The British love their birds, which are inextricably entwined with every aspect of their island life. British customs, more than 1,000 years of English literature, the very fabric of society, even the landscape itself, have all been enhanced by the presence of birds. Highly acclaimed on first publication, this superb book pays tribute to the remarkable relationship forged between a nation and its most treasured national heritage.
Birds Britannica is a unique publication of immense importance. Neither an identification guide nor a behavioural study (although both these subjects enter its field), it concentrates on our social history and on the cultural links between humans and birds.
What makes Birds Britannica of special significance is the inclusion of observations and experiences from more than 1,000 naturalists and bird lovers. These contributions from the public touch on avian ecology; the lore and language of birds; their myths, the art and literature they have inspired; birds as food; and the crucial role they play in our sense of place and the changing seasons.
Birds Britannica took eight years to research and was assembled by a team that included some of the finest writers and image-makers of British wildlife. On one level, it is a remarkable collection of humorous stories, field observations and tales of joy, wonder and occasional woe; on another, it is a nationwide chronicle. Scholarly and wide-ranging, a mix of the traditional and the contemporary, Birds Britannica is a comprehensive record of birdlife in the early years of the twenty-first century. No other book has dealt so completely with the rich connections between birds and humans; Birds Britannica captures the very essence of that relationship, and explores why birds matter and why we care.
Unlike any other bird book, and not an identification guide, this handsome cultural study of all the birds in Britain, is a magnificent achievement and a work of huge importance. An attempt to describe the interaction of birds and humans, it captures the essence of why birds matter.
Daugiau informacijos
Now in its second edition with a new introduction by Helen Macdonald, a unique, beautiful, comprehensive cultural and social study, species by species, of all the birds in Britain. A companion volume to Flora Britannica and Bugs Britannica
| Introduction |
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vii | |
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| Introduction |
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ix | |
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3 | (2) |
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5 | (5) |
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10 | (2) |
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Fulmars, Petrels and Shearwaters, Procellariidae |
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12 | (12) |
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Storm-petrels, Hydrobatidae |
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24 | (4) |
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28 | (6) |
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Cormorants, Phalacrocoracidae |
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34 | (6) |
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40 | (1) |
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Bitterns and Herons, Ardeidae |
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40 | (17) |
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57 | (2) |
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Ibises and Spoonbills, Threskiornithidae |
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59 | (1) |
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Swans. Geese and Ducks, Anatidae |
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60 | (53) |
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Birds of Prey, Accipitriformes |
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113 | (39) |
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152 | (11) |
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Partridges, Quails and Pheasants, Phasianidae |
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163 | (12) |
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Rails, crakes and Coots, Rallidae |
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175 | (9) |
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184 | (3) |
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187 | (2) |
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189 | (39) |
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228 | (3) |
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231 | (13) |
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244 | (6) |
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250 | (10) |
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Sandgrouse, Pteroclididae |
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260 | (1) |
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Pigeons and Doves, Columbidae |
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260 | (14) |
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274 | (1) |
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275 | (6) |
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281 | (12) |
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293 | (3) |
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296 | (4) |
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300 | (2) |
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302 | (1) |
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302 | (2) |
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304 | (4) |
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308 | (5) |
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Swallows and Martins, Hiruninidae |
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313 | (7) |
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Pipits and Wagtails, Motacillidae |
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320 | (6) |
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326 | (2) |
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328 | (1) |
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329 | (4) |
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333 | (2) |
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Thrushes and Chats, Turdidae |
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335 | (27) |
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362 | (20) |
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Flycatchers, Muscicapidae |
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382 | (2) |
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384 | (1) |
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Long-tailed Tits, Aegitbalidae |
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385 | (2) |
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387 | (5) |
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392 | (1) |
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Wallcreepers, Ticbodromadidae |
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393 | (1) |
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394 | (1) |
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394 | (1) |
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395 | (1) |
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396 | (1) |
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397 | (32) |
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429 | (7) |
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436 | (7) |
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443 | (15) |
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458 | (10) |
| Appendix 1 Species on the British list, but not treated in the text |
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468 | (2) |
| Appendix 2 Biographical details |
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470 | (3) |
| Appendix 3 Birds in public houses by Steve Shaw |
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473 | (4) |
| Appendix 4 Welsh names of birds by Daniel Jenkins-Jones and Jonathan Elphick |
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477 | (6) |
| Select bibliography |
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483 | (3) |
| Notes |
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486 | (17) |
| Acknowledgements |
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503 | (3) |
| Picture credits |
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506 | (1) |
| General Index |
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507 | (7) |
| Index of Places |
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514 | |
Mark Cocker is an author and naturalist whose thirteen books include works of biography, history, literary criticism and memoir. His book Crow Country was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2008 and won the New Angle Prize for Literature in 2009. With the photographer David Tipling he published Birds and People in 2013, a massive survey described by the Times Literary Supplement as 'a major literary event as well as an ornithological one.' Our Place: Can We Save Britain's Wildlife Before It Is Too Late? was described by the Sunday Times as 'impassioned, expert and always beautifully written ... a sobering and magnificent work.' His most recent book, A Claxton Diary, won the East Anglian Book of the Year Award in 2019. Richard Mabey is the father of modern nature writing in the UK. Since 1972 he has written some forty influential books, including the prize-winning Nature Cure, Gilbert White: a Biography, and Flora Britannica. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Vice-President of the Open Spaces Society.
He spent the first half of his life amongst the Chiltern beechwoods, and now lives in Norfolk in a house surrounded by ash trees.
Helen Macdonald is a writer, poet, naturalist and historian of science. Their books include H is for Hawk, which won many prizes including the Costa Book of the Year and the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, and the Sunday Times bestselling Vesper Flights. They live in Suffolk with their two parrots.
