At last it is possible to listen to the amazing variety of birdsong that enriches our environment simply by opening this book. Delve into the absorbing text and beautiful photographs of each of the 150 birds whilst listening to their songs and calls. Among many others, the sounds you will hear at the touch of a button include the cries of birds of prey like the Red Kite, Osprey and Peregrine Falcon as well as the dramatic mewing or barking cries of several species of gulls that can be found both on our coasts and in the centre of towns. The recordings include the songs and calls of much-loved garden birds, such as the Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin, Wren and Blue Tit as well as the sounds of many wonderful migrants: the call of the Cuckoo that heralds the arrival of spring, the piercing cries of the Swifts that arrive later, the distinctive sounds of the winter-visiting Redwing and Fieldfare. The recordings also include sounds that communicate a desire to mate or challenge a territorial rival: the rattling bursts of Woodpeckers as they drum their beaks rapidly against a hollow tree-trunk, or the strange bleating sound made by the Snipe’s outer tail feathers as it hurtles earthwards in its display flight.

Concise descriptions are given of each species as well as fascinating nuggets of information. Did you know that both sexes of Robin sing almost all year, that the Nightingale sings by day as well as at night, and the Great Tit holds the record for the number of different songs and calls – over 50 – it produces?