This book celebrates the astounding variety, beauty and resilience of 80 of our feathered companions around the world, and reveals the impact they have made upon our lives. This beautiful and inspiring book tells the stories of 80 birds around the world: from the Sociable Weaver Bird in Namibia which constructs huge, multi-nest 'apartment blocks' in the desert, to the Bar-headed Goose of China, one of the highest-flying migrants which crosses the Himalayas twice a year.Many birds come steeped in folklore and myth, some are national emblems and a few have inspired scientific revelation or daring conservation projects. Each has a story to tell that sheds a light on our relationship with the natural world and reveals just how deeply birds matter to us. Review From Madagascar and the helmet vanga to the Galapagos Islands and the courtship rituals of the male blue-footed booby (think dad dancing, but with big, blue, webbed feet), Unwin introduces a dazzling array of our feathered friends. I'm very taken with Australia's southern cassowary, a 'living dinosaur', weighing 154lb and not to be trifled with. Ryuto Miyake's illustrations bring it all alive ― SAGA magazineWildlife author Mike Unwin takes a world tour of 80 birds with exquisite illustrations from Tokyo-based Ryuto Miyake. Inspiring myth, national pride or scientific revelation, each bird has a story to tell, from the sociable weaver bird that constructs towering multi-nest 'apartment blocks' in the Namibian desert to the bar-headed goose, whose epic, twice-yearly trans-Himalayan journey makes it one of the world's highest-flying migrants ― NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICSo engagingly written that, by bird two, I was absorbed ... The book is full of nuggets about birds' places in the human psyche ... Japanese artist Ryuto Miyake's illustrations are a delight ― COUNTRY LIFE About the Author Mike Unwin is an award-winning writer of popular natural history books for adults and children. He writes for The Daily Telegraph, The Times, BBC Wildlife, Travel Africa, as well as the RSPB and WWF. Also a widely published photographer, his travels have taken him to every continent in search of its birds and other wildlife.Ryuto Miyake is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Tokyo. Miyake prefers traditional drawing styles, using acrylic gouache applied with a thin brush on stretched-out watercolour paper, but his detailed illustrations have a contemporary look. His clients include Gucci, Toyota, Frieze and Bottega Veneta.