A NEW book looks at our urban jungle from a different perspective. Instead of the dull, grey, concrete city filled with drone-like commuters, it looks at the birds that have adapted to urban life.
"... a city can provide everything wildlife needs for survival," writes author Stephen Moss in his foreword. "There is plenty of food - either accidentally or deliberately provided by us."
And the most visible are birds.
"From the smallest hummingbirds to some of the largest birds on the planet, such as swans and ostriches, many birds have adapted to urban life. While this includes species we might expect - crows, gulls and pigeons, for example - there are also some real surprises."
From frigatebirds wheeling over Rio de Janeiro to bowerbirds displaying in the suburbs of Canberra, penguins in Cape Town to pelicans in San Francisco and huge flocks of starlings roosting around the Colosseum in Rome, our cities are home to a remarkable array of feathered citizens.
Urban Aviary: A Modern Guide to City Birds is a beautiful guide to some of the most extraordinary species of city birds that have become native, including identification hints and fact boxes for each bird.
The birds are brought to life in stunning watercolours by Marc Martin.
Urban Aviary by Stephen Moss and Marc Martin (White Lion Publishing) RRP $35.
