Seabirds of the World by Eric Hosking (Photography) and Ronald M Lockley (Text) was published in 1982 and celebrated its 40th birthday this year. Eric Hosking was a wildlife photographer from London who is known for being one of the first to make a living from his wildlife photography. Aside from his photography, which he has published over a dozen books, Eric may well be known best for an incident that occurred with a Tawny Owl. In 1937, when returning to a blind to photograph a Tawny Owl he was struck by the owl and was caught in the eye by a talon leading to the loss of his eye and the title of his autobiography An Eye for a Bird. Eric Hosking died 9 years after the publication of Seabirds of the World, in 1991. Ronald Lockley was a Welsh ornithologist who wrote over 50 books in his 70-year career including a classic on Manx’s Shearwaters that I will need to pick up. His research was pivotal to early ornithology in the UK and the founding of the first British bird observatory in 1933. He died in 2000.
Seabirds of the World is a perfect blend of wildlife photography and educational text. The book is broken down into 6 chapters. One about the seabird and the different elements of their biology, and five about different major families of seabirds: Penguins, Petrels, Cormorants & Gannets & Boobies, Skuas & Gulls & Tern, and Auks. Lockley did a wonder job intertwining stories and examples of over 120 species with Hosking’s photos, which are over 140 in the text. The writing is humorous but also detailed enough to be education in such limited pages (156). While the photographs were taken in the 70s and before, there is still a true element of rawness that lends itself to this manner of publication. These photos are not what I would call ‘artistic’ shots of these birds but they are shot in a manner that highlights plumage, habitat, and behaviors. You can tell that the photos were taken without modern technologies and may be out of focus or lack some color details but still are art in their way.
With any book that is over 40 years old, there will be some things, especially taxonomically that are different and this book does fall into that category. However, that does not distract from the enjoyment of the book. What was interesting during the reading of Seabirds of the World was when conservation efforts were brought up, in particular about the Bermuda Petrel. At the publication of this book, there were about 25 breeding pairs of Bermuda Petrels in Castle Harbor, Bermuda, and as of 2010, there were over 100 breeding pairs. This success story is one of a handful of examples of species in this book that are threatened and endangered. While the vast majority of the species in this book have declined in population since its publication it is uplifting to have a success story in the mix. Bermuda Petrels are still extremely endangered but with conservation efforts, their numbers are on the rise. You can watch here for a live cam of one of Bermuda Petrels’ burrows during the breeding season (October – May).
This book is not a scientific paper nor does it try to be, but it does get across the scientific and educational goals without overwhelming the reader. This is not quite a beginner book for birds since there is a lot of language that I had to look up relating to bird biology or terminology but it can be enjoyed nevertheless without previous knowledge about birds and their behavior and biology. Seabirds of the World gives you enough information about each subsection of birds to not overwhelm you but leave you wanting more. Seabirds of the World was written in a manner that pointed the reader toward questions and information that would pique their interest (especially for Birders) and would encourage outside research to be done. I found myself putting the book down every few pages to look up a bird or some specific terminology (E.g. Kindergarten crèche). Hosking’s photography alone is a reason to give Seabirds of the World a try but Lockley’s writing will keep you entertained throughout the read.
