British Birds E-Book

Colin Salter

• Herausgeber: G2 Rights Ltd
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Concentrating on easily accessible habitats such as gardens, parks, farmland and the coast, British Birds provides a fantastic introduction to the joy of birdwatching. The book features a wealth of tips and guidance on what, when and how to spot birds and at a modest £2.99 is a must for your smart phone the next time you go for a walk in the country.

Leseprobe

British Birds

The definitive guide to birds and bird watching

Contents

The Joys of Twitching

How to Use this Book

The Country Habitat

1. Rook

2. Lapwing

3. Woodpigeon

4. Carrion Crow

5. Jackdaw

6. Magpie

7. Great Spotted Woodpecker

8. Kestrel

9. Meadow Pipit Grebe

10. Skylark

11. Stonechat

12. Swallow

13. Heron

14. Snipe

15. Tufted Duck

16. Chiffchaff

17. Shoveler

18. Dartford Warbler

19. Wheatear

20. Linnet

21. Great Crested

22. Teal

23. Pochard

24. Goldfinch

The Urban Habitat

1. Greenfinch

2. Great Tit

3. Blue Tit

4. Starling

5. Blackbird

6. Black-Headed Gull

7. Song Thrush

8. Robin

9. Wren

10. Collared Dove

11. House Martin

12. Chaffinch

13. Feral Pigeon

14. Moorhen

15. Coot

16. House Sparrow

17. Dunnock

18. Fieldfare

19. Redwing

20. Mallard

21. Mute Swan

22. Blackcap

23. Mistle Thrush

24. Siskin

The Coastal Habitat

1. Curlew

2. Turnstone

3. Redshank

4. Bar-Tailed Godwit

5. Dunlin

6. Sanderling

7. Common Tern

8. Ringed Plover

9. Grey Plover

10. Brent Goose

11. Shag

12. Cormorant

13. Oystercatcher

14. Great Black-Backed Gull

15. Lesser Black-Backed Gull

16. Herring Gull

17. Fulmar

18. Razorbill

19. Puffin

20. Sandwich Tern

21. Guillemot

22. Kittiwake

23. Gannet

24. Rock Pipit

Big Black Birds

Little Brown Birds

Seagulls

The Birdwatching Code

Bird Organisations

Bird Reserves

Chapter 1

The Joys of Twitching

Why do we watch birds? Getting on for three million of us do in Britain, at least occasionally, every year. For some of us it means a bird table outside the kitchen window, for others a regular visit to the local bird sanctuary. For the serious twitchers amongst us, it involves journeys the length and breadth of the country – and beyond – in search of some elusive “tick” of a rare sighting.

Perhaps it’s because we envy their ability to fly. Birds are all around us, everywhere, whether we live in the town or the country, on the coast or inland. We share our environment with them. And yet they live in a quite different world too, a world “up there” made possible by flight and by ancient instinctive patterns of breeding and migration, a world still regulated by the climate and the seasons from which in the modern age we have insulated ourselves. Perhaps this is why they appear in so many tales of primitive folklore and legend – they are not bound by the same constraints as us.

If we envy their flight, we certainly admire their plumage for its infinite complexity and variety of pattern. In Britain alone it is possible to see over 400 different species of bird, amongst which even the commonest little brown bird, the House Sparrow, has graceful and subtle markings. We can be as pleased to see the Sparrow in Britain as we are the Heron or the Kestrel, the Woodpecker or the Robin – all beautiful birds.

There is beauty and pattern too in the songs of the birds. From the conversational Crow to the angelic Skylark, birdsong contains music of great variety and inspiration. The dawn chorus, the lone Mistle Thrush, even the raucous shouting of the rookery, all have the power to intrigue and lift our spirits.

Whatever your reason for watching birds – scientific, aesthetic or just plain fun – they are there for the watching, wherever you are. Enjoy them!

Chapter 2

How to Use this Book

Birds are arranged in this book within the relevant section. The sections reflect the general habitats in which you are most likely to see each bird, but it should be borne in mind that many birds can be seen in different habitats at different times of the year.

The book is designed as a field companion and offers accurate and useful descriptions of the 72 featured birds, and each contains further details and background information.

The book aims particularly to help the birdwatcher avoid common mistakes of wrongful identification, with notes for each bird on similar-looking species and clear references in brackets – for example Cormorant (Coastal 12) – to the habitat section and number of the look-alike for easy comparison.

There is a further Quick Reference section at the end of the book with simple guides for sorting out three frequent sources of confusion – the Big Black Birds, the Little Brown Birds, and the Gulls.

Chapter 3

The Country Habitat

From Cornish moor to the wetlands of eastern England, from the gentle South Downs to the jagged Cairngorms, there exists in Britain’s countryside a remarkable diversity of natural environment. Dense forestry and scrubby heathland, open water and rocky gorge, cultivated field and fragile marsh – all offer their own solutions as breeding and feeding territories for our birdlife.