Owls: a Natural History of the British and Irish Species (New Naturalist 125)

Through no fault of Mike Toms’, this book has been a long time in the making - but what a good job he has made of it, producing a fine volume on a difficult but increasingly interesting subject.

There have been previous volumes on Britain’s owls, especially Hosking & Newberry’s ‘Birds of the Night’ (1945) but also Wardhaugh’s ‘Owls of Britain and Europe’ (1983). However, our knowledge of owls is greater now and this volume brings everything up to date and tackles the subject in much greater depth.

The first two thirds presents an interesting informative on the biological make-up of owls, while the last section presents a portrait of the resident owls of Britain, including the ‘infamous’ Eagle Owl, which Mike tackles in a logical and realistic manner. It also includes a section on the rarer visitors from mainland Europe and Scandinavia but also the migrant Scops Owl from Africa.

This is an informative and well-presented book on Britain’s owls. For those who are interested in collecting the ‘New Nats’ series then this will be another fine addition to the collection, but before you put it on the shelf to join the others  – read it. You won’t be disappointed. 

Book reviewed by Jeff R Martin