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    Concise Bird Guide
    Concise Bird Guide
    Concise Bird Guide
    Ebook432 pages1 hour

    Concise Bird Guide

    By Bloomsbury

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    About this ebook

    This practical field guide, published in association with the Wildlife Trusts, is packed with information on 250 species of bird from Britain and the near Continent.

    Each species account contains accurate artworks that show details of variations in plumage for male, female, juvenile birds, and breeding and non-breeding birds. A concise written account outlines further essential information, such as size, description, voice, habitat, distribution and habits appears on the same page.

    The easy-to-follow layouts and illustrations aid quick and precise identification, and make this book an indispensable reference in the field as well as at home.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateOct 2, 2014
    ISBN9781472915757
    Concise Bird Guide

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      Book preview

      Concise Bird Guide - Bloomsbury

      There are 47 individual Wildlife Trusts covering the whole of the UK and the Isle of Man and Alderney. Together The Wildlife Trusts are the largest UK voluntary organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places everywhere – at land and sea. They are supported by 791,000 members, 150,000 of whom belong to their junior branch, Wildlife Watch. Every year The Wildlife Trusts work with thousands of schools, and their nature reserves and visitor centres receive millions of visitors.

      The Wildlife Trusts work in partnership with hundreds of landowners and businesses across the UK in towns, cities and the wider countryside. Building on their existing network of 2,250 nature reserves, The Wildlife Trusts’ recovery plan for the UK’s wildlife and fragmented habitats, known as A Living Landscape, is being achieved through restoring, recreating and reconnecting large areas of wildlife habitat. As well as protecting wildlife this is helping to safeguard the ecosystems that we depend on for services like clean air and water.

      The Wildlife Trusts are also working to protect the UK’s marine environment. They are involved with many marine conservation projects around the UK, often surveying and collecting vital data on the state of our seas. Every year they run National Marine Week in August – a two-week celebration of our seas with hundreds of events taking place around the UK.

      All 47 Wildlife Trusts are members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (Registered charity number 207238). To find your local Wildlife Trust visit wildlifetrusts.org

      Contents

      Introduction

      Wildfowl

      Grouse

      Pheasants, Quails & Partridges

      Divers

      Grebes

      Fulmar & Shearwaters

      Storm-petrels

      Gannet

      Cormorants

      Herons

      Spoonbills

      Hawks & Allies

      Osprey

      Falcons

      Rails

      Oystercatchers

      Stilts & Avocets

      Stone-curlews

      Plovers

      Waders

      Skuas

      Gulls

      Terns

      Auks

      Pigeons

      Parrots

      Cuckoos

      Barn Owls

      Typical Owls

      Nightjars

      Swifts

      Kingfishers

      Hoopoe

      Woodpeckers

      Larks

      Swallows & Martins

      Pipits & Wagtails

      Waxwings

      Dippers

      Wrens

      Accentors

      Thrushes

      Kinglets

      Warblers & Allies

      Flycatchers

      Chats

      Bearded Tit

      Long-tailed Tit

      Typical Tits

      Nuthatches

      Treecreepers

      Orioles

      Shrikes

      Crows

      Starlings

      Sparrows

      Finches

      Buntings

      Introduction

      Birds are probably the most familiar class of animal in Britain and Ireland. Of the world’s 10,000 or so species about 420 breed in Europe, and of these over 200 species regularly breed in Britain and Ireland.

      Recognizing Birds

      This handy and portable book provides basic practical information, including variations in plumage colours, to enable quick identification of species in the field. The size of each species is given in average lengths. As you become more experienced you will be able to recognize some species very quickly and at a distance. Recognizing birds involves answering a number of questions. How does it fly? What is its shape? Are there any distinguishing characteristics, such as the shape of the bill, the length of the tail or the length of the legs? What are the colours? Are there any characteristic plumage patterns? How does the bird behave? What noise does it make? Where is it? The answers to all these questions will help you to identify the species to which a bird belongs.

