Few animals have a worse reputation than the vulture. But is it deserved? With Vulture, Katie Fallon offers an irresistible argument to the contrary, tracing a year in the life of a typical North American turkey vulture. Turkey vultures, also known as buzzards, are the most widely distributed and abundant scavenging birds of prey on the planet, found from central Canada to the southern tip of Argentina and nearly everywhere in between. Deftly drawing on the most up-to-date scientific papers and articles and weaving those in with interviews with world-renowned raptor and vulture experts and her own compelling natural history writing, Fallon examines all aspects of the bird’s natural history: breeding, incubating eggs, raising chicks, migrating, and roosting. The result is an intimate portrait of an underappreciated bird—one you’ll never look at in the same way again.

Countless writers have been inspired by the beauty of birds - their colours, their easy flight, their lightness and softness, and the grace and whimsicality of their ways. Our literature, especially our poetry, is full of them. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics with ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. Spanning from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, Poems About Birds captures the enticing lives of birds through the eyes of classic poets. From John Keats' 'Ode to a Nightingale' to Sylvia Lynd's 'The Return of the Goldfinches', and from Alfred Lord Tennyson's 'The Eagle' to William Wordsworth's 'To The Skylark', countless varieties of bird are celebrated here. This annotated edition of Poems About Birds selects the very best from H. J. Massingham's original collection which was first published in 1922.

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.

This easy-to-use identification guide to the 280 bird species most commonly seen in Costa Rica is perfect for resident and visitor alike. High quality photographs from one of the country's top nature photographers are accompanied by detailed species descriptions, which include nomenclature, size, distribution, habits and habitat. The user-friendly introduction covers geography, climate, habitat types, bird species and taxonomy, bird migration and the key sites for viewing the listed species. Also included is an all- important checklist of all of the birds of Costa Rica encompassing, for each species, its common and scientific name, and IUCN status

This is the picture book for every little one's shelf, about how sometimes the smallest people make the biggest difference. A beautiful owl lives in the tree outside Ben's house. Ben calls him Mr Hoot. When grown-ups want to chop down Mr Hoot's tree, Ben has to act fast to save him. This warm, funny and inspiring story shows how we can all protect the wildlife that lives all around us. With characteristic warmth and humour, Helen Stephens' exquisite new picture book celebrates the precious wildlife that lives all around us, and shows how even the smallest of us can help to protect it. Hugely topical: a warmly funny environmental book with heart - will inspire children to look out for, love and protect their local wildlife Striking cover design with gold foil - a perfect gift book Helen Stephens is an Instagram star with nearly 20,000 followers. She also launched her own online illustration course, The Good Ship Illustration

A stunningly illustrated guide to the wonderful world of hummingbirds With their glorious colors, glittering iridescence, astonishing powers of flight, and many characteristics unique in the world of birds, hummingbirds are extraordinary-true jewels of nature. This beautiful book is a celebration of all aspects of hummingbirds and their world. It features hundreds of the most spectacular photographs of hummingbirds ever taken, exquisite illustrations, and a lively, readable text that presents the latest scientific information and includes up-to-date details about every species. A familiar sight across much of the Americas, hummingbirds have long captured the imagination and played an important part in myths, legends, and other aspects of human culture. Today, hummingbirds are among the most popular of all birds, sought after by serious and casual birders alike. They inspire questions in anyone lucky enough to see them. How can they fly like that? Why are they so colorful? How many are there? Where and how do they live? How do they survive? This book answers these and many other questions, providing an enlightening and enjoyable guide to hummingbirds that can only deepen their wonder. A definitive yet accessible account of all aspects of hummingbird life More than 540 spectacular color photographs, illustrating all 101 hummingbird genera and over two-thirds of the world's 369 species Specially commissioned illustrations revealing details of anatomy and behavior Meticulously researched facts and figures on status, population, distribution, and conservation designations of all the world's hummingbirds

A large-format, beautifully illustrated look at the natural history of birds There are some 10,000 bird species in existence today, occupying every continent and virtually every habitat on Earth. The variety of bird species is truly astounding, from the tiny bee hummingbird to the large flightless ostrich, making birds one of the most diverse and successful animal groups on the planet. Taking you inside the extraordinary world of birds, What Is a Bird? explores all aspects of these remarkable creatures, providing an up-close look at their morphology, unique internal anatomy and physiology, fascinating and varied behavior, and ecology. It features hundreds of color illustrations and draws on a broad range of examples, from the familiar backyard sparrow to the most exotic birds of paradise. A must-have book for birders and armchair naturalists, What Is a Bird? is a celebration of the rich complexity of bird life. An absorbing and beautifully presented exploration of the natural history of birds Integrates physiological adaptations with ecology and behavior Features a wealth of color photographs and explanatory figures Uses scanning electron microscope imagery to provide a rare close-up view of structures not normally visible Provides insights into our complex relationship with birds, from our enduring fascination with them to the threats they face and the challenges of conservation

