Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

The Urban Birder

by David Lindo

What?

A personal account of a life’s passion for birds, seeded in the urban sprawl of 1960s London.

Why?

Urban environments are attractive to a diverse selection of bird life, with the patchwork mix of gardens and parks, rivers and reservoirs creating unique ecosystems.

David Lindo has a passion for birds and in the Urban Birder he tells his story from growing up in London to adventures in Brooklyn, Hollywood and beyond. Throughout weaves the thread of his main crusade which is to encourage “urbanites to realise that there is a whole world of wildlife under their noses in the world’s cities.”

This entertaining autobiography has a simple message and is a great read, and as more people migrate to towns and cities it will become increasingly important that people learn to live alongside their avian neighbours, following David Lindo’s lead and becoming urban birders.

Who?

From the author’s website:

“I am David Lindo and I am The Urban Birder — writer, broadcaster, speaker and bird guider. My whole vibe is about getting urbanites to realise that there is a whole world of wildlife under their noses in the world’s cities.

I was a twitcher in the womb and was born clutching for a pair of binoculars. An interest in wildlife and in particular watching birds was a natural thing for me to get into, despite being surrounded by non-birders and having no mentors in my north London neighbourhood…” – read more on www.theurbanbirder.com.

David Lindo will be signing copies of The Urban Birder at Birdfair on Saturday 20th

Find out more about NHBS at Birdfair 2011

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

A Field Guide to Monitoring Nests

by James Ferguson-Lees, Richard Castell and Dave Leech

What?

A guide to the identification of the nests of 146 British and Irish bird species, and a source of information and guidelines about monitoring nests.

Why?

Along with the species accounts, this compact and well-illustrated guide provides a wealth of detail about fieldcraft, legislation, the BTO Nest Record Scheme and the importance of nest monitoring for conservation. It includes the key points of the BTO Code of Conduct for Nest Recorders plus a link to the full code on the BTO website.

In recognition of the potentially contentious nature of nest research, this guide gives clear information and links about the legal issues surrounding monitoring nests, so that conservation work may be carried out with greatest sensitivity to the welfare of birds and their young.

Who?

James Ferguson-Lees and Richard Castell are two of Britain’s leading experts in the field of monitoring nests, having seen and studied the nests of all 146 species covered by this book. Their wealth of field experience delivers a level of information beyond that seen in other publications on this subject.

Dr Dave Leech is a Senior Research Ecologist at the BTO, and also
an experienced nest recorder. His analysis of BTO nest record datasets has delivered much of the supporting information presented in this book.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Birdfair 2011: Friday 19th – Sunday 21st August

2010 was a good year!

NHBS are off to Rutland Water again this month for Birdfair 2011.

We look forward to seeing you all there again – as usual you will encounter a great range of books covering ornithology from all angles: field guides, monographs, avian science, photography; plus a wide selection of books concerning British and World wildlife: entomology, wildlife travel, natural history writing and much more.

You’ll also be able to browse a huge range of wildlife conservation equipment and field kit – and we are hoping you can come and chat with NHBS Ambassador, Nick Baker at the stand about all things wild, and see how he got on with the Stealth Gear One Man Chair Hide – probably on the Saturday (time to be confirmed…*CONFIRMED, see times here*)!

Come and see us in Marquee: 2, at Stands 15, 33, 34 and meet the authors that will be visiting the NHBS stand to sign copies of their books.

Birdfair 2011: NHBS Author Signings Schedule

Saturday 20th August

11.30am Nils van Duivendijk:  Advanced Bird ID Handbook

2pm Mike Unwin: The Atlas of Birds

3pm David Lindo: The Urban Birder

Sunday 21st August

11am Richard Crossley: The Crossley ID Guide

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

Winged Sentinels: Birds and Climate Change

by Janice Wormworth and Cagan H Sekercioglu

What?

An exploration of the effects of climate change on various groups of birds, what can be done about the threats and the possible consequences of inaction.

Why?

“The ability of the birds to show us the consequences of our own actions is among their most important and least appreciated attributes. Despite the free advice of the birds, we do not pay attention.”

Marjory Stoneman Douglas as quoted in the introduction to Winged Sentinels.

