Ornithology – Page 6 – Hoopoe

Gift Ideas That Support Wildlife

This festive season, why not consider giving a gift that will also support your local wildlife. Wildlife populations in the UK are facing serious threats and many species are in decline, however there are ways in which we can protect and help at-risk species by creating havens for wildlife in our own gardens. At NHBS we sell a range of products, from bird feeders to hedgehog houses, that can both bring joy to the recipient and benefit wildlife at the same time. We also sell a number of books that can help you create a wildlife friendly garden. We’ve put together a selection of some of our favourite items for you to browse below.

Eco Hedgehog Hole Fence Plate

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Hedgehog numbers have dramatically declined in recent years. Creating a hole in a garden wall or fence will allow your local hedgehogs to pass through from garden to garden safely.

NHBS Wooden Bird Nest Box

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Many bird species are struggling to find enough suitable natural nesting sites in the modern environment, but a bird box will provide a warm, sheltered substitute, with protection from most types of predators, helping to improve the chances of breeding success.

Froglio Frog and Toad House

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The Frogilo Frog and Toad House provides a safe retreat for frogs and toads in any garden and is handmade in frost-resistant ceramic with a decorative glazed roof.

National Trust Apex Insect House

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The National Trust Apex Insect House is an ideal addition to any wildlife friendly garden. With a variety of shelter types, it offers a perfect habitat for important invertebrates such as lacewings, ladybirds, and even some butterflies.

Bee Brick

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Bee Bricks are made in Cornwall in England using the waste material from the Cornish China clay industry. They provide much needed nesting space for solitary bee species such as red mason bees and leafcutter bees, both of which are non-aggressive.

Echoes Bird Bath

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A large and beautifully coloured and glazed bird bath with a ‘ripple’ step design that is both visually attractive and functional by providing extra footing/grip for wild birds.

Defender Metal Seed Feeder

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The Defender Feeder’s metal construction is tough, long lasting and offers excellent protection from squirrel damage. The feeder is available with two, four or six feeding ports, each with a perching ring that allows birds to feed in a natural, forward facing position.

Hedgehog House

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Hedgehog numbers are rapidly declining across the UK and providing a refuge in your garden with the Wildlife World Hedgehog House will help to protect hedgehogs from predators and disturbance.

RHS The Little Book of Wild Gardening

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This is a guide for anyone wanting to garden in a more sustainable, natural way. Working with nature benefits not just the garden, but also the gardener, wildlife and the wider environment.

Gardening for Bumblebees

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This shows you how you can provide a refuge for bumblebees to feed, breed and thrive. No matter how large or small your space is, Dave Goulson shows you how you can make a pollinator-friendly haven.

The Wildlife Pond Book

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This offers a fresh and unique perspective on ponds, encouraging readers of any budget to reach for the spade and do something positive to benefit their shared neighbourhood nature.

Wildlife Gardening

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If you want to attract more bees, birds, frogs and hedgehogs into your garden, look no further than this. Kate Bradbury offers tips on feeding your local wildlife and explains how you can create the perfect habitats for species you’d like to welcome into your garden.

Discover more great gift ideas on our website. Plus, check out our two blogs on how to attract wildlife to your garden.

Testing the Guide: Feathers

This is the first article in our new Testing the Guide series, in which we test the usability and application of various guides. Feathers: An Identification Guide to the Feathers of Western European Birds is a guide to over 400 European bird species, with an innovative key that allows for exceptionally precise identification by colour, feather structure and shape. This book also provides information on collection and conservation methods, as well as the locations of feathers on birds, all of which are clearly explained and richly illustrated.

This guide discusses the characteristics useful for identification, such as feather measurements, size variations and flight and tail feather shapes and adaptions. Also included are examples of identifiable body feathers and a beginner’s exercise in the identification of feathers from some common species. There are also species descriptions, including passerines, aquatic birds and birds of prey. The sequence of which these species are described, within families or orders, does not follow the usual systematic order: the author has attempted to describe groups that may be confused in close proximity due to their similar morphological characteristics or their presence in the same habitats.

This is a large-format guide, which may limit the practicality of taking it into the field, but it does allow the presentation of different feathers to be done in the clearest way. Therefore, this guide is most useful when feathers are collected or photographed. The more than 300 illustrations and 400 photographs facilitate the identification of many different feathers, often reducing the need for further, independent research.

Using the guide

Several feathers have been gathered by our colleagues around the UK, with notes taken of the location, date and habitats in which they were found, to aid identification. The guide details best-practice methods for collecting, labelling and preserving the feathers, which we found particularly useful. As the author suggests that larger feathers are more likely to be identifiable, and body feathers are much harder to distinguish, we chose to use the largest or most distinctive feathers we had collected.

Feather 1

The largest feather in our collection was found on the edge of town in Bovey Tracey in south Devon. It is a large, rigid feather that is dark brown in colour, with a white coloured section on the inner vane and darker brown irregular bars that end in specking on the white section. Using one of the many useful figures within chapter 2 (p. 17), as well as following the key located in chapter 3, we identified it as a notched, or fingered, outer primary feather from the right side of the bird. As the pattern matched several of the colour criteria within chapter 4, the process of determining identification took a little longer than expected. Using the colour criteria 4, 5, and 7, we were able to determine the feather is from a diurnal bird of prey.

Using the table for diurnal birds of prey in chapter 8, we noted that the size of the feather (approximately 13.6in / 34.5cm) and the patternation matched several species, including the common buzzard (Buteo buteo), the rough-legged buzzard (Buteo lagopus) and osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Referring to a number of the many beautiful photo plates and our own research, it is most likely a feather from the common buzzard, given its distribution, habitat and that they are much more common in the UK than osprey. Using the table in chapter 5 (p84), the placement of this notched primary feather is most likely between P10-P8, although it can be as far as P6 or even P5.

Feather 2

Using the information in chapter 3 again, we were able to determine that this second feather is also a large feather, most likely from the left side of the bird, as the feather curves to the left when looked at from above with the base towards us. Following the key was more difficult for this feather, as the answers were not as clear. However, we determined that this feather is a rectrix, or tail feather. As the width of both vanes are similar (outer: ~1.3cm, inner: ~1.2cm, although there is some degrading along the edge of the inner vane that may be masking its original width), the feather was most likely located towards the centre of the tail. As the rachis (or shaft) is curved and not fully straight, however, it is unlikely to have been located directly in the centre.

