Contents 003 Introduction 004 Europe 028
North America
056
South America
078 Antarctica 084 Oceania 114 Asia 140 Africa 160 Glossary & Acknowledgements
Introduction My most memorable bird spotting moments have been from the back seat of my dad’s car when I was little, whilst out walking with my daughters in the UK, from a taxi in India or just sitting on a porch in Victoria, Australia. I've had some amazing guides and dedicated bird-watching trips, but the really special spots are the ones that come out of the blue, most often shared with other people – friends, family or strangers. This book is my personal selection of the most amazing birds in the world – the most beautiful, strange, scary, speedy and enchanting. Some are exotic or rare, but equally some you can see every day. That is the bird world’s greatest gift to us; they are all around us – in the trees and sky, with their songs and calls – and in our folklore and sayings. We need to do our bit, say thanks whenever we can and help protect these amazing creatures, whether that is by consumer power, or by helping dedicated charities to stop our ever-expanding world from eating into theirs. So let's not take our treasured birds for granted and remember to always look up and around as you never know what you are going to see. Birds are wonderful! Just a quick note to say that the illustrations of the birds side-by-side in this book aren't always to scale. I've given the dimensions of each bird, though, so you can get an idea of how big, or small, they really are. Enjoy the book – and get out spotting wherever you are! Matt Sewell
Ruff
Calidris pugnax Outside the breeding season, the ruff (male) is pretty unremarkable and hard to distinguish from other earthy waders. But come spring – blimey! – it’s all change, as the males strive to impress the picky females (which are called reeves). These dudes are famous for their courtship accessories of neck ruffs and head tufts, looking like billowing feather boas and massive double-pom-pomed beanie hats. In fact, they get their name, ruff, from the decorative collar famous in European courts of the 16th and17th centuries. Congregating at display sites, known as leks, the males leap, strut, bow, shake their feather boas and stand as tall as they can in ritualistic displays. The reeves seem to know what is happening, though, as they choose a partner, then depart and rear the chicks by themselves. Ruffs have to make a mammoth journey from the northernmost corners of the world to sunny Africa and India, where they spend the winter months. Length: 22-26cm Where to find me: UK, Scandinavia, Russia (summer); Africa, India (winter)
European golden plover Pluvialis apricaria
The European golden plover is a beautiful bird whose coat, in the breeding season, glistens with green-gold – so resplendent that it is hard to imagine it is actually very successful camouflage. It shouldn't work but it does! Plover and wader chicks look like bundles of moss with pipe cleaner legs, but this golden plover chick goes one step further. By looking like a small clump of cotton wool flecked with gold leaf, it is possibly one of the cutest chicks going. On the wing the plover twinkles and flutters in large murmurations with fast wing beats. So fast that they were the genesis for the idea of the Guinness Book of World Records. One day Mr Guinness, of the world famous brewery, was out shooting birds (shame on him!) when he had an argument with another member of the party over which was faster – the golden plover or the red grouse. He was right with the plover and was then inspired to create one of the world’s most popular books.
Length: 26-29cm Where to find me: Scandinavia, northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland (summer); UK, Mediterranean coast, north Africa (winter)
Europe • 19
California condor Gymnogyps californianus
The California condor is an incredible and rare vulture of the hot southwest. It has a massive 3-metre wingspan, which is amongst the widest of any landbased birds, and flies with barn-door wings held upwards in a low v. They thrust their bald heads into carcasses to strip the meat. Such baldness is useful, as it would be difficult to clean rotting flesh from a feathered head. Condors are specialists in finding and clearing decaying animals and play a valuable role in the ecosystem. The condor filled the American skies for thousands of years. Numbers were dropping before the arrival of European settlers, but the decline was exacerbated in the 19th century, when the influx of people following the gold rush took to persecuting them. Due to relatively low fertility – their incubation and chick-raising period is long and they only produce one egg per clutch – numbers dropped seriously low until 1987, when there were only 27 left on the planet. They were all taken into breeding programmes, and luckily there are now around 300 in the wild and another 200 in breeding programmes. Length: 108-140cm Where to find me: Arizona, Utah, central and southern California, northern Baja California (Mexico)
Red-tailed hawk Buteo jamaicensis
The red-tailed hawk looks a lot like the common buzzard, found in much of Europe and Asia. Hawks and buzzards are in the same bird family (Accipitridae) and have the same taste in food, including small mammals and carrion. They also have the same mellow flight of endless arcs, with streaked wings that look awesome spread out in flight. The red-tailed hawk can adapt to just about any habitat; they are abundant across the American continent – from Alaska via the West Indies to Central America. They have even settled in urban environments. In New York they nest on ledges, air conditioner units and fire escapes on the highrises of the avenues surrounding Central Park, where they hunt. Many have probably never seen a rabbit, but a city of 8 million people and their waste has plenty of rats to satisfy them. Length: 45-65cm Where to find me: Canada, USA, Panama, West Indies
Adélie penguin Pygoscelis adeliae
The Adélie penguin lives along the coasts of Antarctica, which are the only places in the world where they are found. These birds are great athletes and can hold their breath for up to six minutes and dive to depths of 150m. Despite being fairly short, they can leap up to 3 metres out of the water to land on ice or rocks! In recent years, US researchers noticed that satellite images from the Danger Islands, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, showed a curious amount of penguin faeces, indicating a large number of birds. The penguins were counted and in 2018 it was confirmed that the islands were home to a super colony of Adélies – over 1.5 million of them! Great news for the species! Height: 45-70cm Where to find me: coastal Antarctica
82 • Antarctica
Antarctica • 83
Asia
Indian roller
Asia is the largest continent on Earth – it covers over 44 million square kilometres, around 30% of our planet’s total land area. It also holds the most people of any continent. It is bordered on the south by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Arctic Ocean and on the east by the Pacific Ocean. There are lots of types of birds in Asia – over 3700 species at the last count – from monkey-eating eagles to dazzling peafowl, flycatchers to flowerpeckers. There are so many amazing birds in this continent that it deserves a book all of its own. Maybe next time! Kazakhstan
Georgia
114 • Asia
Tajikistan
an
Pa k
ist a
n
Kyrgyzstan Uz Scarlet-backed flowerpecker Armenia be kis Crested treeswift tan T Malabar trogon urkm enis Turkey tan Brahminy starling Pink-necked green pigeon Azerbaijan Syria tan nis a Malabar whistling thrush Iraq gh Iran Lebanon Af Fire-tailed myzornis Nepal Indian paradise flycatcher Kuwait Israel Amur falcon Qatar Saudi Narcondam & Indian grey hornbills Jordan United Arabia India Indian peafowl Arab Emirates Common tailorbird Indian roller en Philippine eagle Yem Greater racket-tailed drongo Himalayan monal Spotted forktail 137 Japanese bush warbler Mandarin duck 137 Blue-and-white flycatcher Sri Lanka Japanese white-eye 138 Red-crowned crane
Om
116 117 118 118 119 119 120 121 122 124 126 128 129 130 132 133 134 135 136
Russia
Mongolia
North Korea China South Korea
Bhutan
Bangladesh Myanmar
Japan
Lao
s ilan d
Tha
Vietnam
Philippines
Cambodia N
Malaysia
Indonesia East Timor
Red-crowned crane Grus japonensis
The beautiful red-crowned crane is a really special bird. One of the largest cranes in the world, it measures about 150cm bill to tail and its wingspan can reach over 250cm. It is rich in cultural heritage in its native China, Japan and Korea, where it is known as a symbol of luck, longevity and fidelity. The link to fidelity is because they mate for life. Longevity is also a strong theme – Japanese mythology proposes that the birds can live for 1000 years. Imagine that! They are also iconic symbols due to their elegant beauty and their social interactions. This is especially true in breeding season – pairs will dance a duet and sing fluted songs, throwing their heads backwards and beaks skywards in a honking crescendo. The red-crowned crane is one of the most critically endangered cranes in the world. Loss of habitat is mainly to blame. The world just isn't wild enough anymore. Length: 150-160cm Where to find me: Japan (year-round); Siberia, northeastern China (summer); Korea, central China (winter)
Asia • 139
ATLAS OF AMAZING BIRDS
Meet the most amazing birds on Earth
MATT SEWELL
Travel the world to see magnificent eagles, resilient penguins, tiny hummingbirds, towering ostriches, stunning peacocks and many more. Matt Sewell has made his personal selection of the most amazing birds from around the globe and illustrated them in his dazzling style, accompanied by witty, informative descriptions and maps of every continent. This book is a celebration of bird life – colourful, clever, song-filled, strange and simply stunning.
ATLAS OF AMAZING
BIRDS
Matt Sewell is a best-selling author, illustrator and an ardent bird-spotter. He has exhibited his art in London, New York, Tokyo and Paris.
UK ÂŁ16.99
MATT SEWELL