Britain's proud seafaring traditions might not have happened without the work of this acorn-spreading beauty

                                         

The Jay - by distributing  acorns, the species encouraged the creation of oak forests which provided precious timber for Britain's seafaring heroes of yesteryear (photo: Ian Parsons)

"IF ever Britain ever requires a national bird, there can surely only be one contender . . ."

So writes naturalist-author Ian Parsons in his excellent new book published earlier this month.

And the bird? 

Parsons' nomination, somewhat unexpectedly, is the Jay - "a truly beautiful bird, a lovely mix of pinkish grey, splashed with black and white, with a fantastic flash of electric blue on the wings".

But it is not the species' exotic plumage which has  prompted the selection so much as its significant role in British history, most notably the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

"Nelson's ship, HMS Victory, was made using the timber of around 6,000 trees, 90 per cent of them oak,"he writes. "This is roughly the equivalent of 100 acres of mature woodland.

"And let's not forget that Victory was just one 27 ships in action at the Battle of Trafalgar. That's an enormous number of oaks."

What has this got to do with the Jay? 

Parsons explains that Britain's  mighty oak forests of yesteryear derived from acorns - the bird's favourite food - many of which, if uneaten, are stored, larder-style, underground at locations far apart.

According to a study published in Germany, "on average, each Jay caches  around 275 acorns every single day" while "another piece of research has concluded that, in Britain, Jays cache around one and a half billion acorns each year".

No wonder the writer is impressed! 

Alas for him, his suggestion that the Jay should become  Britain's national bird is likely to go unheeded.

As he notes, it was the Robin that came out as favourite species after more than 200,000 people voted in a poll launched in 2015 by urban birder David Lindo. Sadly, the Jay did not even register.

Formerly a forest ranger, Parsons' observations come in his fascinating and wittily-written new book, which explores the many-faceted relationships between  birds and trees.

His 'cast of characters' includes 67 birds among them the long-extinct Dodo) and 57 trees or hedges. There are not many angles left uncovered (though there could perhaps have been a chapter about the so-called 'leaf warbler' family that includes Willow Warbler and the sycamore-partial Yellow-browed Warbler.

Parsons definitely has a soft spot for thrush species such as Blackbirds and Fieldfares, but, because of its historical significance and beauty, it is  the acorn-spreading  'oak  bird' , the Jay, which is his avian hero.

As he reminds his reader: "It was the timber of our oaks that fuelled our shipbuilding and the resulting expansion of our nation's horizons and ambitions.

Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, Captain Cook - they all sailed in ships hewn from the native oaks of our woodlands.

Of the Trees and the Birds  will delight both expert ornithologists and those whose interest in birds is more casual.

Handsomely illustrated, it costs £18.99 in paperback and can be obtained from  Caithness-based publishers Whittles Publishing at www.whittlespublishing.com (01593 731 333).

                                        

The new book - full of fascinating insights about the relationship between birds and trees