ONE of the most surprising features of the first bird book to be published in 2026 is the inclusion of the Black Woodpecker - a species not even on the British List.
It gets a place in What’s That Bird? while the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is omitted.
Other exclusion species include:
* Dotterel
* Red-backed Shrike
* Wryneck
* Nightjar
* Firecrest
* Capercaillie
* Black Grouse
* Merlin
* Whinchat
* Lesser Whitethroat
* Roseate Tern
This 128-page book unashamedly announces itself as "the simplest" ID guide but it is a shame that only 150 or so species are featured.
Author Rob Hume seems to be helping perpetuate the "shifting baseline" syndrome whereby once familiar species are, in effect, ascribed to the past.
The inclusion of the Black Woodpecker is bizarre given that Hume acknowledges that the species is a "continental European bird not seen in the UK".
Also included are two other species seldom seen in Britain - Crested Lark and Subalpine Warbler.
The author is well known in the birding world. A member of the RSPB for 35 years, he was editor of the society’s magazine for 20 years and also served on the editorial board of British Birds and is a past chairman of the British Birds Rarities Committee.
He has written numerous bird books, most of them ID field guides, and contributed almost the entire text of Chris Packham's Birdwatching Guide, published in spring 2024.
To his credit, Hume is always seeking a fresh approach to birds and birding, and his enthusiasm - as well as his knowledge - never fails to shine through in this pocket-sized paperback.
But a downside is that, with one or two exceptions (for example, the Cuckoo and some larks and waders), the text makes scant attempt to describe the calls or songs of the species described.
Illustrated in colour, What’s That Bird? is published today January 1, 2026 at a modest £9.99 by DK. It is an update on a book of the same title published in 2012.
It is written not so much for the experienced birder as for anyone with a casual interest in birds or who is taking their first steps in birding.