The chapters of this book take the reader on a global tour looking at the timing of seasonal activities of birds, their shifting distributions, and the abundance and make-up of avian communities – among various other factors – as ‘fingerprints’ which provide clues to the overall story of how our changing climate is taking its toll on the global bird community. It then provides an assessment of the current state and effectiveness of conservation efforts.

With its absorbing style and generous complement of colour photography Winged Sentinels is accessible to a general readership while being scientifically thorough, and tells a story that is of great interest to all scientists and policy-makers involved not only in avian conservation, but across the spectrum of climate-related ecological research.

Who?

Janice Wormworth is a freelance science writer.

Cagan H Sekercioglu is Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Utah and the director of the non-profit environmental organisation KuzeyDoga

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Important Bird Areas: Americas

“One of BirdLife International’s core research activities over recent years has centred on developing an Important Bird Area (IBA) network worldwide. The publication of ‘IBAs Americas’ represents a major milestone in this project. It is the culmination of 15 years of work by 72 partner organizations and over 3000 people to identify and document the most important sites for birds and biodiversity conservation in a region covering all of North America, Central America and, most ambitiously, South America – the ‘bird continent’, where one-third of the Earth’s avian species occur.

It takes the form of a comprehensive directory of 2345 sites identified in all 57 countries and territories, covering more than 3.25 million km2. The aim of the book is to provide a concise summary of these sites, and an overview of the opportunities they provide for biodiversity conservation. In general, this is achieved very well, and very attractively, as the final product is beautifully organized and liberally illustrated with detailed maps and stunning colour photographs.

If I had to put my finger on my only misgivings about the project, I would point to the practical obstacles of applying a site-based method to complex ecosystems such as Neotropical rainforests. The IBA approach seems tailor-made for developed nations, where biodiversity is largely restricted to patches of natural habitat embedded in human-modified landscapes, and where we often know fairly well what each patch contains in terms of species and populations. In contrast, the IBA maps of poorly developed regions seem to align, not with the distribution of biodiversity per se, but the happenstance of data availability. In Amazonia or the Andes, for example, IBAs tend to align closely with sites targeted by existing conservation actions, or else visited by expeditions or birdwatchers, whereas many remote regions are missing even though they appear to offer better habitat and better prospects for long-term conservation. The result is that the IBA map in such regions is often a better guide to accessibility than to importance for birds.There is a need to acknowledge that temperate-zone strategies may not work so well in such cases, and that the IBA approach may be less effective than regional conservation strategies based on habitat classifications and remote sensing data.

A similar argument applies to the quality of status or population data, which again is often poor in tropical ecosystems. As such, it is generally difficult to know whether a species listed for a particular tropical IBA occurs locally in numbers sufficient for long-term conservation. These caveats aside, ‘IBAs Americas’ is an impressive reference work embodying a huge amount of effort, and a major contribution to biodiversity conservation in a crucial region. It provides an excellent summary of current knowledge regarding many sites destined to play a key role in the fight to preserve rare species from extinction, deserves widespread acclaim and a space on the bookshelf of anyone interested in New World birds and their conservation.”

Joseph M. Tobias,

IBIS The International Journal of Avian Science

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Sue Steven from Whittles Publishing gave us a bit of background on the company and the books they publish:

“Whittles Publishing is a small but growing independent publisher based in Dunbeath, Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. We take pride in producing attractive and quality books that are a pleasure to read. As well as a technical list, we publish within nature, wildlife and maritime including a number of books on birds that have been highly acclaimed.

Our most recent titles include Life with Birds by Malcolm Smith, The Hen Harrier by Don Scott, Kestrels for Company by Gordon Riddle and Growing Barn Owls in my Garden by Paul Hackney.”

All these books are available through NHBS, and we think this growing list is an essential addition to the literature on birding – the content is often highly personal and anecdotal, and imbued with a real sense of dedication to the subject – and each makes a welcome contribution to current ornithological knowledge.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

The Atlas of Birds

by Mike Unwin

What?

A full-colour, graphically elaborate appraisal of avian habitats, biodiversity and behaviour around the world.

Why?

