This is a revised and updated fourth edition of the bestselling RSPB Handbook of British Birds.

This unique guide provides a 'biography' of each of the 280 commonest British bird species. It covers all aspects of field identification, using illustrations from the highly acclaimed Handbook of Bird Identification to show all common plumage forms. The text also covers behaviour, breeding biology, population, status, longevity and any other interesting facts about the species concerned. A detailed distribution map is provided for each species.

The rarities section, featuring 26 additional species, has been updated and features two species new to this edition. Six comparison artwork spreads are included to help identify difficult to identify species - such as ducks, waders, warblers, raptors and gulls - alongside one another. The RSPB Handbook provides a complete, single source of basic information to our most familiar birds.

The definitive handbook on Scottish bird species

This is a fully updated second edition of 2009's well reviewed RSPB Handbook of Scottish Birds detailing Scotland's rich birdlife. Over 250 species are covered in detail with one page per species, including Gaelic names newly added for this edition. The detailed distribution maps have been fully updated and show when birds are breeding, wintering or on migration. More than a thousand superb colour illustrations by some of the world's leading bird artists have been integrated into the text for easy reference at home or in the field. Each detailed species account includes information on identification, voice, habits, habitat, food, breeding ecology, seasonal movements, population and conservation.

This friendly handbook is full of practical advice on attracting wildlife to your garden, and encouraging creatures to stick around, as well as expert tips on green gardening, seasonal planting and garden predators.

Colour photographs illustrate hundreds of mammals, birds, insects, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians, flowers, trees, shrubs and fungi, while the comprehensive text explains everything you need to cultivate a haven for nature.

The new edition includes additional species as well as fully updated text describing the diverse wildlife that can be found in British gardens. Finally, a DIY chapter is packed with projects for your garden, from building bat boxes to digging your own pond.

RSPB Birds: their Hidden World

by Peter Holden

Published 16 February 2012
Even if you are an enthusiastic bird watcher, the details of how birds fly, why they behave as they do, how they breed and their extraordinary travels can seem very mysterious.

This lively new book aims to give readers a broad understanding of 'how birds work' from their physical make-up to courtship and breeding, social activity and their spread and travels. Readers will be able to interpret the kind of bird activity and behaviour that they see and hear in their gardens as well as in the wider countryside and on nature reserves.

Designed for the general interest reader and written in a lively and accessible style, the book is presented as a series of beautifully illustrated page spreads, enhanced by fully captioned photographs and with case studies of individual species of British and European birds.

This is the first book to explore in detail every RSPB reserve in Britain, from the wild forests of Caledonia and teeming seabird cities of the northern coasts, to the rolling heathlands, pristine wetlands and urban oases of the south. Here you'll find everything you need to plan and enjoy days out at some of the best wildlife-watching places anywhere, with full details of access arrangements, visitor facilities, advice on when to visit and the wildlife you can expect to see throughout the year. For every reserve you'll find a map of how to get here and, where appropriate, the trails around the reserve and the habitats you'll find, so you can plan your visit according to what you'd like to see and how much time you have to visit. Illustrated throughout with colour photographs of these beautiful wild places and the animals and plants that live in them.