The feather is rufous and dark brown, with an irregular bar pattern that sometimes resembles vermiculation and gradually breaks down into speckling, with a more rufous tip. As the size of the darker bars is smaller, it would be referred to as brown bars on a rufous background. Using the colour criteria list in chapter 5, the feather size (~24.2cm / ~9.53in) is within the range of several species. As the feather is not velvety, we could discount owls, diurnal raptors or nightjars. As the feather is narrow and elongated, the chapter suggested looking at falcons, but we found that it did not match any due to the pattern and pointed tip. We then researched each species or species group that the size matched and determined that the feather is most likely a tail feather from a golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus). This is an introduced species with several small, wild populations in areas such as East Anglia and in the Isles of Scilly, preferring dense woodland with sparse undergrowth. They can also be found in many aviaries and zoos, with a number of colour variations and hybrids, particularly with the Lady Amherst Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae). Their feathers are often used by florists, as well as crafters to decorate heads, earrings, clothing and even lures for fly-fishing.

Feather 3

Bright, uniquely colour feathers have a higher chance of being identifiable to a species level. This feather was found in the wetlands around Chew Valley Lake reservoir in Somerset. The rigidity of this feather shows this is also a large feather, and the curve suggests it comes from the right side of the bird. Following the key in chapter 3, we determined that this is a secondary feather.

Using the colour criteria in chapter 5, the metallic dark blue colouration of the feather and the length (12.2cm / 4.8inchs) matches a number of species, but the handy colour plate on the next page allowed us to determine that this feather most likely came from a mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). The blue colouration makes up part of the speculum, the contrasting patch of colour on the bird’s wings. Referring to the species description and feather spread on pages 304-5, the feather is most likely a middle secondary, although exact positioning would be difficult to determine with a lone feather. The well defined dark blue colourations suggest between S3-S10. There are also a number of hybrid Anas species and the identification of these through feathers is unlikely.

Our opinion

There are several limitations to identifying feathers, as individual variability in size and colour are common amongst species, and feathers can be similar between species within the same family or that occupy the same habitat or niche. The author suggests that only a small fraction of feathers lost by birds are identifiable, therefore the practical applications of this guide are restricted. However, we were able to use this guide to identify many of our larger or more unique feathers, including the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) and barn owl (Tyto alba).

It is relatively straightforward to identify where on the body the feathers come from and, while the feather can sometimes match several colour criteria, it is also quite easy to identify a list of potential species matches. From here, the size of the feather can help to narrow the list down, although this is not always possible. Using the various species descriptions and feather spreads in chapter 8, your own research and knowledge of the habitat and location that the feather was found in and the distinctive markings or colouration on the feather itself can all help you to identify your feather to species level. We also found that, while our first feather did not resemble the osprey spread in the guide, it did match feathers from other collection photographs we found in our own research. Therefore, while this guide is incredibly helpful in determining the type of feather and the list of possible species, we encourage researching any potential match both with the guide’s species descriptions and through independent research. Feathers: An Identification Guide to the Feathers of Western European Birds is a novel introduction to the world of identifying feathers, which can be an engaging and entertaining way to increase your knowledge of Europe’s birds.

Feathers: An Identification Guide to the Feathers of Western European Birds
Cloe Fraigneau
Hardback | November 2021

The NHBS Guide to UK Goose Identification

Geese are birds in the family Anatidae, comprising mainly of the genera Anser and Branta. They are a common sight in our estuaries and other wetlands, particularly during autumn and winter. Many species are migratory visitors to the UK, arriving in autumn and leaving again in spring to places such as Greenland and Iceland. There are some resident goose species, however, which are present all year round, such as greylag and Canada geese.

They feed mainly on seeds, grass, other water plants and some small invertebrates. They are primarily grazers and can search for food both on land and underwater. In UK species, males and females rarely differ in colour, though males are usually larger in size. Geese are monogamous and often pair for life, but several studies have noted evidence of extra-pair copulation (mating outside of this pair bond). One study, for example, found evidence of extra-pair copulation in 14% of 42 Canada goose clutches.

Identifying geese can be based on colouration, distribution, calls, time of year and size. Very little equipment is needed for birdwatching, but we recommend a pair of binoculars or a scope, along with a guide to other waterfowl you may see.

Greylag Goose (Anser anser)

Distribution: Resident population is widespread throughout the UK, although less common in Wales and southwest England. Scottish and southwest England populations are boosted by winter migrant numbers.
Birds of Conservation Concern 4 (BoCC4) Status: Amber
Wingspan: 147–180cm
What to look for: The greylag goose has a grey body and a brown back. It has a brown and grey striped neck, an orange to pink bill and pink legs. They have a paler tail and pale secondary feathers that stand out in flight.

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)

Distribution: Resident population, widespread, although less common in Scotland and Ireland.
BoCC4 Status: Not Assessed
Wingspan: 150–180cm
What to look for: The Canada goose has a black head, neck and bill, with a white patch on its throat. They have a white underside and a brown back, with black tail feathers and black legs.
Did you know? Canada geese are not native to the UK and were introduced from North America in the 17th century.

Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)

Distribution: Resident population in East Anglia and southern coastal areas, with winter migrants in southeast England. The largest population is along the Norfolk coast.
BoCC4 Status: Not Assessed
Wingspan: 110–130cm
What to look for: This is a distinctive species, with a pale, dappled grey underside and darker grey to reddish-brown back and wings. They have a reddish-brown and white head with dark patches around their orange-yellow eyes. Their tail and primary feathers are black, and their secondary feathers are green. They have pink legs and feet, and a pale pink bill with a black tip and black basal knob, a prominent bump at the base of the bill.
Did you know? The Egyptian goose was first introduced to the UK as an ornamental bird that then escaped and now successfully breeds in the wild.

Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)

Distribution: Throughout coastal areas in the UK during winter, with a resident breeding population in southern England.
BoCC4 Status: Amber
Wingspan: 132–145cm
What to look for: This species has a black head, neck and breast, with a white face and a black patch running from its eye to its black bill. It has a white underside, black and grey barred back, a black tail and black legs.