This atlas is full of the most current information about the world of birds, sourced from BirdLife International and other international conservation organisations. It is as much a celebration of the rich and colourful diversity of the world’s avifauna, as an appraisal of the serious impacts of human development.

There are hundreds of titbits of information for the fact fanatic, ranging through statistics about bird diversity, feeding techniques, migration altitude, and even a top twenty of birds mentioned in Shakespeare – all presented with the same generous visual impact that characterises this book’s style.

The structure is broadly split into sections on habitat, species accounts, behaviour, bird/human relations, threats and conservation, and ultimately takes a proactive stance towards encouraging the general public to become aware of, and engaged with, the conservation of birds.

Who?

Mike Unwin is an experienced writer and illustrator of wildlife, and author of over 20 books, including several for the RSPB. Among the numerous publications for which he writes are Bird Watching, Birdwatch and Bird Life. In 2000 he won BBC Wildlife magazine’s nature travel writer of the year.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

With wildlife conservation high on everyone’s agenda, here are some recommendations to introduce you to the natural diversity of your garden, and help you to create a haven for wildlife on your doorstep:

Guide to Garden Wildlife, by Richard Lewington, is a field guide to all the wildlife you might expect to encounter in the garden – from mammals, birds and insects to invertebrates and pond life. The species descriptions are full of useful detail, and Lewington provides the intricate illustrations that make this a real treasure of a handbook. There are informative sections on garden ecology, nest-boxes and bird feeders, and creating a garden pond.

Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and Other Beneficial Insects, by Jan Miller-Klein, homes in on practical techniques for encouraging insect diversity in your garden. A large-format tour through the seasons, with additional sections on tailored habitats, and species-appropriate planting, this beautifully photographed guide is perfect for every bug-friendly gardener looking to provide a good home for the full range of insect life.

RSPB Gardening for Wildlife: A Complete Guide to Nature-friendly Gardening, by Adrian Thomas, is a fantastic encyclopaedic introduction to how best to provide for the potential visitors to your garden, while maintaining its function for the family. A species-by-species guide to the ‘home needs’ of mammals, birds, insects and reptiles is followed by a substantial selection of practical projects, and helpful hints and appendices, to get your garden flourishing – whatever its size.

Dr Jennifer Owen’s Wildlife of a Garden: A Thirty-year Study, is a rare and illuminating book, in which is recorded – in scrupulous detail – the evidence of dramatic changes in populations in a single suburban garden in Leicester over a thirty-year period. An abundance of beautifully presented data, discussed in the context of wider biodiversity fluctuations, is balanced with numerous colour photographs, illustrations, and descriptive natural history of the residents of the garden. Modest in one sense, but unbelievably grand in timescale – and in its completeness – the rigorous effort and expertise that have been applied to the task of collecting and interpreting these data make this study a real one-off in the field of natural history writing.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Field Guide to the Birds of Macaronesia: Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde
Eduardo Garcia-del-Rey

This is a brand new field guide from Lynx Edicions, the publishers of Handbook of the Birds of the World, and Handbook of the Mammals of the World.

A quality compact hardback field guide, with detailed distribution maps and carefully illustrated colour plates. It covers all 573 species and subspecies of resident, nesting, migrating and vagrant birds.

Helm Field Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd Edition
Martyn Kenefick, Robin Restall and Floyd Hayes

Helm do as they do best with this new second edition of Trinidad and Tobago (first published in 2007). Following a general introduction to the region and its habitats, tips for the birder, and a ‘where to watch’ section, is the ID guide in full. The essential identification of each occurring bird species is complemented by illustrated plates showing colour variations. 500 new or replacement images have been included in this edition.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

As usual, the NHBS ornithology list has expanded over the last year to incorporate many fantastic new books for birdwatchers, conservation workers, and ecologists. We hope you enjoy browsing these, alongside featured classics and bestsellers. The Editor’s Choice selections pick out the very best recent and forthcoming titles in each main subject area.

Our wildlife equipment range is always growing – now over 2000 items – and you will find all the best bird-related gear on the Nest Boxes and Wildlife Kit pages of the catalogue.

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Popularity: 6% [?]