British Birds Charitable Trust has voted The London Bird Atlas book of the month. Written by professional ornithologist Ian Woodward, Thomson Ecology’s Director of Ecology, Richard Arnold, with all mapping supplied by Neil Smith, Thomson Ecology’s Head of GIS, the London Bird Atlas is an authoritative and detailed account of the regularly occurring birds in the Capital.
The London Bird Atlas covers the area within a 20-mile radius of St Paul’s Cathedral. This includes the whole of Greater London and parts of Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey and Buckinghamshire. It provides the most up-to-date analyses of the changes to London’s birds based on a comprehensive survey run in conjunction with the British Trust for Ornithology’s National Bird Atlas project.
Richard Arnold says, “During field work for the London Bird Atlas almost two hundred species of birds were recorded in the London area. For a largely urban area, this is still an impressive tally despite the sad decline of some once common species, like the tree sparrow. The 60 families of birds recorded in the London area represent just over a quarter of the total number of bird families in the world; a surprising richness in avian diversity.”
John Clark reviewed the book on the British Birds website, saying, “This book fully documents the changes in distribution of London’s breeding birds over almost half a century and provides a baseline for future surveys of wintering species. It is an essential purchase for all with an interest in the capital’s birdlife and will also be an extremely important reference for planners and developers.”
British Birds is wholly owned by The British Birds Charitable Trust (BBCT). The Company is managed with a view to making a small profit which can be donated to the Trust to help fund its charitable work. Over the past six years, this, combined with donations from other sources, has enabled the Trust to give almost £40,000 support to a variety of conservation and educational projects.
The London Bird Atlas retails at £39.99 and was published by John Beaufoy Publishing/London Natural History Society. To purchase a copy, click here.
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