The Book of Birds

來自國際暢銷、屢獲殊榮且多次被改編的現象級作品《失落的詞》創作者：一場對英國鳥類生活的璀璨慶典，為新一代自然愛好者重新想像了經典的野外指南。

天空的巨大消減正在進行中。全球約有 50% 的鳥類品種正在減少。我們的黎明與春天逐年變得比前一年更安靜。一種幾乎無法想像的豐饒已經喪失。情況不一定要如此發展——但我們不會去拯救我們所不熱愛的事物。

《鳥之書》是四十個九種鳥類的彙編，從反嘴鷸到圃鵐，這些物種在英國都處於遞減或瀕危狀態。受作者們成長過程中伴隨的經典鳥類圖鑑所啟發，這是一本與眾不同的野外指南。它不問「那是哪種鳥？」，而是問「那是誰？」。它向讀者展示如何識別鳥類，以及如何與它們產生共鳴。

羅伯特．麥克法倫以抒情的精確與趣味，喚起了每種鳥類的習性與棲息地——它們的飛行與歌唱模式、它們如何狩獵與採集、如何築巢與撫育幼雛，以及伴隨著它們的故事與神話、籠罩它們的威脅，還有它們的野性生活如何與我們的生活交織。而在每一頁上，我們都能遇見潔琪．莫里斯令人振奮的藝術作品，以水彩和黃金繪就，並賦予了對細節極致的關注與生命感。在這群令人目眩神迷的物種之間，設有七個章節來慶祝共同構成「鳥類」日常奇蹟的「七大奇蹟」：巢、卵、喙、歌、羽、飛行與遷徙。

歷時七年製作，《鳥之書》是一封寫給鳥類生活之輝煌與神秘的情書，也是一聲停止陸地、海洋與天空鳥類流失的號角。從河烏到林岩鷚，從紅隼到翠鳥，從高山到海洋，從城市到河流，潔琪．莫里斯與羅伯特．麥克法倫喚出了每個物種獨特的精神與生活方式。這是一本值得各年齡層鳥類愛好者珍藏的書，也是未來的經典參考著作。

From the creators of the internationally bestselling, award-winning, multi-adapted phenomenon The Lost Words: a dazzling celebration of birdlife in Britain, re-imagining the classic field guide for a new generation of nature lovers


A great thinning of the skies is underway. Around 50% of bird species are in decline worldwide. Our dawns and springs are quieter each year than the last. An almost unimaginable abundance has been lost. It does not have to be this way –– but we will not save what we do not love.

The Book of Birds is a compendium of forty-nine bird species, from Avocet to Yellowhammer, all of which are declining or endangered in Britain. Inspired by the classic bird-books with which the authors grew up, this is a field guide with a difference. It asks not ‘What is that bird?’, but ‘Who is that bird?’ It shows its readers how to identify birds, but also how to identify with them.

With lyrical precision and playfulness, Robert Macfarlane evokes each bird’s habits and habitats –– their patterns of flight and of song, how they hunt and gather, how they nest and raise their young, the stories and myths which attend them, the threats which shadow them, and how their wild lives intersect with our own. And on every page we encounter Jackie Morris’s exhilarating artwork, painted in watercolour and gold and animated by an extraordinary attention to detail and sense of life. Set among this dazzling flock of species are seven sections celebrating the 'Seven Wonders' that together make up the everyday miracle of 'Bird': Nest, Egg, Beak, Song, Feather, Flight and Migration.

Seven years in the making, The Book of Birds is a love letter to the splendours and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky. From Dipper to Dunnock and Kestrel to Kingfisher, from mountain to ocean and city to river, Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane conjure the unique spirit and lifeway of each species. This is a book to be treasured by bird-lovers of all ages, and a future classic work of reference.