The Herring Gull's World
Niko Tinbergen
Books of a Feather: The Best Bird Books
Although birds are everywhere, too few people own an ornithological book. This particular genre owes much to The Birds of North America (1827-1839) by John James Audubon. It is the most famous of all ornithological works and in December 2010 a copy sold at auction for $11.5 million - a record price for a single printed book. Audubon’s paintings are considered a high point of book art and yet he also contributed much to the discipline of ornithology by discovering 25 new species.
Bird books cover every continent and every species, and the content matter ranges from tiny hummingbirds to nine-foot ostriches. These books include drawings, paintings and photography as well as guides to identification and descriptions of their habitats. Even a small collection of bird books can take you around the world from the hedgerow finches of Britain to the desert owls of Southern Africa and the soaring eagles of Western Canada.
Although birds play a major role in folklore, myths, and popular culture, this selection of books concentrates on their beauty and showcases mainly educational books from the past 120 years. Many copies are highly affordable.
A Flock of Bird Books
Birds of Colorado
by Alfred M. Bailey & Robert J. Niedrach (1965)
Covers 420 species. Published by Denver Museum of Natural History.
The Bird Paintings of C. G. Finch-Davies
by Alan Kemp (1984)
100 full page color reproductions of illustrations with descriptive text on the opposite page.
The Wren
by Edward A Armstrong (1955)
New Naturalist Series, 20 b/w photographs and 41 drawings and diagrams.
Birds of Canada
by Earl Godfrey (1966)
Color illustrations by John A. Crosby and line drawings by S.D. MacDonald.
A Guide to the Birds of Ceylon
by G.M. Henry (1979)
30 half-tone plates of which 27 are colored, 124 black and white drawings.
George Edward Lodge Unpublished Bird Paintings
by C.A. Fleming (1983)
89 watercolors reproduced in full color as full-page plates.
British Birds and Their Eggs: With a New Method of Identification
by J Maclair Boraston (1909)
by J Maclair Boraston (1909)
Bird World: A Book for Children
by J.H. Stickney (1898)
Illustrated with B&W sketches by Ernest Seton Thompson.
British Sporting Birds
by F.B. Kirkman & Horace G. Hutchinson
Curlew, duck, goose, grouse, mallard, partridge, pheasant, pigeon, plover & more.
Familiar Wild Birds
by Walter Swaysland (1883)
Four volumes. Reprinted several times. Illustrated by A. Thorburn.
The Folklore of Birds
by Edward A. Armstrong (1958)
New Naturalist series – an examination of ancient bird beliefs with photos and illustrations.
The Glorious Grouse: The Natural and Unnatural History
by Brian P. Martin (1990)
Shooting, natural history and game keeping, history and development of the grouse moors.
A Guide to the Birds of Colombia
by Steven L. Hilty & William L. Brown (1986)
Nearly 1,700 species and more than half of all the species of birds in South America.
Birds in Town and Village
by W.H. Hudson (1919)
8 full-page color plates by legendary illustrator E.J. Detmold
The Book of Indian Birds
by Salim Ali (1941)
Published by the Bombay Natural History Society, 66 color plates, 22 b/w plates
At the Turn of the Tide: A Book of Wild Birds
by Richard Perry (1938)
Waterside birds - wild geese, wading birds, terns & gulls, petrels & shearwaters, & more.
Birds: The Paintings of Terance James Bond
by Terance J. Bond (1989)
Fabulous illustrations by one of the great ornithological painters.
The Living Bird
by Mary Heimerdinger Clench
An annual published by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
The Owls of Southern Africa
by Alan Kemp & Alan Calburn (1987)
A monograph on the 12 species that inhabit the southern African sub-region.
Bird Life in Cornwall
by B.H. Ryves (1948)
16 pen and ink drawings by R. A. Richardson. Took author 27 years of study to compile.
Birds: The Art of Ornithology
by Jonathan Elphick (2005)
Classic ornithological art from London’s Natural History Museum spanning six centuries.
Hummingbirds of Costa Rica
by Michael Fogden (2006)
Features 44 of the 45 species of hummers that inhabit Costa Rica.
What's your favorite bird book? Leave a comment:
More books (and birds) to discover:
