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 (2014-16). 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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From Wasteland to Wetland: A History of Woolston Eyes

Author: Brian Martin

Publisher: Privately published

Published: 2023

As a birder growing up in Greater Manchester in the 1990s, I would regularly phone Birdline Northwest (remember those days of having to phone up for bird news?!) and very often, the site Woolston Eyes ...

Call of the Kingfisher

Author: Nick Penny

Publisher: Bradt Guides, Chesham

Published: 2023

Following the author’s journey along the River Nene at Oundle in Northamptonshire, this book is set out in specific months of the year. The reader can fall into step with the writer as he explores the ...

The Glitter in the Green

Author: Jon Dunn

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Published: 2022

Another journey of discovery, in this title the author goes in search of hummingbirds. For those judges who have been fortunate enough to see hummingbirds, this book brought back many fond memories; ...

The Wryneck: Biology, Behaviour, Conservation and Symbolism of Jynx torquilla

Author: Gerard Gorman

Publisher: Pelagic Publishing, Exeter

Published: 2022

The Wryneck is one of our weirdest birds and it is hard to believe it really is a woodpecker. Gerard Gorman is a global authority on woodpeckers and combines the extensive literature with his ...

The Role of Birds in World War Two: How Ornithology Helped to Win the War

Author: Milton, Nicholas

Publisher: Pen & Sword History, Barnsley

Published: 2022

Stories such as War Horse have brought the history of animals in warfare into the public consciousness. Their significant contribution was formally recognised in 1943 through the creation of the PDSA ...

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, ...

The Secret Life of Birds

Author: Moira Butterfield & Vivian Mineker

Publisher: Happy Yak, London

Published: 2022

The Secret Life of Birds is a collection of delightful stories and engaging facts, which imparts a love of birds and of nature on the next generation, inspiring them to look after the world around ...

How Birds Live Together: Colonies and Communities in the Avian World

Author: Marianne Taylor

Publisher: Princeton University Press, Princeton & Oxford

Published: 2022

How Birds Live Together offers an overarching view of the different and unexpected ways that birds nest and interact together. Many differing nesting habits are covered, from seabird cliff colonies to ...

The Extraordinary World of Birds

Author: David Lindo & Claire McElfatrick (illustrator)

Publisher: Dorling Kindersley, London

Published: 2022

An expertly written and beautifully illustrated book, that does as the title suggests - convince children that the bird world is in fact extraordinary. Covering all aspects of birds’ lives, the author ...
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