A multitude of macaws festoons the cover, the endpapers are populated with penguins, the inside teems with tree-lovin’ aves… yes, there really are birds everywhere in this eye-catching, fact-filled book. And - bonus points for this overseas publisher - New Zealand birds get a mention on the very first page! (The flightless four - takehē, kiwi, kākāpō and weka - in case you’re wondering.)
I loved learning about the butcherbirds and shrikes which impale their prey on twigs or thorns while they eat them, and return later for leftovers; the sandgrouse, which has adapted to its desert environment by using their feathers like a sponge to soak up water from the waterhole and letting their thirsty chicks suck on them when they return to the nest; the clever secretary birds, who’ll take a venomous snake with them high into the air and let them go, then swoop down to the ground to gobble them up.
From the epic travellers to humble backyard sparrows; from drones inspired by the aerial gymnastics of herring gulls or the bullet trains that mimic the long beak of a kingfisher in order to exit tunnels more efficiently; covering anatomy, courtship, habitats, sustenance… our feathered friends are truly celebrated in this sumptuous, illustrated gift book.
Reviewer: Stacey Anyan
Allen & Unwin