White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)

Distribution: Winter migrants are found in coastal areas throughout the UK, particularly near estuaries.
BoCC4 Status: Red
Wingspan: 130–165cm
What to look for: There are two subspecies of white-fronted goose in the UK, the Greenland white-fronted goose (A. a. flavirostris) and the European white-fronted goose (A. a. albifrons). The white-fronted goose is greyish-brown with a large white patch around the bill and orange legs. They have black bars on the front of their underside, white feathers under the tail and have a white line between their wings and body. The two subspecies differ in a number of ways but most notably the Greenland white-fronted goose has an orange-yellow bill and a darker, ‘oily’ appearance, whereas the European white-fronted goose has a pink bill and a lighter plumage.

European white-fronted goose by Ian Watson-Loyd

Brent Goose (Branta bernicla)

Distribution: Found around estuaries and saltmarshes throughout most of the UK coastal areas in winter.
BoCC4 Status: Amber
Wingspan: 110–120cm
What to look for: This is a darker species, with a black head, neck and primary feathers. Their body is grey-black in colour, with either a dark or pale underside and a white tail. They have a white patch on their neck, a black bill and black legs.

Bean Goose (Anser fabilis)

Distribution: Two subspecies in the UK, taiga bean goose (A. f. fabilis) (Falkirk, Scotland and Norfolk, England) and tundra bean goose (A. f. rossicus) (erratic appearances in winter but most common in eastern and south-eastern England).
BoCC4 Status: Amber
Wingspan: Taiga: 147–175cm, Tundra: 118–140cm
What to look for: The taiga bean goose is darker and browner than other grey geese, with a darker head and neck and orange legs. It has an orange patch on its bill. The tundra bean goose has a similar appearance but is smaller, with a slightly darker plumage and a stockier body. It has the same orange patch on its bill but it is smaller, covering less than half of the bill.

Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus)

Distribution: Winter migrants are most common in coastal areas near large estuaries and central England.
BoCC4 Status: Amber
Wingspan: 135–160cm
What to look for: A medium-sized goose, this species is grey with a darker back and head, pink legs and feet, and a pink and black bill. It has white feathers under its tail and a striped pattern on its neck.

Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)

Distribution: Migrant species are more likely to be spotted in Scotland and Ireland. There is also a feral breeding population in Scotland.
BoCC4 Status: Not Assessed
Wingspan: 132–165cm
What to look for: This species has two colour forms, an all-white body with black wing feathers (pictured) and a white-headed form with a blue-grey body and wings. In both forms, it has an orangy-pink bill and pink legs.

U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service Southwest Region via Flickr

The NHBS Guide to UK Duck Identification

Ducks are waterfowl from the family Anatidae, which also contains geese and swans. They are mostly aquatic birds and there are several resident, breeding and migrant species in the UK. Ducks are split into multiple families, or ‘tribes’, such as dabbling ducks (Anatini), diving ducks (Aythyini) and sea ducks (Mergini). All ducks are generally elongated and broad, with long necks. They have bills and strong, well-developed legs for swimming. The males often have more elaborate plumage than the females, and often similar-looking females of different species can be confused.

Ducks eat a wide variety of food, including vegetation, fish, invertebrates and small amphibians. They have multiple predators including foxes and birds of prey, such as hawks or owls. Ducklings are particularly vulnerable and can also be taken by herons, pike, rats, mink and weasels.

Winter is a great time to birdwatch for ducks in the UK: some species occur in much higher numbers compared to the summer months, and 3 of the 22 species that occur in the UK can only be seen in the winter. The best places to see ducks are lakes, marshlands, estuaries, coastal bays and other wetland areas.

The best equipment for birdwatching is a pair of binoculars or a scope, a notebook and pen to record your sightings, and a guide for more information on other species of duck.

Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)

Distribution: Present in almost all coastal areas in the UK year-round, as well as some inland waters such as reservoirs.
Size: Length (L): 55–65cm, wingspan (WS): 100–120 cm
Birds of Conservation Concern 4 (BoCC4) Status: Amber
What to look for: Shelducks are a large, boldly-patterned and colourful duck with a white body, dark-green head and red bill, a chestnut band around their chest and pink legs. They can be spotted along estuaries and on the coast.

Eider (Somateria mollissima)

Distribution: During the breeding season, they’re most common northwards from the Northumberland coast and off the west coast of Scotland. During the winter, their range expands to include areas along the east and south coasts, parts of the southwest coast and some areas of the Welsh coast.
Size: L: 60–70cm, WS: 95–105 cm
BoCC4 Status: Amber
What to look for: Eiders are large and impressive sea ducks (rarely seen away from the coast) with distinctive wedge-shaped heads. The males are boldly marked in black and white with subtle green and yellow markings on their head and neck. The females are a dark mottled brown colour all over, providing camouflage during nesting.

Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)

Distribution: Mainly restricted to the highlands of Scotland during the summer, their winter range includes most coastal areas, lakes, large rivers and other inland water bodies. They are particularly best looked for in north and west Britain.
Size: L: 40–48cm, WS: 77–83cm
BoCC4 Status: Amber
What to look for: Goldeneyes are diving ducks, found mostly in larger lakes and reservoirs. The males are black and white, with a large, dome-shaped head that has a green sheen to it. As its name suggests, it has a distinctive, bright yellow-gold eye, as well as a white spot between its eye and bill. The female is grey with a brown head.

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Distribution: Widespread
Size: L: 55–62cm, WS: 81–98cm
BoCC4 Status: Amber
What to look for: A common species, the male has a bright green, shiny head, yellow bill, and a brown chest. They have a paler underside and maroon and pale wings with a bright blue patch outlined in white and black, called a speculum. The female is a mottled brown, with a brown and yellow bill.

Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)

Distribution: An introduced species, the main population is in the south, central and eastern areas of England, but there are small numbers in northern England, Wales and Scotland.
Size: L: 45cm, WS: 65–75cm
BoCC4 Status: Not Assessed
What to look for: The mandarin is an unmistakable bird. The males have a very elaborate plumage of orange, green, blue, white, and brown, with a bright pinkish-red bill. They have plumes on their cheeks, sail-like feathers on their backs and longer feathers down the back of their head. The female is grey and brown, with a white eye stripe and green feathers at the ends of their wings.