A definitive site guide to three of Britain's most bird-rich counties – Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. East Anglia – the jewel in the crown of British birding. The counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire represent the most popular region for birders and naturalists to visit in the British Isles, whether to see wintering flocks of geese and waders, rare vagrants, scarce breeding birds such as cranes and bitterns, or just to soak up the countryside, be it fen, broad, coastal dune, breckland, heath or down. This new book by David Callahan is the definitive guide to the birding highlights of the region. It contains a comprehensive review of all the major sites, and many lesser-known ones, with maps, notes on access, and information on target species and when to visit. Where to Watch Birds in East Anglia is indispensable for any birder heading to this bird-rich corner of England.

Covering all the species of birds occurring in the areas bordering the Mediterranean, this guide is illustrated throughout with stunning photographs. The regions examined cover some of the most distinctive and birdrich habitats in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, places as popular with sun-seeking holidaymakers as they are with birders. Designed to appeal to both audiences, the guide features photographs of the region's birdlife, with concise descriptive text on facing pages. Digital manipulation of the photographs has been used to ensure a consistent depiction of light conditions, making comparisons between the images easier.

In this uplifting memoir, a professor and activist shares what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment. Trish O’Kane never expected to be a birder. She was a world-traveled journalist with no science background who surprised herself in her forties by falling in love with birds. Cut to seventeen years later, and O’Kane is a highly qualified ornithologist who teaches at the University of Vermont and is the creator of the hugely popular course Birding to Change the World, on which this book is based. It was a lone red cardinal and a bumptious cast of house sparrows that changed everything for O’Kane after Hurricane Katrina shattered her life in New Orleans. Watching birds thrive throughout the devastated city became her salvation—making her laugh, helping her deal with the trauma, and setting her on a whole new path. Soon O’Kane found herself pursuing a natural sciences PhD in Wisconsin, where she became a full-on bird obsessive—logging hours and hours in a stunningly diverse urban park, binoculars glued to her eyes, filling field notebooks with observations of bird doings and dramas, and volunteering in a bird nursery at a wildlife rehabilitation center. But it wasn’t until that park, her bird-watching haven, was threatened with development that O’Kane became an environmental activist—taking her cues from the birds. She began to avianize: to adapt for human use birds’ strategies for defending their nests and offspring. Like the birds, she and her fellow human park lovers harnessed the power of raised voices and collective action to save the park. Each chapter in Birding to Change the World features at least one species of bird that O’Kane has learned from. She recounts the astonishing science of bird life, including migration and survival strategies, along with many moving and compelling stories about birds and the humans who are fascinated by them. Over the course of this heartfelt memoir, O’Kane shows what birds can teach us—and how that education can be a transformative force for social change.

This fully updated edition of Birds of Nepal is the most comprehensive guide to the birds of this beautiful Himalayan country. Every species of bird recorded in Nepal is covered in this fantastic guide, including vagrants, with accurate distribution maps for most species. More than 790 species are featured with illustrations and concise text covering essential information for quick and easy reference. The comprehensive text covers voice, habits, habitats, altitudinal range, distribution and status to aid accurate identification. The texts have been completely re-written for this edition and many of the illustrations have been replaced. In addition, maps have been included for the first time.

A fully revised edition of this bestselling, easy-to-use identification guide to 278 bird species covering the most commonly seen in Sri Lanka. Written by an experienced birder with a track record for writing to a popular audience, this is an ideal, portable guide for residents and visitors alike. The author's top quality photographs are accompanied by detailed species descriptions, which include nomenclature, plumage, distribution, habits and habitat. The species accounts cover 75 of the 82 families of birds recorded in Sri Lanka and distinguish between highly scarce migrants and vagrants to explain what a realistic and good 'country list' and 'trip list' would be for residents and visitors respectively. The user-friendly introduction covers bird topography, bird orders, a novel photographic summary in taxonomic order of all 34 endemic birds that are key target species, and the main sites for viewing the listed species. Also included is a checklist of all of the birds of Sri Lanka encompassing, for each species, its common and scientific names as well as its national status.

