We always enjoy having birds visit our garden and we entice our little visitors by putting out various bird food, nuts and fat balls on various feeders placed strategically around our garden. It's lovely when you look out of the window and see a whole array of birds at the feeders and these lovely little creatures are quite fascinating to watch. However, at times they behave in what appears to be quite a strange way and I am often found wondering 'why do they do that?' If you are like me and would like to know more about why birds behave in the ways that they do, then 'The Secret Lives of Birds' is a must have book!

This brilliant book is written by Dominic Couzens who is an experienced writer and bird tour leader who contributes regularly to Birdwatching Magazine. His wonderful descriptions of bird behaviour are accompanied by some lovely illustrations and photographs from Peter Partington who is a wildlife artist. The collaboration between these two works very well and makes for a very enjoyable book.

After the introduction, the book is divided into the twelve months of the year and each month concerns itself with the birds that might be in your at that particular time and the type of behaviour that you would expect to see and why. I love all of the titles to the chapters which have abit of a cryptic wit about them. Some of my favourites include:

A View to a Kill - Sparrowhawk strategies
Wrens as Property Developers
Shocking Tactics among Swallows
Strife Among Robins - the Fat Lady Sings! And
Knives of the long night

These and many of the other tantalising titles really make you want to read more!

In each chapter the author goes on to explain why birds do the things that they do. His style is both chatty and authoritative and it's amazing all the different things that you find out whilst having a few myths dispelled at the same time! There is a lot that you can find out about mating habits, feeding and fighting, survival of the fittest and territorial instincts plus lots lots more. You can find out about the girl power of dunnocks, the craftsmanship of crows as they build their nests and why birds waken us far too early through their dawn chorus. There are so many fascinating snippets of information that make this book a must for any garden bird lover.

Added to everything that you read, there are also Peter Partington's beautiful muted illustrations that really back up the text well. It really is a beautiful book that you could choose to read in a variety of ways. You could read it cover to cover just out of interest or you could choose to spread your reading over the year by reading the appropriate month as it occurs. I just like to dip into the book and when I see a bird in our garden and start to feel curious about what it is doing, I will find it in this book. I sometimes get the answer to my curious thought and I invariably start to find out lots of other wonderful facts too.

The book is published by A C Black and has the seal of approval from the RSPB. It has a RRP of £14.99 but is currently available on Amazon for £8.43. I'm sure that it would make a great present for any garden bird lover!