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Welcome to British Birds
British Birds publishes ground-breaking articles on identification, distribution, migration, conservation and taxonomy, and is the place to report significant ornithological sightings and events. The publication is widely regarded as the bird journal of record in Great Britain.
Published monthly, British Birds is an invaluable resource for birders and professional ornithologists. Contributors include both professionals and keen amateurs. Content is always abreast of current ideas and thinking, yet written in a clear and simple style that is easy to interpret.
What’s in the latest issue? January 2012
- Madeiran Storm-petrel off Scilly : new to Britain
- From the Rarities Committee’s files: Moult and ageing of male Falcated Duck in autumn
- Honey-buzzards in southern England
- RSPB Conservation Research News
- Letters
- Notes
- Reviews
- News & comment
- Recent reports
The latest update from the BTO Cuckoo-tracking project reports improving weather in equatorial Africa…
A Derbyshire gamekeeper, working on an estate within the Peak District National Park, has lost an appeal today (Tuesday 24th January 2012) against a previous conviction and sentence on seven charges relating to the illegal use of a trap baited with a live pigeon in order to take birds of prey, the intentional taking of a Sparrowhawk and a number of animal welfare offences…
Poetry and nature go together as far back as it is possible to go. Some of the earliest poets in the young English language were some of its first birdwatchers. James Fisher memorably described how the accuracy of the ornithological observations in ‘The Seafarer’ poem (written down in the tenth century) led him to be sure that the – unknown – poet was a seasoned birdman with particular knowledge and experience of the Gannets of the Bass Rock…
This book on North American birds was long anticipated, launched with a fanfare of publicity, and promised to be, to quote the first word of the back-page blurb: ‘revolutionary’. For anyone who missed the publicity over its launch, it uses a host of digitally manipulated photographs of each species arranged against a single background, with no paintings and minimal text…
This book is a condensed version of the Helm guide published in 2000 (which was co-authored with Ian Bullock). That guide became the only modern book to cover every species recorded in the Seychelles (it is still available and provides a huge resource of information). In this new volume the text has been considerably reduced and rewritten, making it more concise and focused towards identification…
What do Pink-footed Geese, Beethoven, vis-migging, mechanical Nightingales, slaying dragons, operas by Wagner and Mussolini all have in common?
As a birder with a particular interest in biogeography, I was looking forward to reviewing this book, though from the enigmatic title was unsure what to expect. I found that it does not focus on recent changes but instead looks at the history of Palearctic birds over the very long term, at their current distribution and their climatic and ecological characteristics and relationships…
This book is an attractive, generously illustrated and colourful introduction to bird biology and conservation worldwide. Maps appear on most pages, showing the global distributions of different bird orders, different habitats, land-use systems, threats and conservation matters – in fact, almost anything that can be conveniently shown in map form…