A First Book of New Zealand Backyard Birdsongs

 

A First Book of New Zealand Backyard Birdsongs,

Fred van Gessel, White Cloud Books/Upstart Press, 2023,

24 pages, board book, NZ$28

ISBN 978-199000-389-9

 

This is a board book with a difference.

A First Book of New Zealand Backyard Birdsongs introduces young people to the CALLS of a dozen New Zealand birds. It’s a sound guide. Each of the twelve backyard birds – morepork, kaka, kingfisher, grey warbler, waxeye, bellbird, tui, fantail, chaffinch, blackbird, starling and song thrush – has its own double page of colour photographs and descriptive text. So far, so familiar.

Then comes the surprise. A side-mounted speaker – an extension of the cover – has 12 colour-keyed buttons each with a bird portrait. Press the morepork’s button and there is a clear cry of ‘more-pork’ or ‘ruru’. Each call lasts about ten seconds, which is a good sample.

Fred van Gessel’s description of each bird includes the Māori name, a brief description their appearance, preferred diet and usual habitat. As one who has spent four decades recording birds, his main emphasis is, sensibly, on the birdcalls.

The text may be a little difficult for young readers but it provides a great chance for parents to interact with their youngsters and discuss the various birds and their habits. Is this bird in your backyard? Does the starling (tāringi) really produce ‘noisy chortling, whistling and singing’? Was James Cook right about the bellbird (korimako) sounding ‘like small bells most exquisitely tuned’?

Press the button and find out.

This book is a companion volume to the author’s A First Book of New Zealand Bird Songs (2021) and A First Book of Australian Backyard Bird Songs (2019).

The system uses two LR44 1.5 volt batteries, so if young listeners prove too keen, anyone with a small philips screwdriver can replace them. The batteries, I mean.

 

Trevor Agnew