Search

Letters

13 March 2014 Comments Letters D o some Wallcreepers migrate? Recent letters by David Elias, H. G. Alexander and Guy Mountfort on the movements of the Wallcreeper Tichodroma muraria referred respectively to observations in Cyprus (Brit. Birds, 63: 393-394) and the Indo-Pakistan subc...

Semipalmated Plover: new to Britain and Ireland

01 October 1980 Comments Main paper At about midday on 9th October 1978, near Porth Killier, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, F. H. D. Hicks and I heard an unfamiliar wader call: a plaintive, disyllabic 'che-wee', not unlike the 'chewit' note of the Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus, but soft...

Predictions of future Nearctic landbird vagrants to Europe

01 October 1980 Comments Main paper Rarities generate more than their share of interest among the birdwatching public. The avid field observer thrills at breaking an arrival or departure date. The 'twitcher' travels long distances to add rare species to his list. Ringers are attracted to...

Why are Capercaillie cocks so big?

01 October 1980 Comments Main paper Chris Knights and Terry Andrewartha have taken some remarkable (pictures of displaying Capercaillies Tetrao urogallus which illustrate an obvious question: why are cock Capercaillies so much bigger than the hens? Body size and ecological niche...

Owls allopreening in the wild

01 October 1980 Comments Main paper A short note by F. Haverschmidt (Brit. Birds 71: 359-360) on one Little Owl Athene noctua preening another was based on observations at Heerlen in the Netherlands on 13th April 1939 and 27th March 1941. John W. Fitzpatrick (Auk 92: 598-599) reported wh...

The 'British Birds' Best Bird Book of the Year

01 October 1980 Comments Main paper For the benefit of those who may wish to acquire (or give as a present) just one of the many bird books published each year, British Birds will select annually the 'Best Bird Book of the Year' from those reviewed in the journal during the previous 12 m...

The future of the new 'BB' and how you can help

01 October 1980 Comments Editorials So far, over 600 readers have responded to our inaugural plea in the August issue for readers to resubscribe at once rather than waiting until their subscriptions fell due. The loyalty of BB readers was also demonstrated by offers from three subscriber...