Book Reviews

Britain's Birds: an Identification Guide to the Birds of Great Britain and Ireland

Author: Rob Hume, Robert Still, Andy Swash, Hugh Harrop & David Tipling

Publisher: Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ) & Oxford

Publication Year: 2020

ISBN: 9780691199795

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 576pp

Price: £20.00

This bird ID guide covers 631 species and includes birds recorded in Britain and Ireland. It is incredibly comprehensive and has a plentiful amount of glossy, detailed photographs which show all the plumages you are likely to see for both common and rare birds. The layout is practical and user-friendly which makes it easy to use and compare species.

It has Species Accounts for each species described which includes English and scientific names, measurements, overview and description,... read more

Gillian Birtles

Emma Turner : a life looking at birds

Author: James Parry & Jeremy Greenwood

Publisher: Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society, Norwich

Publication Year: 2020

ISBN: 9781916253711

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 88pp

Price: £9.50

Emma Turner was a pioneer: one of the early bird ringers; one of the early bird photographers; one of the first 15 woman fellows of the Linnean Society (January 1905) and one of the first four female members of the British Ornithologists’ Union (May 1910). All this when women were considered very much to be second class citizens. It is noted in this book however that there is no indication that Emma Turner played any significant part, indeed any part, in the campaign for women’s rights which... read more

Peter Lack

Atlas of the Mammals of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Author: Derek Crawley, Frazer Coomber, Laura Kubasiewicz, Colin Harrower, Peter Evans, James Waggitt, Bethany Smith & Fiona Matthews

Publisher: Pelagic Publishing, Exeter

Publication Year: 2020

ISBN: 9781784272043

Binding: Hardback

Page Count: 197pp

Price: £35.00

This is the first national Mammal Atlas to be published since 1993 (Atlas of Mammals in Britain by Henry Arnold) and documents changes in recorded distribution between 1960 and 2016. It is aimed as an essential reference for ecological consultants wishing to know which species of protected mammals could potentially be affected by a development in a particular area.

It is a culmination of many years’ worth of work in compiling data from records made in a variety of ways; from... read more

Gillian Birtles

Moult and Ageing of European Passerines

Author: Lukas Jenni & Raffael Winkler

Publisher: Helm, London

Publication Year: 2020

ISBN: 9781472941510

Binding: Hardback

Page Count: 323pp

Price: £95.00

Moult is a pivotal stage in the annual cycle of all birds and understanding the effect of moult strategy on plumage is an essential tool for ageing birds in the field for birdwatchers and ringers alike.

The first edition of Moult and Ageing of European Passerines was published in 1994 after 16 years of collecting data from 140,000 birds captured at ringing stations in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe, as well as specimens held at several European natural history museums.... read more

Justin Walker

Is That a Bat? A Guide to Non-Bat Sounds Encountered during Bat Surveys

Author: Neil Middleton

Publisher: Pelagic Press, Exeter

Publication Year: 2020

ISBN: 9781784271978

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 288pp

Price: £35.00

There has been some ground-breaking development in bat detector technology in recent years, such as the Audiomoth and Echometer Touch, reviewed in BTO News, Spring 2018, which have enabled a much wider audience of non-bat specialists to become interested in bat sound identification. Newcomers to this are supported by a Facebook page ‘Bat Call Sound Analysis Workshop’ which was set up by Rich Flight for anyone to be able to receive comments from the wider bat community on sound... read more

Stuart Newson

Effects of Climate Change on Birds

Author: Peter O. Dunn & Anders Pape Møller

Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN: 9780198824275

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 288pp

Price: £37.99

Since the publication of the first edition of this edited volume 10 years ago, we have all grown in our awareness of the twin biodiversity and climate crises that the planet faces. There is building evidence that the climate is changing, and of its impact on biodiversity, of which the literature on birds is a significant component. The authors start their book with an assessment that more than 11,400 papers have been published on the subject of climate change and birds, of which two thirds... read more

James Pearce-Higgins

An Indifference of Birds

Author: Richard Smyth

Publisher: Uniformbooks, Axminster

Publication Year: 2020

ISBN: 9781910010228

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 109pp

Price: £12.00

In this brilliant book, Smyth shines a light on the relationship between birds and humans. In particular, on the roles we have played, and continue to play, in bird lives and histories. In doing so, he gently challenges mainstream narratives in modern-day conservation, prompting the reader to examine their own notions of value and motivation. Smyth looks at the various ways in which we have given to and taken from birds, tipped the balances to favour some birds to the detriment of others.... read more

Mark Wilson

Wildlife Disease Ecology: Linking Theory to Data and Application

Author: Kenneth Wilson, Andy Fenton & Dan Tompkins (eds.)

