The editors have done a good job adding non-metric equivalents for length and weight to the descriptions in the original. However, that Mike Unwin does not bother with avian evolution in Around the World in 80 Birds, that he has no section devoted to extinct birds and is in my opinion often not nearly critical and condemning enough regarding birds threatened and endangered by us humans, by our actions, by habit loss, by over-hunting, pollution and the like, this has definitely rather bothered me (and enough so that my final rating for Around the World in 80 Birds simply cannot be higher than three stars, still to be warmly recommended, but also with some caveats and reservations).

As the author said, he could likely have easily picked 80 different birds but the ones chosen are gorgeous.Great read--educational, interesting, accessible and comical to both non-bird-lovers and bird-lovers. Mención especial a la belleza de ilustraciones de Ryuto Miyake, que me han tenido embelesada toda la lectura. The other is the Crested Caracara which we were told is really intelligent and curious, but has become a pest in certain areas of Central America, raiding houses by going down chimneys and opening doors and windows.

The writing is clear and you get to learn about the habits, lifestyles, habitats, and physical and mental traits of the birds. This beautiful and inspiring book tells the stories of 80 birds around the world: from the Sociable Weaver Bird in Namibia which constructs huge, multi-nest ‘apartment blocks’ in the desert, to the Bar-headed Goose of China, one of the highest-flying migrants which crosses the Himalayas twice a year. Their avian abilities also mean they can escape danger and relatively easily re-settle which makes them highly adaptive too. Genuinely unsure how I've become some sort of go-to reviewer for books about birds, but I 100% love it, especially when it brings gorgeous, informative books like these into my inbox! Wildlife author Mike Unwin takes a world tour of 80 birds with exquisite illustrations from Tokyo-based Ryuto Miyake.

The book follows the formula of the previous two ‘Around the World in 80…’ books and explores a small selection of birds from around the world in the context of their importance, interaction with humans, rarity, or some other factor chosen by the author. oilbird (Venezuela), snow goose (Canada), hoopoe (Italy), cassowary (Australia), puffin (Iceland), shoebill (Uganda), kakapo (New Zealand), and many others. I'm very taken with Australia's southern cassowary, a 'living dinosaur', weighing 154lb and not to be trifled with. We get a nice overview of what the birds look like, their way of life and brief anecdotes of what they are known for (like them being national emblems and why, if they are featured in important literary works, legends or myths etc). La verdad que cuando te adentras el él, te das cuenta de que es mucho más sofisticado y fascinante de lo que pueda parecer.

I honestly only knocked off a star because the movement from region to region wasn't as smooth as I would expect with some geographic jumping around that could have been avoided. I also really enjoy the fact that this series focuses not just on birds, but on birds that are important to human populations in a variety of ways, as the human-bird interactions are always interesting. I tend to read a lot of fiction but there is an endless amount of material that will seem stranger than fiction if only we expand our horizons and open our minds to factual information. Publication dates are subject to change (although this is an extremely uncommon occurrence overall).Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here.