Every year around August, large flocks of Eastern Curlews leave their breeding grounds in the Arctic and embark on a perilous 10,000km journey to the coast of Australia. The birds cannot swim; if they become exhausted and fall into the ocean, they die. But it’s a journey they have taken for tens of thousands of years, tracing invisible flyways in the sky in what is one of the most spectacular mass migrations in the animal kingdom. Following the Eastern Curlew along its migratory path, award-winning nature writer Harry Saddler explores how these incredible birds have impressed themselves on the cultures of the countries they fly through, the threat to their survival posed by development, and the remarkable ways these birds and humankind may be entwined. The Eastern Curlew is a delightful and vivid portrait of a fascinating natural phenomenon.

A comprehensive second edition to the Birds of the Middle East This is a completely revised second edition of the bestselling field guide to the birds of the Middle East, covering Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, the Arabian peninsula and Socotra. For the first time, the text and maps appear opposite the plates, and as a consequence there are fewer species per plate than before. The text and maps have been fully revised and many new artworks have been painted by the three illustrators. There are more than 100 new species in this new edition, which features more than 820 species in total. This is an essential field guide for anyone visiting the Middle East.

In 1838, John Gould, the 'father of Australian ornithology' visited Australia with the intention of gathering material for his great work on Australian birds. In the resulting publication, The Birds of Australia: In Seven Volumes (1848), and the accompanying Supplement (1869), Gould named, for the first time, no fewer than 32 Australian bird species. Gould's words about the Norfolk Island Kaka were prophetic-the last bird of its kind died in a cage in London in 1851. Since then, a number of other species illustrated in The Birds of Australia have become extinct and others are now facing extinction. John Gould's Extinct and Endangered Birds of Australia features 59 plates of birds from Gould's eight-volume work, birds that today are threatened or that no longer exist. Featuring exquisite full-colour lithographs reproduced from the National Library of Australia's copy of The Birds of Australia, this book gives an insight into the history of each bird's European discovery, as well as its subsequent fortunes or misfortunes.

Winner of the 2008 Whitley Award for Field Guide. Shorebirds of Australia brings together the latest information about the evolution, ecology and behaviour of shorebirds and how they are distributed in Australia. Complete with colour photographs and up-to-date distribution maps, it provides descriptions and tips to assist with the identification of all species of shorebird in Australia, which comprise about 10 per cent of Australia’s total avifauna. In addition to information about their habitats, the most significant threats to their existence are mentioned, as well as actions in place to help conserve these birds. The book is a valuable reference for a broad range of people, from birdwatchers and field naturalists to professional ornithologists and land managers entrusted with the responsibility of protecting Australia’s natural resources, especially its wetlands and coastal regions.

The ultimate field guide to the birds of the Middle East, an indispensable companion for any traveller to the region The Middle East – the region stretching from Cyprus and the Levant to Iran, including Turkey and the Arabian Peninsula, plus Socotra – has a wonderfully broad and diverse avifauna, featuring a host of wintering and passage migrants, enigmatic breeders, and even a few endemics that occur nowhere else. This authoritative book covers more than 895 species recorded in the Middle East, including details of all regular visitors and breeding species, from the Purple Sunbird to the Northern Bald Ibis. Featuring 180 stunning colour plates by three of the world's leading bird illustrators, this practical guide also includes concise species accounts describing key identification features, status, range, habitat and voice with fully updated distribution maps for each species. Written by three of the leading lights in regional ornithology and conservation, this fully revised and expanded guide is an essential reference for any birder living in or visiting the Middle East.

China is one of the largest countries in the world, covering 7% of the earth's land surface, and encompassing a hugely diverse range of habitats. As a result it boasts a rich and diverse avifauna, including some of the most spectacular and fascinating birds to be found anywhere in the world. This is the first truly comprehensive, taxonomically modern, and fully illustrated field guide to the Chinese birds. Over 1300 species are illustrated in 128 colour paintings, and fully described in the text. Colour distribution maps are provided for all illustrated species. The authors have both lived and worked in the region for many years, and have extensive experience of writing and illustrating bird guides. This important book will be a landmark in field guide publishing.