British Wildlife is the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiast and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Published eight times a year, British Wildlife bridges the gap between popular writing and scientific literature through a combination of long-form articles, regular columns and reports, book reviews and letters.
Conservation Land Management (CLM) is a quarterly magazine that is widely regarded as essential reading for all who are involved in land management for nature conservation, across the British Isles. CLM includes long-form articles, events listings, publication reviews, new product information and updates, reports of conferences and letters.
Sporting a mix of blue, yellow, white, green and black, the Blue Tit is unmistakable. It is thriving well in a world dominated by humans, taking advantage of our propensity to feed birds and provide nest-boxes. In turn, this charismatic species provides an excellent model for research, and currently features in around 100 scientific papers annually. This new Poyser is the result of a personal quest by author Martyn Stenning to bring these discoveries together in one accessible volume. The text initially invites readers into the intimate life of breeding Blue Tits and describes how nature has shaped their destiny. Moving on to the diversification and classification of Blue Tit variation across their range, the story progresses into population structure, life-time ecology and mortality, culminating in an exploration of factors that determine breeding success. The Blue Tit concludes with a genial selection of anecdotes, folklore and poetry.
Chapter One - Beginnings
Chapter Two - Taxonomy, distribution and variation
Chapter Three - Population structure, demography and mortality
Chapter Four - Determinants of Blue Tit breeding success
Chapter Five - Blue Tits in research; history, methods and applications
Chapter Six - Anecdotes, folklore and poetry
Glossary
References
Martyn Stenning developed an interest in natural history very early on in his childhood. From 'Microscope Monitor' at primary school to a focus on science at secondary school, as well as an avid reader of wildlife books and investigator of nature, he was destined for the academic study of ecology. Following an HND in Biology, Martyn joined the University of Sussex Biological Sciences team in 1976. He gained a master's degree by thesis on Pied Flycatchers in 1984, followed by a DPhil on Blue Tits in 1995, and produced several scientific publications on these species. Other subjects of study have included chalk downland plants, tropical aquatic snails, Dormice and – inevitably – other bird species.
"This deceptively slim volume packs a mass of information about one of our most familiar birds into its pages [...] "
– David Parkin, British Birds 111 (October 2018)
"[...] I was really looking forward to the publication of this monograph and certainly wasn't disappointed. [...] comprehensive coverage – illustrated throughout with engaging line drawings [...] With newly fledged Blue Tits filling the woodland air with their squeaky contact calls, perhaps now is the time to become much better acquainted with the ecology of one of our best-loved species? You could do little better than to immerse yourself in a copy of this incredibly detailed and well-researched book."
– Justin Walker, BTO book reviews
"[...] As has become the norm with Poyser monographs, there is a huge amount of detail about every aspect of Blue Tit life within the six chapters. There is a lot of information packed into this book, but it is written in a friendly style that demonstrates the author’s real affection for the species. Line drawings by Alan Harris break up the text, and there are eight pages of colour photographs of the various Blue Tit races and some aspects of the research discussed. At last, one of our commonest birds has been given the treatment that it deserves!"
– Keith Betton, British Wildlife 29(4), April 2018