Close to Birds

Roine Magnusson, Mats Ottosson , Åsa Ottosson

Not a single other wild creature comes as close to us or can warm our hearts, arouse our curiosity and make our pulses rise as much as birds.
Close to Birds presents the birds around us as never before. Roine Magnusson – nature’s own studio photographer – has taken pictures that don’t just illustrate every feather in sharp detail, but also reveal the character of every species, perhaps even each individual.

We are not trying to understand why bird-watchers are interested in rare birds, write the authors Mats and Åsa Ottosson. We are more curious as to why almost everyone is touched by everyday bird experiences: a robin’s gaze, the way a great tit taps on the window to tell you that the bird feeder is empty and the white markings of a gull against the summer skies. Why birds?

You’ll find the answer in a longer text that unites biology and poetry, and in about thirty shorter texts that give a closer presentation of a selection of birds together with personal accounts of why each bird is so irresistible.