The artist Jackie Morris and the writer Robert Macfarlane, known for their bestselling collaboration The Lost Words, have reunited for a new project titled The Book of Birds. This work aims to draw attention to 49 bird species on the British red or amber list of declining and endangered birds. The book combines Morris's paintings with Macfarlane's poetic text, offering a unique twist on traditional field guides.
From The Lost Words to The Book of Birds
Nine years after The Lost Words became a cultural phenomenon, selling over 500,000 copies worldwide and inspiring concerts, theatre, and even a film, the duo now turns their focus to birds. Morris, who has sold more than one million books globally, was inspired by the Reader's Digest Book of British Birds as a child. She hopes The Book of Birds will give young people both an anchor and wings, making birds visible to those who overlook them.
A New Approach to Bird Identification
Macfarlane explains that the book asks not 'what is that bird?' but 'who is that bird?', aiming to help readers identify with birds, not just identify them. He notes the alarming decline of bird populations, with three billion fewer birds in North America and 600 million fewer in Europe than 50 years ago. The book seeks to pull birds back into focus and warn against their vanishing.
Morris, whose favourite painting in the book is of shearwaters observed from her Welsh coast home, acknowledges the challenge of capturing the life-force of birds. The book took seven years to complete and has already inspired an exhibition at the Bodleian Library, 'The Wonder of Birds', opening on 6 May, featuring works by ornithological photographer Emma Turner, 19th-century illustrator John James Audubon, and Percy Bysshe Shelley's handwritten annotations for 'To a Skylark'.
Exclusive Extracts
The book includes poetic descriptions and paintings of species such as the bullfinch, sparrowhawk, cuckoo, rook, yellowhammer, lapwing, corncrake, and turtle dove. Each entry blends natural history with lyrical language, celebrating the birds' unique characteristics and sounds.
Macfarlane's text for the turtle dove evokes a lazy summer day: 'Heat lies heavy on the land, and high summer’s yellow stalks the meadows... through it all churrs the lulling, lazy plainchant of Turtle Dove.' The lapwing is described as facing the wind on fallow fields, with flocks now diminished where once they darkened the sky.
Morris remains uncertain whether The Book of Birds will replicate the success of The Lost Words. 'I’ve never known a book to do things like the Lost Words did before,' she said. 'I don’t think you can get that twice in a lifetime, can you? Is it going to be a catalyst for creativity in other people? I hope so.'
