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    Birds
    Birds
    Birds
    Ebook799 pages1 hour

    Birds

    By Jim Flegg

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    About this ebook

    The ideal portable companion, the world-renowned Collins Gem series returns with a fresh new look and updated material.

    This is the perfect pocket guide for keen birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts to identify the most commonly seen species in Britain and Europe.

    Authoritative text and beautiful photographs show the distinguishing features of each bird, including notes on appearance, colour and distinctive features, and information on juveniles, range and habitat, nests, call and breeding sites.

    In addition, an extensive introduction covers general information on plumage, habitats and migration, and gives first-time birdwatchers advice on what equipment to buy and where to go to spot the most desirable species.

    This new edition builds on the strengths of the unrivalled original, covering over 200 species of bird found in Britain and Europe.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateApr 12, 2012
    ISBN9780007448579
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      Book preview

      Birds - Jim Flegg

      Red-throated Diver

      Gavia stellata

      Wisniewski

      Wisniewski

      adult winter

      Wisniewski

      ADULT Large (55 cm), slender-bodied diving waterbird, well streamlined for swimming. Watch for slim, pale, upturned beak. Looks hump-backed in flight, with rapid deep wingbeats. Throat often looks blackish. In winter grey, flecked white above, white below. Sexes similar.

      JUVENILE As winter adult.

      HABITAT Breeds on N European coasts and moorland lakes, winters on coastal seas, also on fresh waters.

      NEST Always close to water.

      VOICE Cackling calls, breeding season only.

      GENERAL Widespread in habitat, never numerous. Black-throated Diver (G. arctica): straighter dark beak; Great Northern Diver (G. immer): heavy angular head, massive beak.

      Great Northern Diver

      Gavia immer

      Newman

      Newman

      adult winter

      Newman

      ADULT Large, stout diver (75cm). Heavy, angular head, large beak (may have a bump on the forehead). Long wings and feet, latter project beyond the tail in flight. Shallow wing beats. Black head and neck with check upperparts in summer; dark grey, with barring in winter. Pale eye ring.

      JUVENILE As winter adult with scaly pattern on upperparts.

      HABITAT Winters on Atlantic coasts.

      NEST Mound of waterside vegetation.

      VOICE Loud wailing calls in breeding season.

      GENERAL Does not breed in Britain. Black-throated Diver (G. arctica) has grey head in summer, and no eyering in winter.

      Great Crested Grebe

      Podiceps cristatus

      Grewcock

      Grewcock

      adult winter

      Grewcock

      ADULT Medium (45 cm), slim, slender-necked diving waterbird. Chestnut and black ruff and crest reduced to black crown in winter. Hump-backed in flight, showing white wing patches. In winter, pale grey back, with black, not yellow, dagger-like beak. Sexes similar.

      JUVENILE Chick grey with black stripes; later as winter adult.

      HABITAT Widespread except in far N; breeds and winters on large fresh waters; also winters on sea.

      NEST Raft of waterweed moored to reeds.

      VOICE Guttural croaks and honks in summer.

      GENERAL Rarer Red-necked Grebe (P. grisegena): smaller, with rufous neck and white cheeks in summer, grey with whitish cheeks in winter.

      Little Grebe

      Tachybaptus ruficollis

      D. Hosking

      D. Hosking

      adult winter

      D. Hosking

      ADULT Smallest grebe (25 cm). A dark and dumpy diving waterbird, short-necked and tail-less in appearance. Chestnut throat often appears blackish. Watch for short dark beak, pale-tipped in summer. In winter, dull brown above, paler below. Rarely flies far except at night, escapes threats by submerging. Sexes similar.

      JUVENILE Chick grey with black stripes; later as winter adult.

      HABITAT Widespread except far N; breeds and winters on fresh well-vegetated waters; some winter on sheltered coastal seas.

      NEST Raft of waterweed, moored to reeds.

      VOICE Far-carrying whinnying, usually when breeding.

      GENERAL Commonest and most widespread grebe.

      Manx Shearwater

      Puffinus puffinus

      Wilmshurst

      Wilmshurst

      adult

      Wilmshurst

      ADULT Medium-sized (35cm). Uniformly black above and white below, No capped effect and no white at the base of the tail. Flies over water tilting from side-to-side. alternating long glides on stiffly-held wings, with shallow flaps.

      JUVENILE As adult.

      HABITAT Breeds in colonies on islands and cliffs facing the Atlantic. Range extends west and north outside breeding season.

      NEST In burrows.

      VOICE Loud wails, and cackles.

      GENERAL Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis) is larger, and has a black cap and a white patch at the base of the tail.

      Fulmar

      Fulmarus glacialis

      Callan

      Callan

      adult

      Callan

      ADULT Medium seabird (45 cm), superficially gull-like, but actually a petrel. Watch for dumpy but well-streamlined body, dark eyes, and stubby yellow beak with tubular nostrils. Distinctive flight on short, straight all-pale wings, often held slightly downcurved. Glides often, with only occasional wingbeats except near cliffs. Sexes similar.

      JUVENILE As adult.

      HABITAT Breeds colonially on N and W coasts, usually on cliffs; winters in coastal and oceanic

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