      The flight of species or groups of birds can be a major clue to their identity. Woodland birds such as woodpeckers have a distinctly undulating flight, which is particularly noticeable when they are flying across an open area. Kingfishers have a fast and direct flight often close to the surface of water. The shape in flight may also be distinctive: ducks have pointed wings that move rapidly and necks that are outstretched.

      Colour is not always a good guide, because the quality of light and the effect of local colour can cause variations that no book can cater for. The patterns of the plumage are probably more important. Note that the plumage of birds can vary at different times of the year and at intermediate stages, for example between juveniles and non-breeding birds.

      Behaviour of birds differs between species. Ducks, for example, can be divided into two groups depending on their feeding behaviour. One group dives beneath the surface to feed, while the other feeds from the surface. Many species are likely to be seen in flocks, while others are generally seen singly. Some, such as Bullfinches, are frequently seen in pairs. To assist in recognition, look at the way a bird is feeding and relating to other birds.

      The songs, calls and other noises that birds make are obvious, if difficult identification characteristics. Everyone is familiar with the call of the male Cuckoo, a bird more often heard than seen, but how many of us can recognize the bubbling call of the female? The call of the Kingfisher may be the first clue to its presence, and the skulking Nightingale is recognized more frequently by its song than visually.

      The best way to build your identification skills is to become familiar with the birds you see or hear often. This will give you a series of yardsticks with which to compare other species. Build up your portfolio of species, and if you cannot identify a bird you may still be able to identify the group to which it belongs.

      Bird Topography

      The illustration of a female Reed Bunting below shows some of the key terms used to describe the main features of birds.

      Mute Swan

      Cygnus olor

      SIZE AND DESCRIPTION

      152cm. Largest flying bird in Britain. Adult is all white, juvenile grey-brown. Distinguished from wintering Bewick’s and Whooper Swans by orange bill with black knob at base (smaller in female) and more graceful curve to neck.

      VOICE

      Generally silent; hisses when angry or disturbed.

      HABITAT

      Almost any still or slow-moving inland water body; also estuaries and sheltered coastal regions. Found across northern and western Europe. Resident in Britain.

      FOOD AND HABITS

      Usually feeds on water by dipping its neck below the surface, sometimes up-ending. Nest a large mound of plant matter on the edges of water bodies.

      Bewick’s Swan

      Cygnus columbianus

      Whooper Swan

      Cygnus cygnus

      SIZE AND DESCRIPTION

      Bewick’s 125cm; Whooper 150cm. Bewick’s has a slightly shorter and thicker neck, and a neater bill with the yellow area smaller and rounder than in Whooper. In the latter, the shape of the yellow on the bill is more pointed and extends further towards the bill tip.

      VOICE

      Whooper makes bugle-like whooping calls. Bewick’s calls are shorter and less echoing.

      HABITAT

      Bewick’s breeds on lakes on the Russian arctic tundra, wintering on wet meadows in the Low Countries and Britain. Whooper breeds on north European lakes, and winters on meadows, fields and wetlands in central and western Europe, and the Black Sea.

      FOOD AND HABITS

      Mainly feeds on aquatic plants and grasses; in winter also grain and vegetables from fields. Nest a large mound of plant matter on small islands or the edges of water bodies.

      Brent Goose

      Branta bernicla

      Barnacle Goose

      Branta leucopsis

      SIZE AND DESCRIPTION

      Brent 60cm; Barnacle 65cm. Small and neat dark geese with stubby bills and black necks. Brent has an all-black head, Barnacle a pale face. Two races of Brent occur in Britain: Light-bellied (B. b. hrota) on the west coast and in Ireland, and Dark-bellied (B. b. bernicla) in the east and south.

      VOICE

      Brent makes a subdued ‘rrott’, Barnacle a barking ‘kak’.

      HABITAT

      Breed in northern Europe; winter in north-west Europe.

      FOOD AND HABITS

      Brent feeds on intertidal eelgrasses and other vegetation. Barnacle eats mainly

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