Bird Populations (New Naturalist no.124)

No-one interested in Britain’s birds can have failed to notice the recent publication of the latest Atlas. Poring over the multitude of maps, as I have done for many hours, two questions immediately spring to mind: why do certain species occur in particular places, but not others? And why are these distributions changing? BTO Director of Science Rob Fuller attempted to answer the first with his recently published Birds and Habitats. The BTO’s outgoing Chairman, Ian Newton, addresses the second in his latest contribution to the New Naturalist series, Bird Populations. Rather than work through species one-by-one, though, Ian explains in an authoritative but lucid manner the underlying mechanisms of population change, backed up by many examples of them in action in British bird populations. Thus, after a couple of introductory sections outlining general principles, each chapter provides a detailed assessment of the importance (or otherwise) of key causes of change, both natural (food, nest-sites, predation, weather) and human-induced (hunting, pesticides, climate change). Throughout, he makes clear the important difference between effects on individuals or local populations, and wider population impacts. Another recurring theme is the interplay between factors, often the impact of one may not be felt unless another is also at work; three chapters are devoted to this and examples are scattered throughout the book. Although the writing is a model of clarity (there is refreshingly little jargon), this is a book that requires attention to read, but that attention will be amply repaid; there is much to be gleaned from its pages. The work of BTO and its volunteers appears often and the closing sentence of the book “… the study of wild bird populations is likely to remain a scientific necessity for long into the future, and also a continuing source of fascination and pleasure for ornithologists.” neatly encapsulates the ethos of the BTO. This is a book to inform the volunteers of the present and, hopefully, to inspire those of the future to continue our efforts to understand and conserve Britain’s bird populations.

Book reviewed by Rob Robinson