Shoebill

With its baleful stare and lupine grin, the Death Metal anti-hero of the subaqueous scene enjoys a diabolical reputation

One might be forgiven for thinking that pterodactyls had been de-extincted upon first sighting the silhouette of a magnificent frigatebird. Boasting a wingspan of more than 2m, the bird cuts an imposi

Jolly frock-coated robins, majestic geese and arboreal partridges make for both literal and symbolic centrepieces at Christmas, says Matthew Dennison, as he revels in the cultural history of the season’s feathered fowl and game

THIS MONTH Barn owls

Whether winter-faded ferns, the spindly harvestman or the tyrannical stare of an irate chicken, through-lines from the prehistoric to our modern age are all around us in November, says John Lewis-Stempel

Meet the prehistoric giants that roamed the Arctic Circle thousands of years ago