Download or read book RSPB Spotlight Woodpeckers written by Gerard Gorman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-10-04 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Woodpeckers are fascinating birds, filling our forests with their unmistakable drumming, and capturing our imaginations with their incredible ability to drill holes in trees and their bright, colourful plumage. Three species of woodpecker are resident in the UK: the Green Woodpecker, often seen on lawns and in fields; the Great Spotted Woodpecker, a frequent visitor at garden bird-feeders; and the tiny Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, sadly now in decline. The Wryneck – which twists its neck 'like a snake' when threatened – also passes through the UK on its yearly migration and has captivated people throughout the ages. Gerard Gorman provides a close-up look at the lives of these birds, from their anatomy, diet and nesting habits to their iconic drumming behaviour. He also explores the relationship that humans have enjoyed with woodpeckers for centuries, in folklore, myth and conservation, and gives tips on how to observe these wonderful birds in the wild. The Spotlight series introduces readers to the lives and behaviour of our favourite animals with eye-catching colour photographs and informative expert text.
Download or read book RSPB Spotlight Robins written by Marianne Taylor and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-06-18 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robins is packed with eye-catching, informative colour photos and succinct, detailed text written by a knowledgeable expert. Our most iconic bird, the Robin, is one of the most characterful and familiar of all our garden visitors. Their melodious voices, bright red breasts and cheeky attitudes always endear them to us, but how much do we really know about them? Despite their cute appearance, Robins are aggressively territorial and hold their territories all year. Their year-round presence has helped them become a beloved and instantly recognisable species. In this delightful book, Marianne Taylor provides a revealing account of their life cycle, behaviour and breeding, what they eat and how they hold their territories, and she looks into the many cultural representations of these much-loved little birds. The Spotlight series introduces readers to the lives and behaviour of our favourite animals.
Download or read book The Pocket Book of Bird Anatomy written by Marianne Taylor and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-05-28 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is a bird? To answer that, we must understand how birds are different from all other living things and how they fit into the diversity of life on Earth. This excellent RSPB guide to bird anatomy looks at the avian body, system by system, how it evolved, and how it functions. Chapters explore traits that are unique to birds, including their remarkable one-way breathing cycle, their trimmed-down skeleton, how feathers permit flight, provide weather-proofing and add beauty, and the avian bill – a lightweight replacement for both teeth and food-handling forelimbs. Each chapter tackles a particular body system and includes detailed anatomical illustrations, from cells and organs to skeletons and muscles, to show how birds' anatomical adaptations enable all their physical feats and fascinating behaviour. Feature spreads offer more in-depth analysis on topics like birdsong, temperature control, ornamentation, unusual diets, social behaviour, nocturnal adaptations, mutation and natural selection. Featuring more than 300 diagrams and colour photos, this fascinating new book also looks at the human impact on the avian world and reveals how behaviour and anatomy work together to produce these vibrant living beings that delight and inspire us so much.
Download or read book Woodpeckers of the World written by Gerard Gorman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-06-19 with total page 1249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Woodpeckers remain one of the most popular families of birds, and they are certainly one of the more unusual. Their legendary ability to excavate holes in wood is well known, and they are uniquely adapted for living in trees - though a few species have become more adapted to ground-dwelling. The family ranges from the tiny piculets of tropical forests to the mighty Imperial Woodpecker of Mexico, sadly now extinct. In between there is a considerable variety of species, all of a roughly similar shape and design, inhabiting forests and woodlands through the world except Australasia and Antarctica. Covering 239 species, this book is the first definitive photographic guide to woodpeckers. Detailed text looks in detail at the biology of the birds, with particular emphasis on field identification, along with voice, habitat, status, racial variation and distribution. The text is accompanied by a series of high-quality photographs – more than 750 images, carefully selected to highlight identification criteria. Each species entry is completed by an accurate colour range map. A sister to Owls of the World in the Helm Photographic Guides series, Woodpeckers of the World is an informative, fact-filled and beautifully illustrated guide to a group beloved by all birders.
Download or read book RSPB Spotlight Kingfishers written by David Chandler and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-05-23 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: RSPB Spotlight Kingfishers is packed with eye-catching, informative color photos and features succinct, detailed text written by a knowledgeable naturalist.
