The Book of Birds delivers a stark warning in its introduction about the “great thinning of the skies … Dawns and springs are quieter; the air emptier. An ancient avian orchestra is falling silent.”
There are now 3 billion fewer birds in North America than there were 50 years ago, and 5 million fewer in Europe. Across the world, almost 50% of bird species are in decline. These figures are the galvanising force behind writer and illustrator Jackie Morris and nature writer Robert Macfarlane’s compendium of 49 bird species under threat in Britain. Each entry is a prose poem aimed at evoking the spirit and the unique qualities of each bird, among them the kingfisher, nightingale, nightjar, song thrush, tern, tawny owl and puffin.
Macfarlane narrates the bird entries, which also include the avocet, which “[when] seen at sunset in silhouette seems blown from glass – as if breath of wind would leave her in shards amid the sea reeds, the fescue, the eelgrass”. Meanwhile, Morris reads the “seven wonders of bird”, a series of short essays hailing the remarkable inventions that are feathers, nests, beaks and eggs, the latter acting as a “space station, shock absorber, bathysphere, safe harbour, first home”.
The audio edition also features terrific sound design courtesy of field recordist Chris Watson, known for his work with David Attenborough. Watson has meticulously recorded the call of each bird and incorporated them into each chapter. This blend of lyrical prose and birdsong make for moving love letter to our feathered friends.
Available viaFiona Sturges Penguin, 3hr 38min
Further listening
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Mick Herron, Baskerville, 12hr 6min
The ninth Slough House novel from Herron tells of hidden agendas, a cover-up concerning IRA infiltration and a villain with a grim murder technique that involves running over their victim’s head with a Land Rover. Sean Barrett narrates.
Confessions
Catherine Airey, Penguin Audio, 12hr 19min
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks leave Cora Brady orphaned, she is sent to live with an estranged aunt in rural Ireland where family secrets are unearthed. Read by a cast of narrators including Eileen O’Higgins, Bronagh Waugh and Ruby Campbell.