Remarkable Birds is widely regarded as a beautiful book – I’m very pleased with it.
Here are just a few examples of the species covered in the book and some of the information it contains.
Lear’s Macaw is named after Edward Lear, artist and author of nonsense verse, who painted one in London Zoo before it was identified as a separate species. It was first described scientifically in 1856 by French naturalist Charles Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon.
The small, mousy brown Dunnock has perhaps one of the most complicated love lives of all birds.
The Raven is particularly revered by the people of the Northwest Coast of North America. Here it is variously credited with discovering humankind, introducing men and women to each other for the first time, stealing fire for humans and fixing the sun, moon and stars in the sky.
By the time a Cuckoo returns to northern Europe in spring from its wintering grounds, it may have visited 30 countries, passing the cities of Rome, Tripoli, Kinshasa, Lagos, Timbuktu and Madrid.
The Resplendent Quetzal was associated with the god Kukulkan of the Maya and the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs. The male bird’s extremely long iridescent tail plumes were highly prized and used in ceremonial headdresses. But it was taboo to kill the birds, so the feathers had to be obtained from ones that had been trapped and were then released.
It’s selling well and Chinese and Spanish language editions are to be published.
Remarkable Birds is published by Thames and Hudson.
