
RSPB Guide to Birdsong
Adrian Thomas(Author)
Bloomsbury Wildlife (Publisher)
Published on 4. April 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-4729-5587-6 (ISBN)
Description
An RSPB audio and book guide to the birdsong of Britain's best known bird species.
Birdsong is the natural soundtrack to our lives and can evoke a powerful sense of time, place and season. Often profoundly beautiful, it is also the most effective way to discover many birds, and birds' songs and calls reveal much about their lives and behaviour. But identifying which bird is making which sound can seem challenging.
With this groundbreaking and easy-to-use RSPB guide, Adrian Thomas helps you learn and identify bird sounds step by step and at your own pace. Whether you are an experienced birdwatcher or just enjoy hearing the birds in your garden, this new guide will open your ears like never before to the amazing songs and calls around you.
Together the book and CD combine to create an RSPB-endorsed sound guide to more than 100 songs and calls of 65 garden, woodland and farmland birds, and a reference section describes in detail the sounds of a further 185 birds of Britain and north-west Europe. The 68-minute narrated recording can also be downloaded to listen to on the go, and is accompanied by beautiful colour photographs, annotated sonograms and 'test yourself' sections.
Birdsong is the natural soundtrack to our lives and can evoke a powerful sense of time, place and season. Often profoundly beautiful, it is also the most effective way to discover many birds, and birds' songs and calls reveal much about their lives and behaviour. But identifying which bird is making which sound can seem challenging.
With this groundbreaking and easy-to-use RSPB guide, Adrian Thomas helps you learn and identify bird sounds step by step and at your own pace. Whether you are an experienced birdwatcher or just enjoy hearing the birds in your garden, this new guide will open your ears like never before to the amazing songs and calls around you.
Together the book and CD combine to create an RSPB-endorsed sound guide to more than 100 songs and calls of 65 garden, woodland and farmland birds, and a reference section describes in detail the sounds of a further 185 birds of Britain and north-west Europe. The 68-minute narrated recording can also be downloaded to listen to on the go, and is accompanied by beautiful colour photographs, annotated sonograms and 'test yourself' sections.
Reviews / Votes
Adrian's knowledge of the science and majesty of birdsong resonates from every page as he tells how to recognise the vocalisations of 250 species, opening a new dimension of birdwatching to novice and expert. -- Stuart Winter * Sunday Express * Adrian's descriptions of the sounds are excellent - far closer to the real thing and easier to remember than most field guides manage - but his own sonograms are a useful extra touch, and of course the CD (...) adds a very valuable extra dimension. -- Matt Merritt * Bird Watching * Thomas's enthusiasm for his subject, as well as the sheer depth of his passionate knowledge, really shines through on every page. -- The Reviewer * English Garden * It's easy to read, clearly illustrated and as someone with no musical knowledge makes essential reading. -- James Lidster * Birdwatch * It contains the clearest descriptions I have read for understanding pitch, timbre, harmonics and overtones and for anyone struggling to learn bird calls and songs it's a great introduction and I suspect for many it might just be the book they need. -- James Lidster * Birdwatch *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
375 colour photos
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
500 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4729-5587-6 (9781472955876)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Adrian Thomas
RSPB Guide to Birdsong
E-Book
04/2019
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Wildlife
€16.49
Available for download

Adrian Thomas
RSPB Guide to Birdsong
E-Book
04/2019
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Wildlife
€16.49
Available for download
Person
Adrian Thomas is a lifelong birdwatcher and naturalist, and has worked at the RSPB for nineteen years in a wide variety of roles. After contributing for many years to BirdWatching magazine, his writing now regularly features in Nature's Home and Garden Answers and has also appeared in a range of other magazines. He is the author of three books: RSPB Gardening for Wildlife (Bloomsbury, 2010), winner of the national Garden Media Guild award; The Birds of Sussex (BTO, 2014); and Best Birdwatching Sites in Sussex (Buckingham Press, 2003).
Content
Part 1: An Introduction to Bird Songs and Calls
Introduction
How to use this guide
What is sound?
How do birds make noises?
Types of bird sound
How to describe bird sounds
Reading sonograms
What sounds to expect: Where and when?
What to expect: Habitats
Putting it all together
Turning it into learning
Part 2: Guide to Common Bird Songs and Calls
Towns and villages
Woods and copses
Upland woodland
Farmland
Reedbeds and marshes
Part 3: Reference Guide
How to Record Bird Sounds
Glossary
References
Acknowledgements
Sound Credits
Photo Credits
Track List
Index
Introduction
How to use this guide
What is sound?
How do birds make noises?
Types of bird sound
How to describe bird sounds
Reading sonograms
What sounds to expect: Where and when?
What to expect: Habitats
Putting it all together
Turning it into learning
Part 2: Guide to Common Bird Songs and Calls
Towns and villages
Woods and copses
Upland woodland
Farmland
Reedbeds and marshes
Part 3: Reference Guide
How to Record Bird Sounds
Glossary
References
Acknowledgements
Sound Credits
Photo Credits
Track List
Index