REMARKABLE BIRDS

Mark Avery Thames & Hudson, HB, £24.95, BW Bookshop £19.95 (quote BW-112)

Mark Avery deserves enormous credit for his tireless work in highlighting the plight of the Hen Harrier in the UK, but this beautifully designed book is more of a celebration of the sheer variety of avian life. One section does cover extinct or threatened birds, but others look at songbirds, raptors, bird journeys, the love life of birds, colonial birds, birds that have been revered by man, and those that have been useful to us – as a result, you get everything from the Sacred Ibis to the Turkey, all beautifully illustrated by artists through the ages. Avery’s clear prose complements the pictures perfectly, so that it’s a great book to dip in and out of – I guarantee that you’ll come away having learned something new about even familiar species such as the Dunnock, while an excellent ‘further reading’ list should help you to satisfy your curiosity even further. I hesitate to say it this early in the year, but this is the sort of book that any birdwatcher would love to receive as a Christmas present. Matt Merritt