Birdwatching with your eyes closed: an introduction to birdsong.

London: Short Books, 2011
Octavo, dustwrapper, 275 pp. line drawings, podcast.

Learning birdsong is not just a way to become a better bird-spotter. It is a way of hearing the soundtrack of the planet earth. Birds were the beginning of music as we now know it, the first instruments ever made were bird-flutes. This vital book includes a free podcast transporting the reader from woodland to seashore, teaching you to how recognise song after song starting with the robin, and ending with the nightingale. Along the way, birdsong will start to take on a deeper meaning, you will learn the difference between song and call, what birdsong tells us about evolution, and indeed the very beginnings of life itself. The aim is to give the reader an introduction to birdsong so that you'll be listening to order, not chaos, to Bach, not white noise. You will be more aware of the natural world, and better able to understand it. Also available in paperback [stock id 34297].