Birds Britannica Mark Cocker Richard Mabey
A companion volume to Flora Britannica containing observations and experiences from more than 1000 naturalists and bird lovers - many of which were collected via this website
'The book is a triumph' The Guardian
Birds, like plants, are intricately involved with our social, cultural and emotional lives. We still listen for the first cuckoo, watch for early swallows, prophesy weather from the flight of fieldfares and the call of woodpeckers, devise delightful local names for common species and epithets for their songs, and ornament Christmas cards with winter robins. Different species are emblems of different moments of the year, and of different habitats. Skylarks, for example, seem to be part of the open fields, just as dippers, with their pebble-white breasts, are the familiars of fast-flowing rivers, and curlews of upland meadows. These observations and many thousands of others are what have come together in Birds Britannica to make up one of the most eagerly anticipated books about birds to have been published in years. This website helped to raise many of its contributions.     Read an extract		Birds Britannica is neither an identification guide nor a behavioural study (though both these subjects enter its field). It covers cultural links; social history; birds as food; ecology; the lore and language of birds; myths, art, literature and music; anecdotes, birdsong and rare facts; modern developments; migration, the seasons and our sense of place. An attempt to describe the interaction of birds and humans, it captures the essence of why birds matter . The product of 8 years of research Based in part on contributions by the public who sent in many thousands of humorous anecdotes, field observations and simple tales of joy, wonder and occasional woe Unlike any other bird book Treats over 350 species - from divers and grebes to finches and buntings Photographs by world-famous bird photographer Chris Gomersall who also did the picture research for the other illustrations Superb package - large format; splendidly designed and illustrated; packed with fascinating information, much of it in anecdotal form Birds enrich people's lives: to take just one e.g., the RSPB has more than one million members, making it the largest wildlife organisation in Europe