Download or read book Woodpecker written by Gerard Gorman and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2017-10-15 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Woodpeckers are among the most remarkable birds in the avian world, having evolved a unique anatomy that enables them to peck and bore into solid timber both to find food and to create nesting cavities. The birds are key indicators of forest health and perform an important ecological role, providing holes that many other animals use. Woodpeckers have been considered symbols of fertility, security, strength, power, prophecy, magic, rhythm, medicine, and carpentry, and have been esteemed across cultures as the guardians of woodlands, tree surgeons, fire-bringers, weather forecasters, and boat-builders. In this charming volume, avian expert Gerard Gorman delves into the natural and cultural history of woodpeckers, exploring their origins and habitats and the ways they have fascinated humankind throughout history. Gorman finds woodpeckers everywhere—from ancient Babylon, Greece, and Rome, to the jungles of Amazonia and Borneo, to our modern-day Woody Woodpecker cartoon. Richly illustrated with images from both nature and culture, Woodpecker will appeal to everyone who is interested in these extraordinary birds.
Download or read book RSPB Spotlight Swifts and Swallows written by Mike Unwin and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-06-28 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: RSPB Spotlight: Swifts and Swallows is packed with eye-catching, informative colour photos, and features succinct, detailed text written by a knowledgeable naturalist. People all over Britain and Europe have long welcomed the arrival of swifts and swallows as a promise of summer being just around the corner. And with their similar long wings and dashing flight, it is perhaps understandable that we often confuse the two birds. After all, they have much in common: both feed on flying insects, both breed around buildings, and both are long-distance migrants that spend winter in Africa. But appearances can be deceptive. Swifts and swallows are completely unrelated birds that have adapted through evolution to survive in similar ways. In Spotlight: Swifts and Swallows, Mike Unwin reveals their fascinating lifestyles, explains how and why they have acquired their similarities, and ways in which we can help protect them. The Spotlight series introduces readers to the lives and behaviour of our favourite animals with eye-catching colour photography and informative expert text.
Download or read book In Search of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker written by Jerome A. Jackson and published by Harper Perennial. This book was released on 2006-05-09 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Search of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is a complete natural history of one of the most exciting and rare birds in the world. Noted ornithologist Jerome A. Jackson takes the reader on his fantastic and personal quest, providing detailed insights into the bird's lifestyle, habitat, and cultural significance, examining its iconic status from the late 1800s to the present in advertising, conservation, and lore. As he relates searches for the bird by John James Audubon, Alexander Wilson, and others, Jackson offers anecdotal tales illuminating the methods of early naturalists, including how one captive ivory-bill destroyed a naturalist's hotel room in a desperate attempt to escape. Jackson's search for one of the few remaining ivory-bills takes him across the United States and into Cuba. A new epilogue disputes the putative rediscovery of the bird in April 2005.
Download or read book Reed and Bush Warblers written by Peter Kennerley and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2010-09-15 with total page 713 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bradypterus, Locustella, Hippolais, Cettia.
Download or read book The Black Woodpecker written by Gerard Gorman and published by Lynx Edicions. This book was released on 2011 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Esta monografía cubre todos los aspectos de la vida de uno de los más grandes y llamativos pájaros carpinteros del planeta. Características morfológicas, rasgos de identificación, manifestaciones vocales y sonidos, área de distribución y todos los aspectos de su biología, son los temas que se tratan en los trece capítulos del libro. El texto se completa con dos láminas en color, ilustraciones originales en blanco y negro, gráficos especiales para describir las voces y el característico tamborileo de estas aves, mapas detallados y magníficas fotografías en color. Asimismo, se incluye una bibliografía extensa con trabajos en diferentes idiomas. Gerard Gorman ha aprovechado sus largas horas en compañía del picamaderos negro junto con una amplia investigación bibliográfica para producir una detallada monografía sobre esta especie. The Black Woodpecker es un relato personal escrito para todos aquellos interesados en los pájaros carpinteros y las aves forestales, tanto profesionales como aficionados.
Download or read book Woodpeckers of Europe written by Gerard Gorman and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gives an account of the European Picidae through the author's lifetime study of these birds. This book covers the various aspects of the natural history of the ten species including evolution, taxonomy, topography, flight patterns and drumming. It also deals with their country status, forestry, and their relationship with man and other fauna.
Download or read book The Wryneck written by Gerard Gorman and published by Pelagic Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book considers the natural history and cultural symbolism of a most unusual woodpecker – a species that neither excavates nest holes in trees, nor bores into wood to find insect prey. The Wryneck is best renowned for performing a twisting, writhing head and neck display when threatened, but this ground-breaking work reveals many more secrets of its behaviour and evolution. Detailed information is presented on the species' origins, taxonomy, anatomy, appearance, moult, calls, distribution, conservation status, habitats, movements, breeding, diet and relationships, along with a chapter on its closest relative, the Red-throated Wryneck. The text is richly illustrated throughout with high quality photographs as well as sound spectrograms. The author augments his many hours watching Wrynecks with comprehensive literature research, creating what is surely the definitive volume on the species. This all-encompassing and engaging account has been written for a wide audience, whether professional ornithologist, citizen scientist, amateur birder, woodpecker aficionado or simply someone who wishes to learn more about this curious and remarkable bird.
