Books by Bill Oddie

12 June 2004: Bill Oddie, the Twitchfinding General. By Alison Roberts, The Independent.

While Bill Oddie remains virtually unknown in America, he is the foremost birding celebrity in the UK, having appeared for many years in a popular television comedy show. He first came to the attention of overseas twitchers after the publication of Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book in 1980. This revolutionary book told us quite bluntly what many of us had figured out about birding but had never seen in print -- namely that birding is an ultra-competitive hobby with its own vocabulary and class system.

Subsequently Bill became a professional birding celebrity, traveling around the world to take part in bird races and appearing in a succession of BBC nature shows, currently Britain Goes Wild. While none of his subsequent books has had the impact of the Little Black Bird Book, the ones I have seen have all been quite worthwhile and recommendable. Most importantly, Bill has introduced people to birding who otherwise never would have noticed the birds around them.

Bill Oddie's Birding Pack: Birds of Britain & Ireland & Birding Map of Britain & Ireland. This is the softcover edition of Bill's book for beginning birders, packaged in a vinyl cover with the second edition of his birding map of the British Isles showing 270 birding sites and 15 sites in detail. I wish there had been a book this good for North America when I was a child. Starting at age 4 with the little Golden guides to birds, insects and herps (which made Herbert Zim rich), I promptly observed species that weren't in the books and thus couldn't be identified. Though woefully incomplete, the Golden books were well-designed for beginners, particularly children learning to read, with only one or two species per page and a simplified text. Bill Oddie has essentially followed the Golden format, presenting each of the birds most likely to be seen on a separate page with concise and conversational text and fine color illustrations by David Daly, Stephen Message & Clive Byers, depicting typical plumages and behavior. Less common birds are grouped three to five per page at the end of the book. This is quite simply the best beginner's guide I have ever seen. Any visitor to Britain will find the Birding Map useful for quick location of well-known sites in each area. 240 pages. New Holland, 2004. UK

Book only: UK | US

Birding Map only (2006): US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife. 192 pages. Collins 2005. US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Bill Oddie's Introduction to Birdwatching. 144 pages. New Holland 2006 (2002). US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Bill Oddie's Gripping Yarns. 60 tales about birding originally published in Birdwatch magazine. 203 pages. A & C Black, 2000. US | UK

Bill Oddie. Follow that Bird! Around the world with a passionate birdwatcher. Stories about bird trips around the world. 172 pages. Robson, 1997. US | UK

Bill Oddie & Peter Holden. Bird in the Nest. About the making of a BBC series on British birds. 161 pages. Robson, 1998 (1995). US | UK

Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book: The truth about bird-watching. Shouldn't the reprint be called Bill Oddie's Little White Bird Book? "I am returning Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book. I was under the impression that the book is about blackbirds. Sincerely, Candace Natvig, Germany." (From the dust jacket of Bill Oddie's Gone Birding.) 148 pages. Robson, 1995 (1980). US | UK | DE | FR | CA

Don Taylor & Bill Oddie. Birding in Kent. 168 pages. Pica Press, 1996. US | UK

Bill Oddie's Gone Birding. Autobiography with an emphasis on birding. A good read, if you can find a copy. 174 pages. Methuen, 1983. UK

Bill Oddie & Dave Tomlinson. The Big Bird Race. Species-by-species narratives from two competing teams in a 1983 British bird race around East Anglia. 160 pages. B & w illustrations by Laura Tucker. Collins, 1983. US | UK

Birdwatching with Bill Oddie: The Birdwatcher's Handbook. Macmillan, 1988. US | UK

Birding with Bill Oddie. BBC Books, 1997. Accompanied a BBC nature show. US | UK

Stephen Moss (ed.) Blokes and Birds. 96 pages. New Holland 2004. Foreword by Bill Oddie. US | UK

Stephen Moss. A Bird in the Bush: A Social History of Birdwatching. 320 pages. Aurum Press 2004. UK | DE | FR

Ian Wallace. Beguiled by Birds: Ian Wallace on British Birdwatching. Poyser 2004. UK | DE | FR

Charles Gallimore & Tim Appleton. Bird Brain of Britain: The Ultimate Quiz Book for Birders. 192 pages. Helm 2004. Foreword by Bill Oddie. UK | DE | FR