A&C Black, 2011; pbk, 144pp, many colour photographs, maps and diagrams; ISBN 978-1-4081-3470-2; Subbuteo code M20779 £16.99
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. The book is divided into eight parts, the titles of which give some idea of the overall scope: Introduction to Birds, Where Birds Live, Birds in Order, How Birds Live, Birds and People, Birds Under Threat, Protecting Birds, Bird Table (a table of statistics for each country giving information on land area, human population, length of coastline, number of bird species, number of Ramsar sites and other details). The author is a wildlife writer, photographer and illustrator, and much of the information in the book is attributed to BirdLife International in Cambridge.
The entire book is laid out as a series of double-page spreads, each of which gives a few paragraphs of text, one or more maps and diagrams, and several bird photographs, all with extended captions. Picking a few topics at random, we have spreads on Feathers, Important Bird Areas, Australasia, Pigeons to Cuckoos, Finding Food, Flyways, Conflicts with Birds, Birds in Culture, Extinction, Infrastructure and Pollution, Campaigns and Conventions. From this short list, you will gather that the book covers a wide canvas, giving a bit about everything, and in fact a lot of information in limited space. Nevertheless, the text is friendly and readable, and the maps and diagrams are easy to understand.
It is difficult to judge who this book is aimed at, but anyone from interested teenagers to experienced birders could enjoy dipping into it. Some of the information assembled is not readily available elsewhere without a lot of digging around. Another attractive feature of the book is its price.
Ian Newton
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