Avifauna

"Birds of The Sheffield Area, including the north-east Peak District"

The production of a new book covering the birds of the Sheffield area was discussed before the SBSG as such first met. In fact, the editorial in our first annual report in 1973 report stated: "The Sheffield Region has long needed a definitive publication about its local birds. At long last, one is soon to appear ... ".  In fact it was another 12 years before it finally reached the bookshelves in 1985, in a quite different guise from when the idea was first mooted, and entitled "Birds of the Sheffield Area, including the North East Peak District".

The project had developed considerably during its making and had become, not only the first Breeding Atlas for the Sheffield area, but also a detailed report on the status of all birds recorded in the area on passage and as winter visitors or vagrants.

The main bulk of the book consists of the systematic list but the book also contains the articles: "A history of Sheffield ornithology", "Habitats and bird communities", "Visible migration studies" and "Twenty-five years on: the changing face of Sheffield's birds". Also included are maps, histograms and distribution plots, showing the range and status of the birds of the area. The book is illustrated with numerous excellent black and white line drawings, mostly by Sheffield artists, and there is a foreword by J.T.R.Sharrock.

The book was published by SBSG and Sheffield City Libraries.  The publication is now sadly out of print, but copies can occasionally be found in local second-hand bookshops.