Letters

01 January 1985 Comments Letters How many bird species in the world? In a recent book review (Brit. Birds 77: 280) mention is made of the '8,500-odd species' of birds in the world. A similar figure is quoted by the late Leslie Brown in his foreword to A Complete Checklist of the ...
Read More

Letters

01 August 1980 Comments Letters Importance of Ireland's Brent Geese In his account of 'Ireland's winter visitors and passage migrants', C. D. Hutchinson (Brit. Birds 73: 72-80) noted that the Brent Goose Branta bernicla is now the most numerous goose in Ireland and concluded ...
Read More

Letters

01 May 1979 Comments Letters A symbol for individuals not adult males The present biological symbols ♂ and ♀ indicate the two sexes, male and female. The suggested introduction of a third symbol {Brit. Birds 71: 544-545) seems strangely illogical. If the...
Read More

Letters

01 January 1979 Comments Letters Thermal soaring of raptors I read D r C. J . Henty's paper on thermal soaring of raptors (Brit. Birds 70: 471-475) with interest, and not a little surprise. I t has long been known by ornithologists that raptors use thermals for soaring, a...
Read More

Letters

01 December 1975 Comments Letters The origin of British Aquatic Warblers In his letter (Brit. Birds, 67: 443-444), Dr J. T. R. Sharrock made the hypothesis that the autumn records of Acrocephalus paludicola in Britain and Ireland are probably to be explained by a reverse migrat...
Read More

Notes

01 January 1975 Comments Notes Common and Black-headed Gulls flight-feeding over ragwort On the west coast of much of the Outer Hebrides is found the machair, a stretch of flat sandy soil used mainly for growing a mixed crop of rye and oats for animal fodder. Landward of thi...
Read More

Stay at the forefront of British birding by taking out a subscription to British Birds.

Subscribe Now