Product Description

The beauty and drama of the avian world brought to breathtaking life From hummingbirds weighing less than a coin to monkey-eating eagles this is a unique celebration of birds, photographed and studied in their natural environments around the world. Explore the complete bird story: from their origins to bird watching locations, with up-to-date information on flight, anatomy, feeding, communication, breeding, habitat, migrations and life cycles. Spectacular features on the most impressive birds, plus a huge catalogue that profiles nearly fifteen hundred different species makes this is a must-have for every bird enthusiast. Published with Birdlife International, the world’s leading avian authority.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #259148 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Have you ever wondered how feathers grow, or what owls eat? Did you know Aepyornis titan, the extinct "elephant bird" of Madagascar, laid eggs that weighed 26 lbs? In Bird, all things avian are revealed: feathers, food and fossils, along with courtship, nest-building and camouflaging behaviour. In this Who's Who of the bird world, you'll discover which of our feathered friends is fastest, slowest, largest and smallest, and you'll see for yourself how new-born chicks hatch from eggs. Also included are handy pointers for attracting birds and observing some of the 600 species found solely in Europe. With superb colour photographs and eye-catching text, this highly informative guide will turn an inquisitive child into a knowledgable ornithologist in no time.

About the Author
BirdLife international is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats, and global biodiversity. BirdLife’s partners operate in more than 100 countries and have more than 2,500,000 members.

Customer Reviews

Definitive or not, this visual guide is truly a joy to behold
Dorling Kindersley have become well known for producing clear, visually oriented reference books for adults and children. They had previously published a score of smaller volumes on the subject of birds, but nothing quite like this: a definitive guide, as they claim. The book is best described as an encyclopaedia of birds. Measuring 30 x 25 cm and weighing over 2kg, it has the heft of an encyclopaedia and certainly isn't a field guide. At the same time it is an avian art gallery that exhibits some of the most exciting photographs of the world's most wonderful birds.

The book is split into three parts. The 44 page introduction discusses physiology, flight, behaviour, conservation and more. It is nicely concise, making use of numerous photographs and diagrams to explain what birds are. The second, 28-page section explores habitats in the same way. This leaves the lion's share - some 390 pages - for the systematic accounts, which cover all bird families and a selection of over 1,200 species. There is an introductory section for each taxonomic group - species are grouped by Order in the case of Non-passerines and Family for the Passerines. The majority of species are illustrated by a photograph in addition to range map with a short text on the salient features of the bird.

In the US edition (ISBN 075663153X - also available on Amazon), produced in collaboration with Audubon, a CD is included. Prepared by Cornell's Macauley Library of Natural Sounds, it is a delightful audio sample of vocalisations from 60 species from around the world.

This is just the sort of book that would have engrossed me for hours as a child. I remember spending many a happy evening poring over my Mitchell Beazley World Atlas of Birds, which would have been the nearest equivalent back then. Already my kids have spent more time looking through the book than I have! It's not too hard to imagine that this book, left idly on a coffee table, will persuade many a non-birding adult to pick up a pair of binoculars for the first time. In fact, it may just be the ideal book to explain to the fascination of birds to the uninitiated. I spend a lot of time watching birds in the wild and even I found myself gasping at some of the photographs. The double page spreads of a hunting Great Grey Owl, King Penguins under water, a Spotted Sandpiper chick hunkered down amongst leaf litter, Toco Toucan, Waxwings and Northern Cardinal were, for me, particular evocative.

This is a book I can heartily recommend to birders of all stripes - especially beginning birders, armchair travellers and anyone who likes to celebrate the beauty and diversity of birds. A sort of book equivalent of David Attenborough's "Life of Birds".

Chris Sharpe, 4 June 2008. ISBN: 1405306335

Comprehensive photographic guide
I have been waiting a very long time for a book like this to be published.
I have a passion for wildlife and, with mammal books a-plenty on the market, praised the day when I saw this book advertised.

As you would expect from DK/Audobon, the layout of this visual feast is excellent and is well-written. The photographs are breathtaking, including some fabulous double-page features. The audio CD contains 60 bird calls and songs from around the world (nearly an hour's worth) - fantastic!!

The only criticism I have is of the main publishers, Penguin. Only the US version has the audio CD of bird calls and songs, and I had to wait until Amazon had it for sale. Why should this be the case?

Definitive or not, this visual guide is truly a joy to behold
Dorling Kindersley have become well known for producing clear, visually oriented reference books for adults and children. They had previously published a score of smaller volumes on the subject of birds, but nothing quite like this: a definitive guide, as they claim. The book is best described as an encyclopaedia of birds. Measuring 30 x 25 cm and weighing over 2kg, it has the heft of an encyclopaedia and certainly isn't a field guide. At the same time it is an avian art gallery that exhibits some of the most exciting photographs of the world's most wonderful birds.

The book is split into three parts. The 44 page introduction discusses physiology, flight, behaviour, conservation and more. It is nicely concise, making use of numerous photographs and diagrams to explain what birds are. The second, 28-page section explores habitats in the same way. This leaves the lion's share - some 390 pages - for the systematic accounts, which cover all bird families and a selection of over 1,200 species. There is an introductory section for each taxonomic group - species are grouped by Order in the case of Non-passerines and Family for the Passerines. The majority of species are illustrated by a photograph in addition to range map with a short text on the salient features of the bird.

In the US edition (this one - ISBN 075663153X), produced in collaboration with Audubon, a CD is included. Prepared by Cornell's Macauley Library of Natural Sounds, it is a delightful audio sample of vocalisations from 60 species from around the world.

This is just the sort of book that would have engrossed me for hours as a child. I remember spending many a happy evening poring over my Mitchell Beazley World Atlas of Birds, which would have been the nearest equivalent back then. Already my kids have spent more time looking through the book than I have! It's not too hard to imagine that this book, left idly on a coffee table, will persuade many a non-birding adult to pick up a pair of binoculars for the first time. In fact, it may just be the ideal book to explain to the fascination of birds to the uninitiated. I spend a lot of time watching birds in the wild and even I found myself gasping at some of the photographs. The double page spreads of a hunting Great Grey Owl, King Penguins under water, a Spotted Sandpiper chick hunkered down amongst leaf litter, Toco Toucan, Waxwings and Northern Cardinal were, for me, particular evocative.

This is a book I can heartily recommend to birders of all stripes - especially beginning birders, armchair travellers and anyone who likes to celebrate the beauty and diversity of birds. A sort of book equivalent of David Attenborough's "Life of Birds".

Chris Sharpe, 4 June 2008. ISBN: 075663153X