"Birds are my almanac. They tune me into the seasons, and into myself." So begins this lively collection of essays by acclaimed filmmaker and novelist Priyanka Kumar. Growing up at the feet of the Himalayas in northern India, Kumar took for granted her immersion in a lush natural world. After moving to North America as a teenager, she found herself increasingly distanced from more than human life, and discouraged by the civilization she saw contributing to its destruction. It was only in her twenties, living in Los Angeles and working on films, that she began to rediscover her place in the landscape -- and in the cosmos -- by way of watching birds. Tracing her movements across the American West, this stirring collection of essays brings the avian world richly to life. Kumar's perspective is not that of a list keeper, counting and cataloguing species. Rather, from the mango-colored western tanager that rescues her from a bout of altitude sickness in Sequoia National Park to ancient sandhill cranes in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, and from the snowy plovers building shallow nests with bits of shell and grass to the white-breasted nuthatch that regularly visits the apricot tree behind her family's casita in Sante Fe, for Kumar, birds "become a portal to a more vivid, enchanted world." At a time when climate change, habitat loss, and the reckless use of pesticides are causing widespread extinction of species, Kumar's reflections on these messengers from our distant past and harbingers of our future offer luminous evidence of her suggestion that "seeds of transformation lie dormant in all of our hearts. Sometimes it just takes the right bird to awaken us."

A fully revised and updated new edition of the award-winning, bestselling field guide to East African birds Birds of East Africa is widely regarded as one of the best field guides to any region of the world. Named a BirdTwitch Best Bird Book of the year for Africa when it was first published, it has become the go-to guide for anyone visiting this spectacular birding region, which is home to a remarkably diverse and colorful birdlife. Now this indispensable guide has been fully revised and updated to make it even better. Featuring revised text and distribution maps, the latest taxonomy, and much more, this comprehensive but compact guide describes and illustrates 1,448 species-all the resident, migrant, and vagrant birds of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi-in convenient facing-page layout. Featuring 289 color plates with more than 3,500 painstakingly rendered images, the guide depicts all the plumages and major races likely to be encountered. Introductory sections include information on conservation and where to send records, as well as maps of important bird areas. More than ever, this is the must-have guide for birding in East Africa. The standard field guide to the birds of East Africa-now fully revised and updated New edition features revised text and distribution maps, the latest taxonomy, and much more Covers all 1,448 regularly occurring species, with more than 3,500 images on 289 color plates Features concise, facing-page species accounts that cover identification features, status, range, habits, and voice More than ever, the must-have guide for birding in East Africa

'Delightful... Pavey writes with warmth and spirit, and brings this space to life' Penelope Lively 'Captivating and grounded... If this book was not as much a pleasure to write as it is to read, I'll eat my hat and gardening glove' Observer After years spent living amid the thrum of London, Ruth Pavey yearned to reconnect with the British countryside and she endeavoured to realise her long-held dream of planting a wood. Touring to the West Country in the late 1990s, Pavey found herself in the Somerset Levels. On seeing this expanse of reclaimed land under its wide, soft skies she was struck by its beauty and set-out to plant a wood, tree by tree. She bought four acres, and over the years transformed them into a haven where woodland plants and creatures could flourish an emblem of enduring life in a changeable world. A Wood of One's Own is the story of how she grew to understand and then shape this derelict land into an enduring legacy a verdant landscape rich with wildlife. Interwoven with Pavey's candid descriptions of the practical challenges she faced are forays into the Levels' local history, as well as thoughtful portraits of its inhabitants both past and present. Accompanied throughout by the author's evocative hand-drawn illustrations, A Wood of One's Own is a lyrical, beguiling and inspiring story; a potent reminder of nature's delicate balance, and its comforting and abiding presence.

This is a guide to all British birds whose sounds are likely to be encountered by the average birdwatcher. A total of 175 species are heard ranging from the familiar tawny owl to the very rare call of the bittern. This is an authorititive guide and an ideal gift for anyone wishing to learn the sounds of the great variety of birds that can be seen and heard throughout the season. A perennial bestseller. Includes an introductory booklet.

From the bald eagle to the pileolated woodpecker, the varied and abundant birdlife of the northwestern national parks is as impressive as the parks' dramatic scenery. To help both beginning and advanced birders make the most of their visits to these parks, Roland Wauer has written this finding guide, which introduces the most common birds and the most likely places to see them.

The book opens with practical advice on getting started in birding--choosing binoculars, bird identification, proper field techniques, etc. Then after a concise discussion of the national parks as "islands" of bird habitat, the succeeding chapters fully describe each park, including its plant and animal communities and the facilities and interpretive activities available to visitors. Wauer takes readers on "walks" through each park's most popular and accessible places, where he explains the identification and behavior of the birds that visitors are most likely to see. He closes each account with a review of the park's bird life and a list of key species. Pen-and-ink drawings illustrate many of the birds.

