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    Green Guide to Birds Of Britain And Europe
    Green Guide to Birds Of Britain And Europe
    Green Guide to Birds Of Britain And Europe
    Ebook275 pages48 minutes

    Green Guide to Birds Of Britain And Europe

    By Jim Flegg and Martin Woodcock

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Bloomsbury Green Guides are portable handbooks to the most commonly found species in Britain and Europe.

    With their diversity of form, colour, behaviour and song, birds are an endless source of fascination, but telling apart the different thrushes, finches, wagtails, warblers, tits and terns often stumps novices. The Green Guide to Birds makes identifying them easy for beginners and amateur naturalists alike.

    · Beautiful colour illustrations of the 150 species most common in Britain and Europe
    · Detailed description of plumage, behaviour, calls, songs and habitat to aid identification
    · Includes a comprehensive introduction with information on practical birdwatching and conservation, as well as a photo gallery new to this edition
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateSep 8, 2016
    ISBN9781472927125
    Green Guide to Birds Of Britain And Europe

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      Book preview

      Green Guide to Birds Of Britain And Europe - Jim Flegg

      plumage

      How to identify birds

      The shape of a bird is geared for flight and the basic body-plan of a bird differs little from species to species. The majority of birds are small, and the larger they are the more energy-saving their flight becomes.

      The skeleton of a bird is made up of a strong central ‘box’ of backbone, ribs and breastbone. The vital organs are grouped within for protection and to form a centre of gravity between the wings that helps make flight much easier.

      The wings, which are attached to this central box, are the most distinctive and identifiable feature of birds. The outline varies tremendously and is an invaluable aid to identification, especially when the outline of the bird may only be seen in flight. Game birds have rounded wings for quick take-off and short escape flights; birds of prey, on the other hand, have broad wings with heavily fingered tips to catch air thermals so they can glide effortlessly when searching for prey or during long migrations. Seabirds that habitually skim the rolling waves of the oceans, such as the Fulmar, have long, straight and narrow wings.

      Feathers are unique to birds and are remarkable structures made of a protein called keratin. They are not just indispensable to successful flight, but also make the bird wind- and water-proof and provide thermal insulation. The colours and markings of feathers give birds excellent camouflage or dazzling display plumages for courtship – all of which adds another valuable clue to the identification of a particular species, and perhaps reveals its age or sex.

      Tails vary as much as wings and are also a valuable marker for instant identification. They are essentially for steering, but are also used in courtship displays; and the way they are held, their colour and shape offer useful guides.

      At the other end of the bird, the beak varies according to what the bird uses it for – the long decurved bill of the Curlew is for probing, while that of the Great Spotted Woodpecker is for chiselling, and that of the Goldfinch acts as a pair of tweezers. Beaks can be especially helpful in differentiating similar-looking species such as ducks, where one species may be a fish-eating ‘sawbill’ and another a broad-billed filter feeder.

      Legs and feet are the last but by no means least valuable appendages to aid successful bird identification. As with beaks, the range of shapes reflects different lifestyles. Herons have long legs, ideally suited to wading, while the razor-sharp talons of raptors and owls are superbly designed to grab and kill prey; the webbed toes of divers and ducks are designed for efficient swimming.

      Bird habitats

      The power of flight has enabled birds to spread themselves over almost all the earth’s surfaces. Insects may be more widely dispersed on land, but not many are found at sea. Birds, on the other hand, are found from the tropical oceans to the icy polar waters, above mountain-tops and in deep valleys.

      Although birds can flit between habitats and turn up almost anywhere – particularly during the migration season or just after stormy weather when they may have been blown off course – it is essential to recognise the basic bird habitats just to anticipate what sort of bird you may see, as well as to make identification easier.

      Contrary to popular belief, if a particular species chooses to inhabit a man-made landscape, this does not make it an uninteresting bird to watch. A number of quite surprising bird species have managed to penetrate human abodes such as villages, towns and even cities, and have adapted to them quite successfully. The hazards of traffic and domestic animals are outweighed by the abundance of cultivated food and scraps as well as the milder climate that urban conglomerations generate. Starlings and House Sparrows may predominate in such areas, but the odd Jackdaw, Greenfinch or Great Tit may also be spotted. If you have a garden and can put out a bird table, then a wider variety of species will be attracted – Robins, Song Thrushes and Blue Tits perhaps. The garden is a great magnet for birds, but municipal parks are good habitats for Woodpigeons and Tawny Owls, while city lakes will attract waterbirds such as Moorhens, Coots, Canada Geese, Mute Swans and several species of duck. Feral pigeons are ubiquitous and perhaps not welcome, but their relative, the Collared Dove, is a newcomer that has made an impressive move to farmland and cultivated surroundings from the Middle East over the past 50 years.

      Further afield, farmland provides many species of birds with a diverse rural habitat, despite the trend towards prairie-type farming and the widespread use of pesticides and fertilisers. The combination of field, hedgerow and woodland edge that many farms provide, suits a great number of species including thrushes, finches and buntings, as well as seed-eating birds like the Linnet, the Yellowhammer and migrant warblers like the Whitethroat. Not many species favour the wide-open monoculture crop fields, with the notable exception of the Skylark. Farm buildings provide welcome nest sites for Spotted Flycatchers, Swallows, Wagtails and, if the buildings are old, the rapidly declining Barn Owl.

      Curlew

      As for the woodlands themselves, broadleaved trees such as oak, ash and beech attract owls as well as the Sparrowhawk. Neither is easy to find. The seasonal abundance of insects in the canopy will attract many year-round residents such as tits, but also migrants including the Turtle Dove and many warblers.

      The more widely-spaced coniferous woodlands are good places to spot Coal Tits, Redstarts and Woodpeckers. The paucity of undergrowth does not deter the likes of Goldcrests, Chaffinches and Woodpigeons. Freshly planted or cleared forests attract the Tree Pipit and other unexpected birds.

      Freshwater habitats or wetlands – from humble hill streams to mighty river estuaries as well as ponds, lakes, marshes and reservoirs – offer a wonderful variety of birdlife

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