Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Studying birds by the bookBirdwatching has become a popular hobby for more and more people in Ireland, partly due to the increase in regional events organized by Birdwatch Ireland. Now, two new bird books hit the shelves in time for the Christmas market. Ireland's Garden Birds - how to identify, attract and design your garden for birds by Oran O'Sullivan and Jim Wilson (Collins Press, £13.99) is a practical illustrated guide to identifying 56 common birds with month-by-month tips for your garden.

O'Sullivan is editor of Wings, the Birdwatch Ireland magazine and Wilson is a wildlife writer, filmmaker and tour leader. The second book, Birds of Ireland - facts, folklore and history by Glynn Anderson (Collins Press, £19.99) offers a more in-depth look at human interaction with wild, domesticated and extinct birds. An amateur naturalist who now works as a guide at the National Botanic Gardens, Anderson writes about proverbs, curses and health cures associated with birds, as well as examining the idea of birds as predictors of the future.