Pochard (Aythya ferina)

Distribution: During the summer, pochards are most likely found along the east coast of England but in the winter they can be seen along almost all of the UK coastline, as well as on large lakes and estuaries inland.
Size: L: 44–48cm, WS: 77cm
BoCC4 Status: Red
What to look for: The male pochard has a grey body, black chest and tail, and a reddish-brown head. They have a bright red eye and a black and grey bill. The female is a darker brown, with dark eyes. They also have a black and grey bill, but with less grey than the males. This species was once common but populations are rapidly declining.

Female pochard by Koshy Koshy via Flickr

Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)

Distribution: Widespread across England, parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Less common in Wales and south-west England but they can be seen here as their range expands during the winter.
Size: L: 41–45cm, WS: 70cm
BoCC4 Status: Green
What to look for: The male tufted duck is black with white flanks, and a long ‘tuft’ at the black of their head. They have bright yellow eyes and a grey bill with a black spot at the end. The female has brown feathers and no white flanks. The females’ tufts are shorter or sometimes not present.

Male tufted duck by ianpreston via Flickr

Female tufted duck by Noel Reynolds via Flickr

Gadwall (Anas strepera)

Distribution: Mainly found in the Midlands, south-east of England, parts of Scotland’s east coast, eastern Northern Ireland and along the south and north coasts of Wales. Their range expands during winter to include Cornwall and North Devon, parts of Scotland’s west coast and larger areas of Northern Ireland.
Size: L: 48–54cm, WS: 78–90cm
BoCC4 Status: Amber
What to look for: Male gadwalls are grey-brown in colour, with black and white tail feathers. They have a paler head with a black bill and black eyes. Females are mottled brown, with a black bill edged with orange. They have a white and black speculum that also contains reddish-brown on the males.

Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)

Distribution: Widespread in England and along the Welsh coast during winter but more restricted to east and north-east England and the Midlands during summer, with some populations in parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the south coast of England.
Size: L: 47–53cm, WS: 77cm
BoCC4 Status: Amber
What to look for: The shoveler has a large, broad shovel-like bill. The male has a dark green head, white chest, reddish-orange flanks, and a black and green back and tail. The males also have yellow eyes and a black bill. The female is a mottled brown, with a yellow-orange bill.

Pintail (Anas acuta)

Distribution: Restricted to scattered areas of Scotland and the east of England in summer in only small numbers. Their significant winter population has an expanded range that includes much of the English coastline and parts of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Size: L: 55–65cm, WS: 80–95cm
BoCC4 Status: Amber
What to look for: This is an uncommon species in the UK, but it is easily distinguishable by its long tail feathers. The male has a dark chestnut head, a white chest with black feathers on the back of its neck, and a grey body. They have black feathers along their back and a black tail, dark eyes, and a grey and black bill. The female has shorter tail feathers, a mottled brown colouration and a grey bill.

Northwest Power and Conservation Council via Flickr

Useful Resources

RSPB ID Spotlight: Ducks, Geese and Swans Unbound | June 2022

This guide is a reliable fold-out chart with illustrations of 30 of the UK’s most familiar wildfowl by renowned artist Stephen Message. Species are grouped by family to assist with identification and artworks are shown side-by-side for quick comparison. The reverse of the chart details the habitats, behaviour, life cycles and diets of the group, as well as the conservation issues they are facing and how the RSPB is working to support them.

Guide to Ducks, Geese and Swans Unbound | January 2019

This fold-out chart from the Field Studies Council (FSC) shows 32 species of ducks, geese and swans you are likely to see in Great Britain and Ireland. Not included are domestic ducks and geese descended from respectively the mallard (1 species) and the greylag (30 species).

RSPB Spotlight: Ducks and Geese Paperback | May 2020

This detailed ‘biography’ of ducks and geese in the UK covers 30 species in total. It includes chapters on their evolution, anatomy, courtship displays and breeding behaviour. The author reveals their migrations and examines their social interactions with their own and other species, including humans, and discusses their presence in historical folklore and literature.

Author Interview: Collins Birds of the World

Collins Birds of the World is the complete collection of Norman Arlott’s beautifully detailed and accurate bird paintings, brought together for the first time. Accompanied by text detailing characteristics and appearances for each species, this comprehensive new field guide is the ultimate reference book for birdwatchers and bird lovers.

Norman Arlott is a wildlife artist and has illustrated over 200 books. He has kindly answered some of our questions on his experiences and the process of creating this all-encompassing work.

Could you tell us about your background and what inspired you to become a wildlife artist?

I originally trained as a mechanical engineer but ‘jumped ship’ in the 70s to take up my real love as a wildlife artist, with a focus on birds. I made this leap with much encouragement from my wife Marie and a great deal of help and inspiration from well-known bird artist Robert Gillmor, bird photographer Eric Hosking and the great East African ornithologist John Williams. I had no intention of working on book illustrations, but I got caught up in it, really liked it and I have enjoyed it ever since.

In the intervening years, I have contributed illustrations to over 200 books, including some classics such as Birds of the Western Palearctic, Handbook to the Birds of the World and the SASOL Birds of South Africa. Many postage stamps feature my artwork from places such as Jamaica and The Bahamas in the Caribbean, Liberia in Africa and Fiji in the Pacific Ocean.

Over the last 15 years, I have concentrated mainly on writing and illustrating a series of bird guides (more coloured checklists really) covering the Palearctic, India, The West Indies, North America, South East Asia and the Philippines – many of these illustrations and accompanying text feature in the forthcoming Birds of the World.

You’ve been a part of creating bird guides for areas as broad as the Palearctic to more specific locations such as the Indonesian Archipelago and Armenia. What have you enjoyed most about your travels?

During the last 40 years or so, I have had the good fortune to travel to various parts of the globe, most notably East and South Africa. I led safaris to Kenya and Tanzania for many years, which led to many adventures and meetings. On one of my first visits, I was fortunate to form a friendship with two people: author and broadcaster Roger A Caras and zoo director Steve Graham, enabling me to visit North America. Whilst in America, I was introduced to many of my bird-artist ‘heroes’, all of which passed on great encouragement and useful tips – one snippet passed to me by the great Arthur Singer was always to remember ‘white areas are equally as important as the illustrated areas in the look of a plate’.

When illustrating Antpittas for the Handbook of the Birds of the World, you were integral in the realisation that a specimen in the Natural History Museum was misidentified. Could you tell us more about this experience?

