T & A D Poyser

I have written before on the terrific volumes published by T & A D Poyser. I have probably an uncomfortable number of their volumes sitting on my book shelves. The ‘bird monographs’ cover both species and facets of bird behaviour or associated science. If you want good, authoritative, readable treatment of avian evolution, biology, reproduction, feeding, distribution and identification, then these are the volumes to look at.

Norman Elkins succeeded in bringing together the relationship between birds, flight and weather in his book Weather and Bird Behaviour. This sample page looks at Orography- the enforced ascent of air over high ground

Hmm, not at this price these days

Trevor and Anna Poyser founded their publishing company in 1973, specialising in books on ornithology. The volumes now published have expanded to cover a wide range of natural history subjects on a global basis. They sold their business to Academic Press in 1990. Various takeovers followed. Today, A & C Black continue to use the T & A D Poyser imprint. New volumes continue to be published to this day. As to the earlier volumes, you will often see them for sale, if you see one at the right price, snap it up.

P J Grant looked at 31 species of gulls and their identification in his 352 page book on Gulls. This can be a difficult group to age and identify due to the complexities in immature plumage. This book went some way to addressing the difficulty

Unlike some reference works, most of the Poyser mongraphs can be read cover to cover as each author not only has a passion for his or her subject, but have also been carefully selected for their ability in conveying sometimes quite ‘difficult’ subjects. While I purchased my volumes for the information inside, these classic books, with their distinctive dust jackets have become quite collectable for others. I have only shown a select minority of my Poyser volumes, specifically those I enjoy most or find the most informative. So many books, so little time, so little money…

The wonderful paintings used on the white dust jackets of most Poyser bird monographs are a joy

Books from my shelves:

Birds in Scotland, Valerie Thom. T & A D Poyser, 1986. ISBN 0 85661 040 2

Birds in Wales, Roger Lovegrove, Graham Williams, Iolo Williams. T & A D Poyser, 1994. ISBN 0 85661 069 0

The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland, 1875-1900, Simon Holloway. T & A D Poyser, 1996. ISBN 0 85661 094 1

Birds and Forestry, Mark Avery and Roderick Leslie. T & A D Poyser, 1990. ISBN 0 85661 058 5

Man and Wildfowl, Janet Kear. T & A D Poyser, 1990. ISBN 0 85661 055 0

The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland, Peter Lack. T & A D Poyser, 1986. ISBN 0 85661 043 7

The Ruff, Johan G. Van Rhijn. T & A D Poyser, 1991. ISBN 0 85661 062 3

Weather and Bird Behaviour, Norman Elkins. T & A D Poyser, second edition, 1988. ISBN 0 85661 051 8

Waders, their breedings, haunts and watchers, Desmond and Maimie Nethersole-Thompson. T & A D Poyser, 1986. ISBN 0 85661 042 9

Bird Habitats in Britain, R J Fuller. T & A D Poyser, 1982. ISBN 0 85661 031 3

The Status of Seabirds in Britain and Ireland, Clare Lloyd, Mark L Tasker, Ken Partridge. T & A D Poyser, 1981. ISBN 0 85661 061 5

Birds of the Strait of Gibraltar, Clive Finlayson. T & A D Poyser, 1992. ISBN 0 85661 066 6

Gulls, a guide to identification, P. J. Grant. T & A D Poyser, second edition, 1989 reprint. ISBN 0 85661 044 5

The Gannet, Bryan Nelson. T & A D Poyser, 1987. ISBN 0 85661 021 6

Estuary Birds, A J Prater. T & A D Poyser, 1981. ISBN 0 85661 029 1

In Search of Sparrows, Denis Summers-Smith. T & A D Poyser, 1992. ISBN 0 85661 073 9

Published in 1974, this volume is a bit of an oddity in the Poyser stable. More about a man than birds themselves, it tells the story of birdwatching, birdwatchers and birds through the life of one man- H.G. Alexander, who began birdwatching in earnest in 1898 aged eight. He wrote his conclusion to this book seventy-six years later, aged eighty-four, “still watching and listening, day by day, for the first insectivorous birds returning from the south”