Around the World in 80 Birds

This beautiful and inspiring book tells the stories of 80 birds around the world: from the Sociable Weaver Bird in Namibia which constructs huge, multi-nest 'apartment blocks' in the desert, to the Bar-headed Goose of China, one of the highest-flying migrants which crosses the Himalayas twice a year.

Many birds come steeped in folklore and myth, some are national emblems and a few have inspired scientific revelation or daring conservation projects. Each has a story to tell that sheds a light on our relationship with the natural world and reveals just how deeply birds matter to us.

Review: From Madagascar and the helmet vanga to the Galapagos Islands and the courtship rituals of the male blue-footed booby (think dad dancing, but with big, blue, webbed feet), Unwin introduces a dazzling array of our feathered friends. I'm very taken with Australia's southern cassowary, a 'living dinosaur', weighing 154lb and not to be trifled with. Ryuto Miyake's illustrations bring it all alive * SAGA magazine *
Wildlife author Mike Unwin takes a world tour of 80 birds with exquisite illustrations from Tokyo-based Ryuto Miyake. Inspiring myth, national pride or scientific revelation, each bird has a story to tell, from the sociable weaver bird that constructs towering multi-nest 'apartment blocks' in the Namibian desert to the bar-headed goose, whose epic, twice-yearly trans-Himalayan journey makes it one of the world's highest-flying migrants * NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC *
So engagingly written that, by bird two, I was absorbed ... The book is full of nuggets about birds' places in the human psyche ... Japanese artist Ryuto Miyake's illustrations are a delight * COUNTRY LIFE *