The Antpitta discovery came about after a research visit to the British Museum at Tring. Needing to find a reference for the Yellow-breasted Antpitta, a bird I was about to illustrate for the Handbook to the Birds of the World, I was able to photograph and make notes from the one and only skin in the museum. Before embarking on the illustration I checked the text notes provided by the authors only to discover that the text and the bird I had photograph did not correspond. My initial thought was I had photographed the wrong specimen so I called Robert Prys-Jones at the British Museum and asked him to check the skin – Robert, along with Peter Salaman, then followed up my query and came to the conclusion that the specimen in the British Museum was in fact a new subspecies of the Brown-banded Antpitta. All the relevant details of this new bird can be found in the Bulletin of the British Ornitholgists’ Club (Vol 129-1). I have made many visits to the British Museum to do research for various books and this is the only time I have known a skin to be completely misidentified, especially a skin with a label annotated by P. L. Sclater, an expert on the family.

Collins Birds of the World is a huge, comprehensive collection of over 25,000 illustrations of 10,711 species. Could you tell us a little bit about the process of creating this guide?

I was asked to consider putting together a complete coloured checklist to the Birds of the World using the vast Harper Collins artwork archive. There were a few areas that Harper Collins did not have suitable artwork, such as Australia, New Guinea and some small island groups, so I painted all of these in readiness for putting together the Birds of the World plates.

I decided that to even start this project, a standard ‘list’ was needed – it was decided that the International Ornithological Congress (IOC) world list as of January 2019 was the one I would rigidly follow. Using mainly mine and Ber Van Perlo’s artwork, I promised Harper Collins that I was able to put together the 301 plates and hopefully make a really satisfying (to look at) book, even though some of the plates may contain a great number of species.

Although told by many that I was an ‘idiot’ to take on such a project, and I admit at times I had to agree, overall I genuinely enjoyed the experience of working ‘electronically’ to produce plates. Hopefully, I fulfilled the promise I made to the publisher to produce an attractive and practical book to the Birds of the World!

After my work designing the plates, David Price Goodfellow and his team went on to produce the high-resolution scans and add any missing pieces of text, so all in all a great team effort.

After such a mammoth publication, do you have any more projects lined up for the future?

I have recently been given the opportunity by Harper Collins to produce a large-format book of my ‘proper’ paintings of British birds – what a difference from the past couple of years.

The NHBS Guide to UK Owl Identification

There are six owl species in the UK, although only four are native (barn, tawny, long-eared and short-eared owl). We also get occasional visitors, such as the snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca).

Owls are mainly nocturnal and feed on predominantly small mammals such as the field vole (Microtus agrestis), but also some small birds, invertebrates, amphibians and fish. All these species are listed as ‘least concern’ by the IUCN red list but face serious threats in the UK, such as habitat loss, declining prey populations and a decrease in nesting sites, as well as direct deaths such as from car collisions or poisoning. Owls can be used as an indicator species for the health of the food chain: their decline may indicate that other wildlife that also depend on the same habitats are also under threat.

Identification of owl species usually relies on colouration and eye colour, as well as their call. This is particularly important as owls are often active at night and therefore are hard to identify by sight.

There are several types of equipment that can be useful when searching for owls, such as binoculars, night vision monoculars, a headlamp or flashlight and a guide to owl pellet identification. If you wish to encourage owls onto your land, there are a variety of nest boxes available, depending on the species you wish to attract.

Little Owl (Athene noctua)

Distribution: Widespread throughout England and parts of Wales. Rare in southern Scotland
What to look for: The little owl is a small species, with brown and white feathers in a dappled appearance. It has a short tail and bright yellow eyes. Usually out at night, it is most likely to be seen perched on structures such as trees, telegraph poles and fences.
Did you know? The little owl is non-native in the UK and was introduced in the late 1800s. It is not thought to cause any detrimental impacts on any other species.

Barn Owl (Tyto alba alba)

Distribution: Widespread across England and Wales, with decreasing density towards north Scotland and scattered distribution in Ireland
What to look for: An iconic species, the barn owl is instantly recognisable. Its silver and golden-brown back and pure white underside and face are distinctive, along with its heart-shaped face and black eyes. Its face shape plays an important function for hunting, as it directs high-frequency sound to their ear openings, such as those produced by mice and voles. This helps the barn owl to perform precision hunting in tall vegetation. Another subspecies, Tyto alba guttata, which has a darker coloured underside, also occurs in the UK.
Did you know? Owing to their large wing size compared to their body mass, and the structure of their feathers, barn owls fly almost completely silently.

Barn Owl by Portable Portraits via Flickr

Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)

Distribution: Widely distributed in England, Wales, and parts of Scotland, but not in Northern Ireland
What to look for: The tawny owl has mottled brown feathers with flecks of white and more reddish-brown. Its colouration can vary from brown to grey. This species has a paler underside and a round head, with large black eyes and a dark ring pattern around its face.

Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus)

Distribution: Widespread across the UK, although fewer individuals in Wales and south west England.
What to look for: This mottled brown species has bright orange-red eyes and long tufts that resemble ears, hence the common name. The long-eared owl is a shy, nocturnal species that can be found in communal roosts in densely covered woodland and forests. The population is boosted in winter due to numbers of migrating individuals from other parts of Europe.

Short-Eared Owl (Asio flammeus)

Distribution: Migratory species, found across Scotland and northern England in summer before moving further south during winter.
What to look for: Often confused with the long-eared owl, this species is slightly slimmer, with a paler colour and yellow eyes rather than the long-eared owl’s orange. It has brown feathers on its back and a pale belly, with darker feathers framing its eyes. They also rarely display their ‘ear’ tufts.

Short-eared Owl by Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife via Flickr

Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo)

Distribution: Very rare, scattered around the north of the UK, including Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Galloway, and Inverness-shire.
What to look for: The Eurasian eagle-owl has tufts similar to the long-eared owl. It is a large bird, weighing up to 4.6kg compared to the barn owl at 500g. This species is mottled, but there is a high variation in plumage colouration for this species, from browny-black to a pale grey. There is often a dark band running from the eye to the ends of the ‘ear’ tufts. It may have pale sections around the eyes and beak, with a darker, splotched forehead.
Did you know? There is serious debate surrounding this owl species and its place in the UK countryside. While there is fossil evidence that suggests this species inhabited the UK before becoming extinct, many don’t believe it is a native species. Therefore, the conservation of this species and the safety of the individuals present in the UK is under threat.

Eurasian Eagle-owl by Jenny Laird via Flickr

The NHBS Guide to UK Bird Nest Identification

The main breeding season for birds in the UK is between March and August every year. This article looks at some of the various bird nests built by UK species.

What are they made of?

Not all birds build nests, but those that do use a huge variety of materials, depending on the nesting time, the species and surrounding habitat. They can contain tightly woven twigs, grass or woody stems. Other species use premade nooks and crevices in trees, natural structures or buildings. Nests can be lined with softer or warmer materials such as animal fur, moss, mud or feathers. These materials are usually held together by spider webs, twine-like vegetation or even horsehair.

Nest varieties

Nests can be a variety of sizes, depending on the size of the bird, the need to remain hidden and the structural limitations. For example, the largest recorded bird’s nest is a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest at 2.9m wide and 6m deep. It was recorded in 1963 in Florida, USA. In Scotland, a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) nest was recorded in 1954 at an impressive 4.57m deep. The smallest recorded birds nests are made by hummingbird species, around 2cm wide and 2-3cm tall.

How are they built?

The nests can be built by either the male or female, or they can work together. They can take from a few days to a few weeks to build, depending on the size and complexity. Some bird species build a new nest every breeding season but others, such as the goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) will use the same nest for many years.

Identification

Often enough, if you observe a nest from a distance, you’ll be able to identify the species when the adult birds return. But there are other ways to identify the owners of a nest. Nest size, shape, material and placement can all be useful ways to identify them, as well as egg size, number, colour and pattern. Some nests and eggs are so similar, however, they can be very difficult to identify in the field. Nests and eggs are protected by law through the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981; it is an offence to take, damage or destroy any wild nest. Disturbance can lead to young being abandoned and injury to nesting birds – please observe nests from a safe distance.

Location and timing can also be important, as not all bird species nest at the same time and some only nest in certain ranges within the UK. Many species can also be quite specific about the habitat they nest in.

Nests are usually categorised by type and those in the UK can include:

Scrapes

These are nests of the simplest construction, usually a shallow depression in the sediment or vegetation. They can sometimes be lined with vegetation, stones, feathers or shell fragments, often to help camouflage the eggs. This is a common nest type of many wader species, as well as pheasants, quails and bustards.

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

The ringed plover breeds on open ground, such as beaches and gravel flats. They lay their eggs directly on the ground in an open area with little or no vegetation, with shell fragments sometimes used to line the nest. They usually produce 2-3 clutches per breeding season, each with up to four eggs. These eggs are pale brown with dark brown speckles. As this nest type is very vulnerable to predators, the ringed plovers have developed a strategy to draw attention away from the eggs – the parent bird will lead a predator away from the nest by feigning an injured wing.

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

This species also creates scrape nests, although they can be lined with twigs or other vegetation. Laying between 1-4 eggs, only one clutch is laid per season. The eggs are similar to the ringed plover, with a pale brown background and dark brown speckles. This species, however, uses a practice called ‘egg dumping’, where they lay their eggs in a nest of another species, such as herring gulls, and allow them to raise the chicks.

Burrow

These are nests dug into the ground, riverbanks or cliffs. The UK birds that nest in burrows include puffins, some petrel and shearwater species, sand martins, shelducks and kingfishers. Many burrow-nesting birds excavate their own burrows but some use the pre-dug burrows of other species. Puffins, for example, often use empty rabbit burrows. As these nests are underground, species identification can be difficult without disturbing the nest, therefore it is best to wait for an adult bird or chick to appear. The location of the nest can also help to identify the species. Kingfishers, for example, usually occupy burrows in riverbanks.

Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

The Atlantic puffin lays a single white egg between late April to early May. The parent birds will defend the nesting site and take turns feeding the chick until it is ready to fledge, between 34-60 days after laying. During this time, the chick will remain within the nest burrow.

Cavity

Cavity nests are chambers, usually in trees. They can be excavated by the bird themselves, such as woodpeckers, but most species use natural cavities or disused nests. These species are often enticed to use nest boxes as these mimic natural cavities. The process of excavating a cavity can take, on average, around two weeks.

Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)

The nuthatch does not create its own cavity and will often use old woodpecker nests, although they will enlarge an existing hole or, if the entrance is too large, the female will plaster it with mud to reduce the size. The nuthatch lays between 6-9 white eggs that have red speckling. The eggs are small, usually around 2cm long and 1cm wide.

Cup

A cup nest is a hemispherical nest, with a deep depression for the eggs to be housed in. It is often made of a more pliable material such as grasses and thin twigs, but some can be made of mud. These nests are built mostly by passerine birds.

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Blackbirds usually build their nest in evergreen bushes such as ivy, hawthorn or holly, but will also nest in sheds and outbuildings. The nest is built by the female and made with vegetation such as leaves and grass, bound together with mud. The female lays 3-5 bluish-green eggs with reddish-brown blotches that are, on average, 2.9cm long and 2.1cm wide.

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

This species builds a mud-lined cup nest, usually in bushes or trees. The song thrush lays between four to five eggs, which are blue with dark spots and are around 2.7cm in length and 2cm in width. They can lay between 2-4 clutches per season.

Platform

These nests are large structures, which can either be elevated or on the ground, depending on the species. They can often be much larger than the bird that built them. This nest type is often used by birds of prey, but also by other birds such as herons, cormorants, and grebes.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

Some waterbird species build nests directly on top of the water. These floating platform nests are built out of aquatic vegetation, cattails, reeds and mud. They can be anchored to vegetation to keep them from drifting away and to conceal them from predators. The great crested grebe usually lays four chalky white eggs, which are around 5cm in length and 3.7cm in width.

Osprey (Pandion hallaetus)

Usually breeding near freshwater, the osprey creates large platform nests made out of sticks, turf, driftwood or seaweed. They can be built on rocky outcrops, artificial platforms, forks in trees or even utility poles. The nests can be as wide as two metres. Osprey usually lay 2-4 whitish eggs with reddish-brown splotches. The eggs are quite large at 6.2cm long and 4.5cm wide.

