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The Secret Lives of Garden Birds
Have you ever wondered what the birds in your garden get up to when they're not tucking into peanuts and seeds on the birdtable? This book takes us, month by month, into the secret lives of our most familiar garden birds, revealing inspiring, intriguing and scandalous real-life dramas such as the ferocious turf battles of Robins, the profound family ties of Long-tailed Tits and the remarkable sex-life of the Dunnock. The amazing facts that it reveals will help you to understand, encourage and enjoy your garden birds more than ever before. Written with engaging humour and enlivened throughout with dazzling colour paintings and photographs, this wonderful book will appeal to anyone who enjoys watching birds in their gardens.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
2 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Dominic Couzens
83 books16 followersDominic Couzens is an expert bird guide and author. He has published numerous books and articles on natural history, including for BBC Wildlife and Bird Watching, specialising in birds and mammals. His books include Extreme Birds, Atlas of Rare Birds, The Secret Lives of Garden Birds, and Top 100 Birding Sites of the World.
He travels widely for writing and speaking, and his website is www.birdwords.co.uk.
He travels widely for writing and speaking, and his website is www.birdwords.co.uk.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 12, 2015
This chance purchase in a charity shop has proved to be a mine of fascinating information. I'm a bit of a novice as an observer of garden birds. I watch them at the feeder, I observe them living their busy lives in the shrubs and trees with great enjoyment but only limited knowledge. This book brings real understanding to the day-to-day life of those birds we all think we know something about. The book is divided into chapters, each representing a month of the year. Follow it through, month by month, and you'll have real insight into the secret lives of your garden birds.
February 1, 2020
I loved this. Fascinating insights
June 28, 2015
It's easy to take our garden birds for granted or to assume that we know everything about them. However, one of the things I love about nature, is that there's always something new to learn. The Secret Lives of Birds, a beautiful book from the RSPB (Royal Society of Birds) sets out to reveal some of the secrets kept by ommon visitors to UK gardens.
Written by Dominic Couzens with stunning illustrations by Peter Partington and beautiful photos from a variety of photographers, this is a fascinating and beautiful book. As it says in the introduction 'The aim of this book, then, is to make you look at your familiar birds and be amazed by what they get up to."
The book takes us through the garden bird year, month by month, alerting us to what to look out for and what may be happening behind the scenes. For example:
listen out for early birdsong in January,
watch long tailed tits make their beautiful intricate nests in March (I've been lucky enough to see part of this nest building activity three times! Amazing given I've never seen any other species actually in the nest creating it, though I've often seen birds carrying nesting material).
house martins using fresh mud to repair their nests in July
how the robin changes its song in December
It also includes longer articles on individual species
why is the song thrush declining?
do magpies deserve their bad reputation?
why do tawny owls thrive in winter?
the intriguing family life of the dunnock
the feeding strategies of my favourite bird the swift
Best read in the garden, or if the weather isn't good enough or you don't have a garden, by the window.
Written by Dominic Couzens with stunning illustrations by Peter Partington and beautiful photos from a variety of photographers, this is a fascinating and beautiful book. As it says in the introduction 'The aim of this book, then, is to make you look at your familiar birds and be amazed by what they get up to."
The book takes us through the garden bird year, month by month, alerting us to what to look out for and what may be happening behind the scenes. For example:
listen out for early birdsong in January,
watch long tailed tits make their beautiful intricate nests in March (I've been lucky enough to see part of this nest building activity three times! Amazing given I've never seen any other species actually in the nest creating it, though I've often seen birds carrying nesting material).
house martins using fresh mud to repair their nests in July
how the robin changes its song in December
It also includes longer articles on individual species
why is the song thrush declining?
do magpies deserve their bad reputation?
why do tawny owls thrive in winter?
the intriguing family life of the dunnock
the feeding strategies of my favourite bird the swift
Best read in the garden, or if the weather isn't good enough or you don't have a garden, by the window.
September 30, 2016
I would definitely recommend this book to bird-lovers, both beginning and experienced ones.
Although it may contain some information that has become a common knowledge, but there is still a lot of new and fascinating facts about the daily lives of the garden birds.
I also quite liked the arrangement of the information into a calendar year format. It helps to relate many of the birds' activities to our own.
Great read!
Although it may contain some information that has become a common knowledge, but there is still a lot of new and fascinating facts about the daily lives of the garden birds.
I also quite liked the arrangement of the information into a calendar year format. It helps to relate many of the birds' activities to our own.
Great read!
February 2, 2009
some interesting facts
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews