BOOK REVIEW: The Book of Birds by Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane, reviewed by Katrina Whalley

Anyone familiar with this duo’s previous work will have high expectations. The Lost Words and The Lost Spells are magical books evoking awe and wonder at the natural world, blending poetic language with beautiful artwork. The Book of Birds is presented in a similar style and does not disappoint. It is a simply stunning creation.

Weighing in at over one kilo, this tome invites slowing down and settling in. A cosy chair, a blanket and a cuppa. An intentional pause. Beautifully bound, with a ribbon marker, perhaps this is a book best appreciated in small and delicious doses rather than one sitting.

Presented as “a field guide with a difference”, this is certainly no ordinary bird book. Gone are the tedious dry descriptions and factual uninspiring pictures. Here instead we encounter myth and legend, exploring the quality and personality of each bird through melodic language and astonishing illustration.

A total of 49 birds are included, carefully selected to highlight their decline. Some are familiar (Kingfisher, Puffin and Skylark), and some not so much (Ptarmigan, Snow bunting and Corncrake). These are all birds on Amber or Red conservation lists, or as the authors explain “each one is beginning to glitch, to struggle, to sputter”. They invite us to get to know each bird in turn as “knowledge may lead to wonder, wonder to care, care to action, action to change”.

This is a book of hope, then. Of awe, imagination, freedom and joy. Divided into seven sections, the Seven Wonders of Bird; Nest, Egg, Beak, Song, Feather, Flight and Migration. Each chapter begins with a beautiful exploration of that wonder… “Egg is space station, shock absorber, bathy-sphere, safe harbour, first home”. “Nest is bowerbird’s bling-and-dazzle, Nest is flamingo’s urn of sun-burned clay”. Within each chapter seven birds are presented, typically with 2-3 pages of text amidst beautiful paintings and/or sketches.

Scientific fact weaves through the text, seamlessly blending with storytelling and historical context, in a playful way. We learn of cuckoo’s “grim vocation” of swapping out eggs, Sparrowhawk’s precise hunting style, the epic journeys of migrating birds, and the two-sided voice box (syrinx) of a bird. The scientific names of birds are presented alongside the common colloquial names and nicknames. There are tables of length, lifespan, wingspan etc. (at the end of the book) for those seeking solid facts.

Jackie’s watercolours and sketches are alive and unruly, spilling across the pages and inviting us to gaze for a while at the beauty, movement and personality of each bird. I love the way she has deliberately published some images unfinished; the watercolour palette presented alongside the ink sketch, but leaving the actual colouring-in to our imagination. There is an invitation here to observe colour and intricate texture. Eggs, feathers, flocks are all depicted in beautiful detail.

The melodic nature of this book is truly unique; like the birds themselves it refuses to be tied down to any one genre or style. The language morphs and dances, often jaunty and onomatopoeic. Sometimes rhyming, sometimes conversational. Each entry stands as an imaginative and poetic description, with astonishing depth and full of personality. Dipper “is the bobbing water on a boulder, dressed in bib-and-tucker best”. Avocet is “stilts and tweezers, pins and needles, crystal wands and slender spindles”. Curlew’s “feathers are made of autumn, more foliage than plumage” and Owl “lives on the other side of silence”. Wow.

Fact and fiction blend with wonderful and evocative pseudo-words. My ears were ringing with Swift’s “bodkin-shriek and devil-cry” and Bittern’s “ear-splitting Bog-drum, the Butterbump… bass-note larrup”. Reference to folklore lends an entirely different perspective. Who knew “Witchy, hotch-potch” Nightjar’s scientific name caprimulgus means “goat-sucker”? Superstitions of lost children finding form as Kittiwakes. We may well wonder why eagle skulls were piled high in ancient burial sites, whilst the wing of a swan cradled a baby in a Mesolithic grave.

There are sombre tales recounting birds’ persecution. The massacre of Fulmar, plucking of Eider, netting and braining of Turtle doves, killing of Bullfinch. The authors do not shy away from the grim realities of human violence and harm. Nor do they gloss over the deadly skills of the hunting birds themselves. The reality of nature and human nature.

This book may make you notice your local birds differently. To hear their voices. You may be inspired to sketch or paint them, photograph them, or create their likeness in any other creative way. It is sizzling with creativity and deserves to be well-read, spoken aloud and remarked upon. Ultimately though, this is a book to be shared. Passed around. To be gifted and re-gifted so that its beautiful message takes flight. Enjoy!