Book reviews

Book reviews

Read reviews of the books we hold in the Chris Mead Library, written by our in-house experts. A selection of book reviews also features in our members’ magazine, BTO News.

Featured review

All the Birds of the World

Lynx have had a long-term project to produce an exhaustive guide to the birds of the world. It started out with the 17 volumes of the Handbook of the Birds of the World (1992–2013) which has family and species accounts for all birds. This was followed by the two volumes of the Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World (2014–2016). They have now published the third and final stage of this avian odyssey with this current book.

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All the Birds of the World

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A Newsworthy Naturalist: the Life of William Yarrell

Author: Christine E. Jackson

Publisher: John Beaufoy Publishing, Oxford

Published: 2022

Yarrell’s is a name that you have probably come across, if only through its association with the British race of White Wagtail – which we know as Pied Wagtail or Motacilla alba yarrellii. He is, ...

Birds of the Lesser Antilles: A Photographic Guide

Author: Ryan Chenery

Publisher: Helm, London

Published: 2022

This guide serves as a colourful who’s who of the Lesser Antilles’ birdlife designed for casual birders visiting the region, including those on a non-birding holiday who would nonetheless appreciate ...

Where to Watch Birds in East Anglia: Cambridgeshire, Norfolk & Suffolk

Author: David Callahan

Publisher: Helm, London

Published: 2020

Courtesy of its geographic position, diversity of lowland habitats and extensive coastline, East Anglia is high on the list of desirable UK birding destinations. Even in this age of web- and app-based ...

Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: An Identification Guide

Author: Peter Adriaens, Mars Muusse, Philippe J. Dubois & Frédéric Jiguet

Publisher: Princeton University Press, Princeton & Oxford

Published: 2021

Although I do not condone it, I (somewhat) understand why non-birdy people often refer to all gulls as ‘seagulls’. Until you get your eye in, some species do look similar to one another. This ...

Birds of South Africa

Author: Adam Riley

Publisher: Helm, London

Published: 2022

For budding birders or those unfamiliar with African avifauna, the prospect of identifying birds in a biodiversity-rich country like South Africa might feel overwhelming. Birds of South Africa aims to ...

Birds of the Middle East: A Photographic Guide

Author: Abdulrahman Al-Sirhan, Jens Eriksen & Richard Porter

Publisher: Helm, London

Published: 2022

The Middle East is something of an international stepping stone for both migratory birds and people travelling between Europe, Africa and Asia. For birdwatchers stopping over in this part of the world ...

Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History, from Cave Art to Conservation

Author: Tim R Birkhead

Publisher: Viking Books, London

Published: 2022

The scope of Birds and Us is impressive, beginning 8,000 years ago with Neolithic cave art and ending on a 2018 undergraduate trip to Bempton Cliffs. As BTO Vice-president Prof Tim Birkhead takes us ...

Galapagos Crusoes: A Year Alone with the Birds

Author: Bryan Nelson & June Nelson

Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides, Chalfont St Peter

Published: 2022

Galapagos Crusoes: A Year Alone with the Birds is an update to Bryan Nelson’s original 1968 book Galapagos: Islands of Birds, with additional stories from June, his wife. The two of them spent a year ...

Man and Bird in the Palaeolithic of Western Europe

Author: Anne Eastham

Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, Oxford

Published: 2021

This book attempts to straddle the two disciplines of ornithology and archaeology, by fusing the author’s stated passion for birds with their obvious deep knowledge of early hunter-gatherer ...
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