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN: 9781107136564

Binding: Hardback

Page Count: 690pp

Price: £89.99

Zoonotic diseases (those that infect humans but which originate in populations of wild animals), especially novel ones, sometimes receive quite high profile, e.g. avian influenza, Ebola and, more recently, coronaviruses.
The study of disease in wild animals, though, is something of a ‘Cinderella’ subject and this book does a valuable service in bringing together a wide range of case-studies, from carnations through to American buffalo, to show what a fertile area it is.

Three... read more

Rob Robinson

Birds of Bhutan and the Eastern Himalayas

Author: Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp & Sherub

Publisher: Helm, London

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN: 9781472941886

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 416pp

Price: £30.00

The original Birds of Bhutan published by Helm in 1999 was the first field guide to the avifauna of this Himalayan nation; the new work however, is not simply just a second edition but has been extended to include the neighbouring Indian states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, and also adds the renowned Bhutanese bird expert Sherub as a fourth author.

Whilst much of the book is devoted to the superbly illustrated plates and corresponding species accounts, the introductory... read more

Justin Walker

Britain's Day-Flying Moths: a Field Guide to the Day-flying Moths of Great Britain and Ireland

Author: David Newland, Robert Still & Andy Swash

Publisher: Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ) & Oxford

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN: 9780691197289

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 232pp

Price: £17.99

Mention of a day-flying moth to many people will receive a reaction akin to ‘Don’t you mean a butterfly?’ However, as mentioned in WildGuide’s Britain’s Day-flying Moths the number of moth species which are most active in the day (158 covered in the book) comfortably doubles the number of our butterflies (71 species including migrants). The differences between moths and butterflies are included here, along with the book’s definition of day-flying which encompasses those species... read more

Rob Jaques

The Consequences of Finding Daniel Morgan

Author: Peter J Robinson

Publisher: Matador, Kibworth Beauchamp

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN: 9781838590536

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 238pp

Price: £9.99

A thriller surrounding illegal wildlife trade, focusing on tropical birds and remote locations, is certainly a new find in the ornithological section of the library. Robinson’s crime novel is a welcome new genre, and I was excited to get tucked into what was bound to be an exciting read.

For the most part, it proved to be just that. The scenes are set with knowledge of the area, describing Cairns to a level of detail that brought me back to my backpacking days in the city. The story... read more

Faye Vogely

The Eagle Owl

Author: Vincenzo Penteriani & María del Mar Delgado

Publisher: T & AD Poyser, London

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN: 9781472900661

Binding: Hardback

Page Count: 384pp

Price: £60.00

For clarity, the subject here is the Eurasian Eagle-Owl Bubo bubo. The authors have studied this bird for more than 30 years in Finland, France, Spain and Italy and are exceptionally qualified to give it the Poyser-style treatment.

Their text is packed densely with information, supported by many literature citations, charts, line-drawings and photographs, and is written clearly and presented well – though often in exceptionally long paragraphs. Topics include numbers and... read more

John Marchant

Finding Birds in Eastern Bulgaria

Author: Dave Gosney

Publisher: Easybirder, Sheffield

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN: 9781907316593

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 40pp

Price: £8.50

If you’ve used a ‘Gosney guide’ in the past, then you will be familiar with the format. There is a general introduction to the area but the book is a site guide. The site is described on the left page, and there is a beautifully hand-drawn map on the right. At first glance, you think the maps make no sense at all, but when you are at the site, and read in conjunction with the text, it all makes sense! This guide was published in August, just before I went on a family holiday to Eastern... read more

Dawn Balmer

Madeira, Portugal

Author: Dirk Hilbers & Kees Woutersen

Publisher: Crossbill Guides Foundation, Arnhem

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN: 9789491648175

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 223pp

Price: £28.95

To those familiar with Crossbill Guides, the appealing and accessible layout of the Madeira edition will come as no surprise. It is packed with information that is clearly presented, and complimented with well-chosen and often eye-catching images of the island’s scenery and wildlife. Although it is nearly 20 years since my wife and I visited Madeira on our honeymoon, this guide instantly transported me back to vertiginous levada walks, lush valleys, a seabird-filled ferry crossing to Porto... read more

Nick Moran

Wintering: a Season with Geese

Author: Stephen Rutt

Publisher: Elliott and Thompson, London

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN: 9781783964543

Binding: Softback

Page Count: 197pp

Price: £12.99

This is not a long book, but its conciseness is its strength. By the end, you have spent time with each of our native wintering geese species, but a short enough period to be left with the essence of each.

One chapter is dedicated to each of our wintering species (or two, in the case of the most recent taxonomic wrangling of the Bean Geese). Each chapter deftly combines facts with personal anecdote. I learned something new about geese in every one.

The author can see... read more

Teresa Frost