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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great little book for garden bird-lovers, 2 Oct 2003
This is a marvellous wee book for people who want to learn about the lives of the blue tits in their garden. You, may just want to know about the species you feed, watch and have come to love in your garden and these Shire Natural History booklets are just the job for people like us: ordinary garden bird lovers.I'm watching a blue tit pecking away at a basket of peanuts as I write this review. A tiny, beautiful, colourful acrobat. It could live eleven years but will be lucky if it survives to the end of this year. About half of the adult birds that breed this year will not survive until next year and if just one adult from each breeding pair and one baby bird from each nest survives and breeds next year, then the population level will be maintained. The mortality rate is astounding. Just imagine: a clutch of eggs normally ranges between 5 and 16 eggs, out of which just one baby bird might survive long enough to reach adulthood and breed. Starvation, predators, inclement weather and disease all work hard to defeat these little heroes and so far, the birds are winning! See how much I've learned since reading this book? And there's a lot more information in the book. I have only one disagreement with Mr Flegg, the author. He mentions that "summer feeding is considered undesirable". In fairness, this book was published in 1987 when things were a bit different. The RSPB now recommends year-round feeding. Food is hard to come by out in the woods and fields these days. Farming methods, building (roads, supermarkets, car-parks, houses), domestic cats (about 9 million in Britain) - all tip the balance for birds and make survival - already hard enough - even harder. I recommend this book to all fellow garden bird enthusiasts and budding ornithologists.
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by Edward A. Armstrong
by Peter Tate
by David William Snow
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