Undiscovered Owls
By Magnus Robb & The Sound Approach | The Sound Approach | Hardback | April 2015 | ISBN: 9789081093378
The Publisher’s View: Explore the twilight world of owls that you can hear in your garden, the park or woods with this lyrical investigation into their sounds. Listen to previously unpublished digital stereo recordings of the owls of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, illustrated with annotated sonagrams. Enjoy paintings and photographs, often of the individuals recorded. Learn how to research into evolution, behaviour and sounds invite us to recognise a dozen new owl species.
Share the thrill of closing in on a huge fish owl found only a handful of times before, the rarest owl in our region. Travel to rugged desert mountains, where the authors chanced upon a previously undiscovered owl, the first new Arabian bird species for nearly 80 years. Learn to listen like an owl and maybe you could find the next one.
Brought to you by the team of obsessives that produced Petrels night and day
Other Views: The overall quality of the sounds and sonograms, and the insights they provide, deserve a big hallelujah, just like the way these are presented – also for those sceptical or ambivalent about the taxonomical choices. TSA once again proves that even in the 21st century, there’s still something to discover. Not during expeditions to remote parts of Indonesia or Peru, but relatively close to home. Despite the absence of identification illustrations and a more modern sound carrier than CDs, anyone interested in owls and their sounds can buy this book without hesitation. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it. Dutch Birding
Fatbirder View: I do not pretend to be skilled enough to properly review this book. I am completely deaf in one ear and have lost some tones in the other. I admit to having trouble separating Goldcrests from Geese purely on call – I can’t hear the former at all.Nevertheless I can comment on the superb layout, fluid and informative writing and the excellent discs which I can hear and appreciate even if I would be stumped on ID in the field.The sonograms might as well be hieroglyphics as I am no scientist. But I still have no hesitation in recommending the book. It is first class and those who understand these things, and even the average birder with good hearing will greatly appreciate the scholarship and meticulous work here. I have no doubt at all that it will do even better than there previous books.
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