east to the Falklands. More than 2,300 images of original artwork illustrate 1,075 species, including all residents, migrants and most vagrants. 199 stunning colour plates depict every species and many distinct plumages and subspecies, including 28 endemics and 17 near-endemics. Concise text on key identification features and accurate, up-to-date colour distribution maps opposite the plates for ease of reference.

This is a book written by an expert with a lifetime of experience, designed to show disabled people the wonders of bird watching, with great tips and advice on the places to go, resources available and a detailed and enjoyable introduction to the subject. I became a Blue Badge holder a little while ago and my mobility levels were much reduced, walking 2/300 meters or so became a problem. I have been bird watching all my life, or so it seems. Since the death of my wife three years ago, it has become almost a way of life, giving me direction once again. How was I going to obtain maximum pleasure with minimum effort? I now had to call on all my past experience and knowledge to be channelled down what I will call the 'Easy route'. I needed birds to come to me, which is highly unlikely, or get to them as close as possible, a car can make a good hide as long as you stay in it. I started to set up a list of locations which fitted these criteria and used my map reading skills, such as they were, to locate others. It is amazing what you can discover by studying a Landranger map! At many of the lectures I provide I find many disabled people attend, and many of these tell me this is about as close as they get to nature now, especially the wheelchair bound. Surely these people are not banned from the countryside because they cannot walk or walk well? I had been wishing to write a book for years, and now a bench mark had been laid down, and my book was born. When you consider the RSPB boasts over 1,000,000 members and the Wildlife Trusts claim over 800,000 members, that is nearly 2,000,000 people. I think we can safely presume over a half of these will be retired, and a good percentage of these will be disabled to some degree or other. These people need to be told just what is available out there in the wild world, just how well many of our nature reserves cater for the disabled, many hire out wheelchairs at a nominal cost or even provide them free, I have found them useful at times. Most bird hides have ramps, and Blue Badge parking is usually available. Hopefully this book will point you in the right direction, open your eyes to a beautiful world, introduce you to many new friends who will be only too happy to share the wonders with you. One final thought. Although this book was primarily written with the disabled in mind, as an introduction to both the subject and the places to visit, it is there for all. For the experienced this book is a pleasant reminder of the wild world we love, for the novice, an introduction to a truly wonderful world which does not cost a lot. All you need is the inclination to go out and see it.

March 2020: Stephen Moss's Somerset garden is awash with birdsong: chiffchaffs, wrens, robins and a new arrival, the blackcap, all competing to sing as the season gathers pace. Overhead, buzzards soar and ravens tumble, apparently as delighted as he is to herald the new season...But this Spring Equinox is unlike any other. As the nation stumbles toward a collective lockdown, Stephen begins to observe and record the wildlife in his immediate vicinity, with his fox-red Labrador, Rosie, as his companion on his daily exercise. As old routines fall away, and blue skies are no longer crisscrossed by contrails, they discover the bumblebees, butterflies and birdsong on their patch. This evocative account underlines how an unprecedented crisis has changed the way we relate to the natural world, giving us hope for the future at perhaps the darkest time in our lives. And it puts down a marker for the 'new normal': the many species around us, all enjoying, for once, a land less lived in than usual by humankind.

For sheer diversity of birds, Ecuador cannot be beaten. Nowhere else is it as easy to experience such a range of habitats, from the high Andes to the Amazon and Choco rainforests and those jewels in the ocean, the Galapagos Islands. The avifauna is similarly dazzling - a huge range of species, including 41 endemics, call this country home, making Ecuador the ultimate Neotropical wildlife destination. This book showcases the avian wonders of Ecuador, highlighting more than 320 regularly occurring species that can be seen by most visitors to the country, including the Galapagos. Pocket-sized yet authoritative, this is the perfect companion for any wildlife-friendly visitor to Ecuador.

Discover some of Britain's most beautiful bird life with these 100 wonderful walks. In this boxed collection of walking cards you'll find a happy mix of routes around Britain's loveliest towns and countryside. The 50 walking cards are filled with unique information on how to see local birdlife on foot. Each has a different route fully described and illustrated on a large scale, 1:25 000 map including the species that you may encounter along the way. * The only birdwatching walking guide available in handy, pocket size cards * Unique information on how to see local bird life on foot * Year-round walks specially designed for all seasons * Box includes transparent sleeve so if it rains you can pop the walking card into the sleeve to protect it from the elements * Each walking route includes recommended charming places to stay so you can combine a great walk with a truly memorable overnight stop * A selection of easy half-day walks as well as some more challenging two-day routes * Ideal for visitors and adventurous locals, novice and experienced birdwatchers alike Pocket a card, leave the box on your bookshelf and enjoy a glorious day out amongst Britain's beautiful bird life. Most are easy half-day walks, but some are more challenging two-day routes on folding out cards, ideal for a short walking break.

This book takes the reader to almost 200 parks, refuges, and hot spots for migratory and resident birds throughout Pennsylvania. Details on 7 geographical regions including 34 maps make this the most comprehensive, statewide guide available to Pennsylvania birding sites.

Birds of the West Indies is the first field guide that covers and depicts all birds known to occur in the region, including infrequently occurring and introduced forms. Now fully updated and expanded, this stunningly illustrated book features detailed accounts of more than 600 species, describing field marks, range, status, voice and habitat. More than 100 beautiful colour plates depict plumages of all species, and the book includes distribution maps, a colour code for endemics, and an incisive introduction that discusses avifaunal changes in the West Indies over the past fifteen years.