David Callahan 
A History of Birdwatching in 100 Objects [PDF ebook] 

This book looks at 100 items that have profoundly shaped how people watched, studied and engaged with the avian world.



Each item contains around 500 words on a double-page spread and include an illustration of the object in question. The book includes the objects listed below as well as many more.The range of items is international and cross-cultural. Subjects include:



*An Egyptian ”field guide” (early tomb decorations of birds, identifiable as species)


*Ornithologiae libri tres: the first British bird guide (a 1676 publication that attempted to itemise all British birds known at the time)

*The Dodo specimen held at the Horniman museum


*Systema Naturae by Carl Linnaeus (the first-ever system of scientific names in 1758, and still the international standard today)

*The shotgun

*The book,
The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne by Gilbert White (1789)

*HMS
Beagle (the ship on which Darwin made his ground-breaking discoveries)

*Aluminium bird rings (used to record movement and longevity of individuals and species)



Along with many more modern innovations including walkie talkies, pagers, radio tags and apps.