Download or read book RSPB Spotlight Ospreys written by Tim Mackrill and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-05-16 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: RSPB Spotlight: Ospreys is packed with eye-catching, informative colour photos, and features succinct, detailed text written by a knowledgeable naturalist. A hunting Osprey is one of the great sights of the natural world, and its fishing prowess is admired and revered around the globe. However, its penchant for taking fish from trout ponds resulted in a drastic decline in the UK with the species wiped out by human persecution and habitat loss. Thanks to concerted conservation efforts, it has made an encouraging comeback in recent decades, giving people across the country the chance to see this majestic hunter in action once again. This easy-to-read text explores all aspects of the Osprey's biology and ecology, including a detailed overview of the adaptations that make it such a skilled and proficient hunter. There is also a chapter dedicated to Osprey migration with a summary of the findings of groundbreaking satellite tracking research. Tim Mackrill also explores the relationship between humans and Ospreys, from the days of Shakespeare to the recent rise of Osprey tourism. The Spotlight series introduces readers to the lives and behaviour of our favourite animals with eye-catching colour photographs and informative expert text.
Download or read book The Complete Book of Hummingbirds written by Tony Tilford and published by Thunder Bay Press. This book was released on 2015-03-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating reference guide to nature's "jewels in flight." Often called "jewels in flight" due to their brilliant plumage, the tiny hummingbird is a welcome friend in gardens and on patios everywhere. These fascinating little avians have long captured our imagination with their spectacular beauty and magical ability to hover in midair. Discover these remarkable little birds in the Complete Book of Hummingbirds by Tony Tilford. This is the ultimate reference guide to hummingbirds, featuring a comprehensive overview of the birds' biology, evolution, behavior, breeding, and migration patterns. You'll be awestruck by the amazing updated collection of full-color photographs depicting hummingbirds in flight and at rest in the Gallery of Hummingbirds. Learn how to attract hungry hummingbirds to your garden! Discover the kinds of plants and flowers that they love to visit, and how to create artificial feeding stations by making your own hummingbird food. From Woodnymphs and Mountain-Gems to Plovercrests and Hillstars, this thorough book describes all the hummingbirds of the world, and includes a helpful reference section, complete with a glossary and recommended websites for further reading.
Download or read book Hummingbirds written by Michael Fogden and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-05-28 with total page 703 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hummingbirds have always held popular appeal, with their visual brilliance, extraordinary flight dexterity, jewel-like color, and remarkably small size. This is the first book to profile all 338 known species, from the Saw-billed Hermit to the Scintillant Hummingbird. Every bird is shown life-size in glorious full-color photographs. Every species profile includes a flight map and key statistics, as well as information about behavior, plumage, and habitat. This authoritative guide has been annotated by the world's leading experts on hummingbirds and features a foreword by renowned birding author Pete Dunne.
Download or read book RSPB Spotlight Ducks and Geese written by Marianne Taylor and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-05-28 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: RSPB Spotlight: Ducks and Geese is packed with eye-catching, informative colour photos, and features succinct, detailed text written by a knowledgeable naturalist. This is a detailed 'biography' of ducks and geese that breed in or regularly visit the UK – covering 30 species in all. It will include chapters on the evolution of ducks and geese, their place in the natural world, their anatomy and physiology, various feeding methods, spectacular courtship displays and diverse breeding behaviour. Marianne Taylor reveals their often epic migrations and examine their social interactions with their own and other species, including their unusual readiness to hybridise. She also details their relationships with humankind over the centuries, including their presence in folklore and literature and their role in our lives as both prey and pets. She explores their presence as feral and sometimes invasive species outside their natural ranges, and their current status within their native wild ranges as the group includes several species recently recognised as being of global conservation concern.
Download or read book Birds of Italy written by Marianne Taylor and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-05-03 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative pocket guide to the birds of Italy. This compact, easy-to-use bird identification guide is suitable for any birdwatcher visiting Italy. The book features concise descriptions, detailing essential information on identification, songs and calls, behaviour, distribution and habitat. There are full colour photos of more than 250 species regularly seen in the region, carefully selected to aid accurate identification. This is the ideal pocket-sized guide – perfect for nature-loving travellers and birdwatchers visiting Italy.
