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The books in this section are ordered by publication date with the most recent at the top.

British Larks, Pipits and Wagtails

Eric Simms

New Naturalist Series (78)

1992

"The aim of this book is to review the British larks, pipits and wagtails. There are three broad introductory chapters on their emergence and range and on the chief characteristics of the genera. Single chapters are devoted to eleven separate species, while two cover the rarer migrants or vagrants on the British list. The last two chapters deal with the movements of the major species and the author's personal view of the current future status of these birds in Britain. This book is in the classic mould of New Naturalist volumes, giving a comprehensive description of the biology of an important part of Britain's birdlife."

The Song Thrush

Eric Simms

1989

"A study of the Song Thrush in Britain. Provides information on vocalisation, habitats, feeding, courtship and breeding cycle, roosting ands migrations and movements."

British Warblers

Eric Simms

New Naturalist Series 71

1985

"To anyone with an awakening interest in ornithology, the warblers may seem a very daunting group. Eric Simms, the author of Woodland Birds and British Thrushes in the New Naturalist series, has a very considerable personal experience of these birds and has produced here a lucid, highly readable, and authoritative study of the group. With an increasing knowledge of this big, successful family, the naturalist will not only appreciate the wide variety that exists among the warblers, but also come closer to getting to terms with their identification. There are three broad introductory chapters of the warblers of the Old and New World and those of Britain, with several chapters examining, comparing and contrasting members of each genus, and a series of single chapters for each breeding species; these review in detail their characteristics. The author makes use of the latest field discoveries, his own accumulated research and that of many other distinguished ornithologists (there is a bibliography of over 1000 references) to present a detailed picture of the warblers in Britain today. The most comprehensive and accessible review of the popular and intriguing group is fully illustrated with maps, sonagrams, diagrams and photographs. Major features are Ian Wallace's six superb colour plates of warblers' plumages and his expert line drawings which show aspects of morphology and behaviour. Eric Hosking has provided many of his outstanding photographs of different warbler species for the book."

A Natural History of British Birds

Eric Simms

J.M. Dent & Sons

1983

367 pages. 16 pages of colour plates.

Natural History of Birds

Eric Simms

1982

288 pages.

The Natural History of Britain and Ireland

Heather Angel

Book Club Associates

1981

"This beautiful book is a new natural history of Britain and Ireland, illustrated by one of Britain's finest natural history photographers. Heather Angel records nature as it is seen - the pine woods of the Cairngorms laden with snow, the flocks of barnacle geese on the banks of the Solway Firth, the immense charm of a southern chalk stream. But, as a creative photographer, she uses her art to explain the intricate ways of plants and animals resulting in an exquisite tribute to the British countryside."

Wild Life Sounds and Their Recordings

Eric Simms

1979

144 pages.

A Natural History of Britain and Ireland

Eric Simms

Dent

1979

"The British Isles may consist of only small fragments of land off the Continent of Europe but within their shores lies an extraordinarily wide variety of scenery, fashioned by the many kinds of rock and soil that are such a feature of our islands. In fact, Britain itself is divided into two regions - fertile Lowland Britain south of a line from the Humber to the River Axe in Devon, and Highland Britain to the north with more rugged landscapes, bleaker climate and thinner, poorer soils. Ireland, on the other hand, is shaped like a saucer with a rim of hills enclosing a flatter central plain. Within the compass of the British Isles are many kinds of countryside - farmland and mountain peaks, broad-leaved woods and coniferous forests, lakes and rivers, towns and villages, peat bogs and moorland, sand dunes and shingle ridges, fens and heathlands, coastal cliffs and stacks - and each kind of countryside has a fascinating and varied flora and fauna. Yet all these types of landscape have been touched by man - nothing is wholly natural - and are subject to continuous change as the result of new social and technological developments. This book looks at the differing landscapes of the British Isles through the eyes of one naturalist who has travelled widely and observantly through them for nearly half a century. To this extent it is a personal account of the natural history that Eric Simms encountered on his travels, making wildlife sound recordings, directing films, producing natural history radio and television programmes or just exploring the fascinating plants and animals in their own surroundings. However, each chapter is also a guide to the vegetation and animals of the major habitats to be found throughout the British Isles."

Birds of Town and Village

Eric Simms

1979

A 30 page booklet.

The Public Life of the Street Pigeon

Eric Simms

1979

The natural (and human) history of the feral pigeon.

British Thrushes

Eric Simms

New Naturalist Series 63

1978

"There are six true species of thrush breeding in the British Isles: Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Fieldfare, Redwing and Ring Ouzel. It is to these that the major part of the book is devoted. The author deals with each species in turn, describing fully its general biology and ecology. There is then a discussion of various aspects of the natural history of the genus as a whole which, while presenting a very full picture of the lives of these fascinating birds, also succeeds in highlighting and discussing some of the most important current problems of avian biology. There is a chapter on Britain's vagrant thrushes and, finally, a substantial chapter on the seven species of small, chat-like thrushes of the British Isles - including such well -loved birds as the Nightingale and the Robin. All native species, and many of the vagrants, are illustrated in the black-and-white plates. The wealth of maps, diagrams and other text figures attests to the depth of Eric Simm's research."

Birds Of The Air: The Autobiography of a Naturalist and Broadcaster

Eric Simms

1976

192 pages with b/w photographs.

Birds Of Town And Suburb

Eric Simms

1975

256 pages with 24 b/w photographic plates and 8 colour photographic plates.

Wild Life in the Royal Parks

Eric Simms

1974

47 page booklet with some maps and a short bibliography.

Woodland Birds

Eric Simms

New Naturalist Series 52

1971

"This new study of British woodlands – both coniferous and broadleaved, natural and planted – and their varied bird life is perhaps one of the most engaging books to appear in this series. Mr. Simms first considers the general environment of trees – the background to any study of woodland birds – and the origins and history of the British and Irish woodlands and their birds from Pliocene times to the present day. He then considers the nature of a ‘woodland bird'; the bird communities supported by the most important tree species; types of woodland or marginal habitats; problems of woodland bird populations and changing environment; the role of woodland bird song and the place of birds in modern forestry. He concludes with an invaluable species-by-species account of British woodland birds, giving details, for each, of its British and European distribution and of its status and habitats within the British Isles. It is a book of absorbing interest to bird-watchers throughout the country."

Witherby's Sound-Guide to British Birds

Myles North and Eric Simms

Produced with the co-operation of the British Broadcasting Corporation

H. F. & G. Witherby

1969/70

(Uncertain of publication date)

The songs and calls of 194 species. Boxed package with a book and two long-playing records. This may have been published a number of times in different formats.

A Year's Journey

Eric Simms and Felicia Elwell

1969/1971/1972

(Uncertain of publication date)

A book and an LP were produced in conjunction with the BBC series A Year's Journey which was presented by Eric Simms and produced by Felicia Elwell. The book is 64 pages. Uncertain of contents. The LP comprises 14 tracks each of which represents the sounds of a place visited during the series. These tracks are: The River In Autumn, Orchards, Gulls On The Coast, Moorland Flocks, Sandy Shores, Crows, Winter Estuary, Plantation Birds, Titmice In Spring, Western Isles, Northern Forests, Common Thrushes, Birds Of The Dales, and Plovers.

LP cover

Voices of the Wild

Eric Simms

1957

Reprint: 1958 (Country Book Club)

Describes the experiences of Simms, with engineer Bob Wade, recording badgers and other creatures for the BBC in the UK and Europe. 230 pages with b/w photographs.

Bird Migrants: Some aspects and observations

Eric Simms

1952

212 pages. Photographs by Eric Hosking.