Sphere

A few UK species create sphere nests, round structures that are completely enclosed apart from a small entrance opening. The entrance is usually on the side as it allows for protection from the rain. These nests can be made from mud, vegetation, or woven twigs and are commonly covered on the outside with moss, lichen or other camouflaging vegetation.

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

These nests can be identified by shape but also by construction material. The long-tailed tit uses lichen, feathers, spider egg cocoons and moss to create its nest. The nests are usually suspended in gorse, bramble bushes or high up in tree branches. The lichen is usually used to line the outside as camouflage and the feathers line the inside as insulation. The long-tailed tit has one brood per season and lays between 6-8 eggs, but can lay as many as 15. The eggs are white with reddish-brown speckles.

Q&A with Lynx Edicions

Lynx Edicions is a Barcelona-based publishing house, originally founded in 1989 to create the Handbook of the Birds of the World series. They are known for their fantastic ornithology titles, alongside a varied collection of general natural history. They have published over 150 titles, including field guides and bird checklists, and continually produce exciting works, such as their most recent publication Seabirds: The New Identification Guide, a full, 600-page treatment of all known seabird species.

Lynx Edicions are our Publisher of the Month for August and have taken the time to answer some questions about their background, motivations, and current major project.

Could you please tell us a little bit about Lynx Edicions and your mission as a publishing house?

Lynx Edicions is a publishing house committed to providing high-quality ornithology and natural history books. It was founded to create the 17-volume Handbook of the Birds of the World series, the first work ever to illustrate and describe in-depth each member of an entire Class of the Animal Kingdom: Class Aves. We then applied the same detailed treatment to Class Mammalia with the Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Our work has not stopped there, but rather it has grown from this strong foundation. Furthermore, we are proud to collaborate with many different organizations and professionals to publish a wide range of titles devoted to promoting understanding and appreciation of ornithology and nature, as well as its conservation.

What inspired you to create your flagship publication, the Handbook of the Birds of the World?

In 1980, Lynx Co-founder Josep del Hoyo took a 13-month trip to Africa to explore the wildlife with a special focus on birds. In preparation for the trip, he purchased several bird field guides to help identify the species that he would be seeing. On his trip, he soon discovered that the books were not as helpful as he had imagined – they lacked details and, in some cases, they even lacked species! The experience with the books was frustrating, but Josep just thought that he had purchased the wrong books and that certainly a definitive work covering all the birds existed. However, when he returned from the trip and searched for a comprehensive treatise dedicated to birds, he surprisingly found there was none. This inspired him to create one himself and he was fortunate to find two partners, Jordi Sargatal and Ramón Mascort, to join him in this monumental effort. Together they founded Lynx Edicions in 1989 and set to work on the Handbook of the Birds of the World project.

What is the process of creating handbooks of this scale? What are the challenges involved?

Creating handbooks of this large scale involve a huge amount of collaborative effort and intricate coordination of data, materials, processes and professionals. For example, the Handbook of the Birds of the World includes detailed texts and high-quality illustrations from 277 specialists and 33 illustrators from 40 countries. The impactful photographs are the contributions of more than 850 photographers from all over the world. Of course, behind the scenes is also the hard work of a carefully orchestrated team including editors, coordinators, and production staff, as well as those dedicated to the logistics of selling and distributing the books across the world.

In addition to the challenges inherent in producing such a vast work, there are also challenges related to the important focus of the handbooks – the birds and mammals themselves – with information on species sometimes hard to find. Luckily the international ornithological and mammalogical communities have been highly supportive of the Handbook projects and have come to our aid repeatedly with data, photographs and other help to treat all the world’s birds and mammals in detail. We hope that, in a small way, the Handbooks have also encouraged some professionals to investigate, photograph and even protect species that had formerly not received as much attention.

The Handbook of the Birds of the World includes sections on species known to be extinct; why was this information important to include?

Conservation has always been an important goal of our publications, and we believe that “you cannot protect what you do not know”. So, to start, we aim to explain and illustrate the wonders of the natural world, so that people can see its value and fight to protect it. Another aspect is showing the reality of extinction and those remarkable species that we have already lost, which will hopefully lead people to act to avoid more species crossing the line into extinction. In our Handbooks, Illustrated Checklists, Field Guides and most recently All the Birds of the World, we have included the IUCN/BirdLife International conservation status for every species to help call attention to these important data. We have been very fortunate to collaborate with BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN, Re:wild and other international organizations to pursue the important goals of conservation through our work.

One of the publishing house’s main areas of expertise is in ornithology, with publications including field guides, illustrated checklists, and guides to bird conservation. What, in your opinion, are the greatest threats to bird biodiversity?

Habitat loss is probably the greatest threat to biodiversity on Earth today and it is certainly a devastating threat to bird biodiversity. In turn, habitat loss is directly related to human action as we modify and reshape the Earth for our uses. For example, some of the top threats to birds are related to habitat destruction and degradation, like agriculture, logging, invasive species, and climate change. Action by humans has been especially detrimental to forests, grasslands, wetlands, and other freshwater habitats.

We feel it is important to educate people about the importance of birds and their natural habitats, so that they can be encouraged to protect them and to find ways to coexist harmoniously. This is what has also inspired us to pursue our Field Guide collection for birds, as well as our Illustrated Checklist collection for mammals, in order to give local communities and travellers the tools to discover and protect local species and their habitats.

A current, major project is the Lynx and BirdLife International Field Guide Collection. Can you tell us a little about the motivation behind this series and why it is so important?

Carrying on from the previous point, this project came to life after years of conversations motivated by a shared idea between Lynx and BirdLife International that the existence of country field guides is a basic element for the “emergence” and education of birdwatchers, ornithologists, bird guides and naturalists in any given country, which, in turn, has important repercussions on the conservation of nature and biodiversity, both locally and globally. The principal goal of this collection is to produce modern, standardized field guides, especially for countries without any recent or country-level guide. The main collection is produced in English, including local-language names for the species when an official list exists. But we also have a secondary goal of publishing several of the titles in their local languages to enhance the local effects of the work. We are delighted by the success of the collection so far, with a growing number of titles authored by top experts, and we look forward to producing more now that hopefully travel will increase again after the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Author Interview with James Aldred: Goshawk Summer

James Aldred is an award-winning documentary wildlife cameraman and filmmaker. James has collaborated on numerous high-profile projects with Sir David Attenborough, including Life of Mammals, Planet Earth and Our Planet, resulting in several BAFTA/RTS nominations. He is also the author of The Man Who Climbs Trees.

