RSPB Spotlight: Robins

Author: Marianne Taylor
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472912128
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Book Description
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.

RSPB Spotlight Ducks and Geese

Author: Marianne Taylor
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472971663
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Book Description
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.

The Pocket Book of Bird Anatomy

Author: Marianne Taylor
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472976916
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 396

Book Description
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.

RSPB Spotlight Swifts and Swallows

Author: Mike Unwin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472950097
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Book Description
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.

RSPB Spotlight Bats

Author: Nancy Jennings
Publisher: Bloomsbury Wildlife
ISBN: 1472950054
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 130

Book Description
Spotlight Bats will provide up-to-date and exciting information to an audience already keen on nature and interested to know more about these fascinating mammals by detailing the biology, diversity, evolution, natural history, behavior, and ecology of bats, as well as their interactions with humans and folklore. These tiny, harmless mammals are frequent visitors to our homes and gardens yet, due to their speed, size and nocturnal / crepuscular habits, are extremely difficult to get a good look at and are little understood. There are 1,240 species of bat in the world; bats make up around 20 per cent of all mammal species, but the taxonomic focus of Spotlight Bats will be three common and relatively easily identifiable species (Pipistrelle, Noctule and Long-eared Bat), and three more unusual ones (Daubenton's bat, Barbastelle and Greater Horseshoe Bat). Other bat species of interest, including some of the more charismatic ones (e.g. vampire bats, fishing bats, bumblebee bats, fruit bats, etc.) will also be described.

RSPB ID Spotlight - Coastal Birds

Author: Marianne Taylor
Publisher: Bloomsbury Wildlife
ISBN: 9781472974242
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 12

Book Description
A reliable, attractive fold-out identification chart illustrating 50 of Britain's coastal bird species. This RSPB-licensed ID guide features 100 artworks illustrating 50 of Britain's best known coastal birds, including summer and wintering species. Artworks are printed on one side of the fold-out chart with species grouped taxonomically and helpfully labelled to assist with species identification. On the reverse of the artworks, informative and engaging text is provided on the featured species, as well as tips on the best reserves and pelagic trips for watching seabirds. Threats facing our coastal bird species are outlined with advice on what we can do to help to reduce plastic waste or overfishing in our seas. Breeding numbers are also detailed highlighting the UK's largest breeding colonies where we can see spectacular views of seabirds in summer.

Do Birds Have Knees?

Author: Stephen Moss
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472932366
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Book Description
This RSPB-endorsed book answers all those burning questions about birds that beginners and experts alike may ask themselves as they go about their birding. How do ducks keep their feet from freezing in winter? Why don't swallows stay in Africa? Are birds really dinosaurs, or were dinosaurs really birds? And do birds have knees? Taking a 'questions and answers' approach, each specific question leads to an answer which expands the theme under discussion, so that all aspects of bird life and the hobby of birding are covered. The scientifically rigorous answers together form an impressive and fascinating body of bird-related information. This highly readable book will intrigue anyone with an interest in birds.

Birds of Italy

Author: Marianne Taylor
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472949838
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Book Description
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.

RSPB Spotlight Kingfishers

Author: David Chandler
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472933672
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 130

Book Description
RSPB Spotlight Kingfishers is packed with eye-catching, informative color photos and features succinct, detailed text written by a knowledgeable naturalist.

RSPB British Birds of Prey

Author: Marianne Taylor
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472932250
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 626

Book Description
This book is a celebration of British raptors (including owls), with 200 stunning colour photographs. An authoritative text examines the biology and ecology of each species, following their fortunes as British breeding birds from historical times to the present day. This book serves as a showcase of these fabulous birds and highlights the diverse work of the RSPB in ensuring their survival.