The Status of Birds in Britain & Ireland

This is a comprehensive yet individual account bringing up to date the status of our increasingly diverse and changing avifauna. The introductory sections particularly reflect the interests of the authors, covering coordinated fieldwork as the engine of our knowledge, and extensive treatment of evolution and taxonomy. Explaining molecular analysis and DNA sequencing aids the lay birders’ understanding of why lists change, and feeds into the taxonomic status of each species account. There is a useful account of ornithological publications, but the rather thin treatment of nature conservation could easily have been left out without damaging the overall credibility of the book. The colour plates are well chosen with the habitat and species images particularly pleasing. As with all works of this size and complexity, some inconsistencies can irritate such as apparent piecemeal inclusion of some very recent records, such as the second Glaucous-winged Gull on Teesside in 2009, but no mention of the 2008 Black Lark in Norfolk. However, this is an authoritative work, more scientific in its approach than many, contributing greatly to the knowledge of our own avifauna, at a critical time of environmental change. The BTO and its work is well reflected in the source and descriptive material, and I’m sure the authors have more than earned shelf space amongst those of us that take pride in knowing all about the patterns of occurrence in our birds.

Book reviewed by Andy Clements