A History of Birds in 100 Objects

By David Callahan edited by Dominic Mitchell

Published by Bloomsbury in June 2014

ISBN 978 1 4081 8613 3

Hardback Priced £20.00 with 224 pages

As a mad birder interested in ancient birds may be more than modern ones I was thrilled by the first few pages and even got a mention in the bibliography for my ‘Pharaohs Birds’. The book continues through the ages and modern toys from books to binos used in the game of chasing birds around the world are a big influence on the book. Nice to see the ‘milk bottle top’ get a mention about birds adapting to a human period only for the ‘pint on the door step’ to disappear as well as the milkman! Modern phones are now with all those apps when once there was only ‘Big Jake calls the waders’. I wonder how many modern birders try to call the birds with their own vocal techniques! Certain books are given their major influence on the years especially the modern atlases and then there was ‘Nancy’s café’! There is plenty to keep you looking for the changes in the history of birds and you may have some ideas yourself that may have made the ‘top 100’ so overall the book is a good read.