A book about birdsong, from the critically acclaimed author of Raptor. In Wild Air, James Macdonald Lockhart sets out to write about a series of birds as though he has his granny's role of listening to birds' songs and calls and relaying what she heard to her aged and by then quite deaf father - the famous naturalist Seton Gordon. From a nightjar's strange churring song on a heath in the south of England, to a lapwing displaying over the machair in the Outer Hebrides, he writes about eight different birds who he has spent most time with, returned to most often and relays what he hears. The eight species are all representative of a different habitat. Nightjars on a lowland heath; shearwaters on a mountain overlooking the sea; dippers on a river; skylarks in farmland; ravens in woodland; divers on a loch; lapwings on the coast; and nightingales in dense scrub. Not all of the birds are songbirds in the traditional sense, though each possesses its own distinctive music. That music can vary from the strange, as in the weird gurgling sound a shearwater makes inside its burrow, to the joyous exuberance of the skylark's song. Sometimes, he hears a lot, and sees little (shearwaters in the pitch dark); sometimes he sees a lot, but hears little (black-throated divers on their loch). But in every case the sounds the birds make become an introduction to their lives - an audible introduction to the birds and the places they are found.

Learn to attract and feed a variety finches with this pocket-sized guide. The bold yellow color of the male American Goldfinch is a welcome sight in any summer garden. And the pleasing songs and high-pitched calls of all the finches truly bring your yard to life. You love these beloved birds, and you want to see them visiting your backyard or garden. Professional naturalist and award-winning author Stan Tekiela teaches you all that you need to know about finches, from crossbills to grosbeaks. The handy book is divided into three main sections. First, you'll learn all about finches: facts, range, habitat, songs, nests, and more. Up next, you'll be introduced to the seeds and other foods-such as grains and mixes-that keep finches coming back. In the third section, Stan tells you which feeders finches prefer and why. You'll also be given information on placing feeders, cleaning feeders, and protecting finches. Find out how to make your yard into a habitat that finches will love. Then enjoy Stan's finch photography, trivia, and quick tips. This is truly your guide to attracting and feeding finches!

Learn to attract and feed a variety of hummingbirds with this pocket-sized guide. The glittering throat patch of the male Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a worthy adornment for this princely bird. And what else can captivate a bird watcher as much as a hummingbird's aerial acrobatics? You love these beloved birds, and you want to see them visiting your backyard or garden. Professional naturalist and award-winning author Stan Tekiela teaches you all that you need to know about hummingbirds-including Anna's, black-chinned, broad-tailed, rufous, and other hummingbird species. The handy book is divided into three main sections. First, you'll learn all about hummingbirds: facts, range, habitat, songs, nests, and more. Up next, you'll be introduced to the feeding solution that keeps hummingbirds coming back. In the third section, Stan tells you which feeders hummingbirds prefer and why. You'll also be given information on placing feeders and cleaning feeders. Find out how to make your yard into a habitat that hummingbirds will love. Then enjoy Stan's hummingbird photography, trivia, and quick tips. This is truly your guide to attracting and feeding hummingbirds!

The definitive photographic guide to the amazing avifauna of South Africa. South Africa - from the vast savanna of Kruger to the unparalleled richness of the Cape - is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, featuring the highest number of endemics of any African country, as well as rich seabird assemblage and vast numbers of more widespread yet no less spectacular African birds. The perfect companion for any wildlife-friendly visitor, Birds of South Africa provides photographic coverage of more than 340 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 South Africa is also included. Portable yet authoritative, this is the perfect guide for travellers and birdwatchers visiting this spectacular and bird-rich destination.

The Bird explores the fascinating world of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ornithological illustration. This was a period of scientific, artistic and geographic discovery, when people began to fully appreciate the immense variety of form and colour within the natural world. This book celebrates this beauty through the lavish illustrations produced at that time. Each chapter focuses on a category of birds, from shorebirds to birds of prey. Feature sections on key ornithological artists such as John James Audubon, Elizabeth Gould and Edward Lear demonstrated how technology, travel and ambition shaped these amazing images, and how their work transformed our understanding of the wonderful world of birds.

The definitive photographic guide to the amazing avifauna of Borneo. The world's third largest island, divided between three countries - Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei - Borneo is home to some of the oldest rainforests in the world, estimated to be 140 millions years old, and an avifauna of around 600 recorded bird species. It is a haven for birdwatchers and a frontrunning biodiversity hotspot. A range of habitats contributes to a diverse and exciting birdlife, which features colourful forest dwellers, mighty canopy dwelling hornbills, soaring raptors, as well as a host of charismatic endemics species and subspecies confined to this unique and special island. This guide is the perfect companion for any wildlife-savvy visitor to the island. It includes superb photography of more than 300 commonly encountered species, including all endemics and many subspecies. Concise text, covering key information on identification, habitat and distribution, and the best birdwatching sites, accompanies the photos to guide identification.