In his latest book, Goshawk Summer, James details his extraordinary and unique experience documenting a family of goshawks in the New Forest during the national lockdown of 2020. We have had the very fortunate opportunity to ask James some questions

Could you tell us about how you first came to be interested in the natural world?

Through time spent outdoors in the New Forest, where I spent much of my childhood. My teenage obsession was tracking deer, particularly Red, which were quite scarce in the Forest during the 1980s. I also got into tree climbing at an early age. Many of my friends were training to be foresters and tree surgeons and they showed me how to use ropes to access the forest canopy. I immediately fell in love with this hard-to-reach, but wildlife-rich environment and regularly took my stills camera up with me to try and capture images of the New Forest from this unique perspective.

Travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic presented a unique opportunity to document nature with very little human interference. Do you think this period of time will have had any lasting impacts on the country’s wildlife?

Yes, but in a rather unforeseen way. The space provided by the initial lockdown period definitely helped those birds and animals with a shorter breeding cycle, but ultimately the lockdown period was too short to be of much lasting benefit to a lot of the larger wildlife, including large ground-nesting birds such as curlew. The levels of disturbance in the post-lockdown period were very high in some places and this had the unfortunate effect of causing problems for those species that had not yet completed their breeding season. Ironically though, these high levels of disturbance in the countryside in the immediate aftermath of lockdown may yet provide useful data in terms of how best to manage large visitor numbers in the future as our population increases to grow and national parks are placed under increased pressure.

To capture footage of the goshawks required time, patience and understanding, but your efforts were clearly rewarded. Do you have any particular highlights from your goshawk summer?

There were so many, but I think the nesting dynamics between an adult male and female were particularly fascinating. Their relationship was surprisingly complex, subtle and even-keeled for such a fiery bird. The male often covered the clutch to keep the eggs warm whilst the female fed off site, and was even allowed to feed the chicks himself on several occasions whilst the female stood by and looked on. Very unusual for Goshawk females to tolerate their mate being so close to the chicks like this.

For a young aspiring naturalist, a career as a wildlife photographer would seem to be an ideal choice, especially since our collective experience and knowledge is usually limited to what we see on film/television or on paper. Could you tell us a bit about the reality of what it’s like to be a wildlife cameraman?

The reality is very anti-social working hours, high levels of frustration and a huge impact on home life! But I wouldn’t change it for the world as it is undoubtedly one of the most soul-nourishing jobs you could ever hope to do, in my opinion. It’s a tough, highly competitive industry, but this doesn’t mean you can’t get in through gentle persistence and dedication. Knowledge is everything: read, watch and learn everything you possibly can about your chosen wildlife subject before even attempting to film it.

What’s next for you? Do you have any current or future projects planned?

I’m currently working on a large project commissioned by a popular US-based video-on-demand provider. I’ve just been filming in the Congo for them and due to head out to Borneo soon. I’m also working on an exciting UK-based project about rewilding, which is a subject I find particularly compelling and relevant. All the more so since it is UK based and has the potential to inspire the next generation of naturalists.

Goshawk Summer
By: James Aldred
Hardback | July 2021

Lynx: Publisher of the Month

Lynx Edicions is a Barcelona-based publishing house known for their fantastic ornithology titles, alongside a varied collection of general natural history. Originally founded in 1989 to create the Handbook of the Birds of the World series, they have since expanded to over 150 titles, including field guides, monographs, and bird checklists. They continually produce exciting works, such as their most recent publication Seabirds: The New Identification Guide, a full, 600-page treatment of all known seabird species. NHBS is delighted to announce Lynx Edicions as our Publisher of the Month for August.

Throughout August we will have special offers on a selection of titles, giving you the perfect opportunity to explore their books. Browse a selection of highlights below, or Lynx’s entire range here.

Handbook of the Birds of the World (16-Volume Set + Special Volume)
Josep Del Hoyo (editor) et al.
SERIES: Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW)
Hardback | £1,999.00 ~~£3,375.00~~

Handbook of the Birds of the World (16-Volume Set + Special Volume) comprises all volumes of HBW, illustrating and describing in detail every species of bird in the world. This is the first work ever to illustrate and describe in detail every species of bird in the world, and also the first to verbally and visually portray each member of an entire Class of the Animal Kingdom.

All the Birds of the World
Josep Del Hoyo (editor)
Hardback | £64.99 ~~£84.99~~

An easy-to-use, fully-illustrated volume of all the birds of the world. Created for a broad audience, from novice birders to expert ornithologists and anyone interested in the spectacular diversity of birds, this fascinating book has something for everyone to discover.

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2
Verena Keller et al.
Hardback | £69.99 ~~£84.99~~

This book represents the most up-to-date source of information on bird distribution and change in Europe, and is a great contribution to the global aim of understanding biodiversity to ensure its conservation.

Handbook of the Mammals of the World
Don E Wilson et al.
SERIES: Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW)
Hardback | £140.00 ~~£155.00~~

Volume 9 completes the Handbook of Mammals of the World series, and it deals with the bats, order Chiroptera.

Read our interview with the series creators

Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World
Connor J Burgin (editor) et al.
SERIES: Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW)
Hardback | £180.00 ~~£200.00~~

This series of 9 large-format volumes describes and illustrates every currently recognised mammal species, and gives a detailed overview of each mammalian family. It provides up-to-date information on the evolutionary relationships, natural history, ecology, and current conservation status for all mammals.

Birds and Mammals of the Galapagos
Dušan M Brinkhuizen (Author), Jonas Nilsson (Author)
SERIES: Lynx and BirdLife International Field Guides
Flexibound | £22.99 ~~£29.99~~

This comprehensive field guide covers all of the birds and mammals known to occur in the Galapagos archipelago, providing the latest insights on field identification and taxonomy for challenging groups such as pelagic birds, Darwin’s finches, and cetaceans.

Mammals of Madagascar
Russell A Mittermeier et al.
SERIES: Lynx Illustrated Checklists Collection
Paperback | £18.99 ~~£22.99~~

The first book to describe and illustrate every mammal species found in Madagascar. Also includes those of the nearby islands of Comoros, the Seychelles, Réunion and Mauritius.

All prices correct at the time of this article’s publication.