All things bird _{by Madelaine Empson}

Multi-award-winning author, illustrator, and cartoonist Giselle Clarkson (The Observologist) has a new book out! Published by Gecko Press, Omnibird: An Avian Investigator’s Handbook is a guide to the art and science of omnibirding.

What’s that, you ask? Well, omni is a combining form meaning ‘all: universally, of all things’. Meet the Omnibird, containing the essential birdiness of every bird. It was born from an egg and has feathers, two legs, a beak, a gizzard, perhaps some premium features like spurs or a caruncle… From secret eyelids and hollow bones to two-part brains and feather dresses, birds really are extraordinary. Omnibird describes 12 common birds and explores what’s remarkable about the ones flittering all around us, feathering out the clues we can all use to become avian investigators along the way.

With the 20^th annual Bird of the Year election on now, our eyes are all turning skyward! Clarkson used to be the campaign manager for kōtuku ngutupapa (royal spoonbills) and still has a real fondness for them, so her vote would go to “our only cutlery-themed bird”.

When working on a book, Clarkson says her favourite moments are “when inspiration strikes like a bolt of lightning”. She hopes that Omnibird readers take away “a heightened sense of wonder and curiosity when they encounter a bird in their daily life”.

In an unmissable, free event for bird and nature lovers of any age, the Greytown-based 2023 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate and Mallinson Rendel Illustrators Award-winner will be at Tawa Library on Friday the 3^rd of October from 10:30am to 11:30am to guide readers through the inner workings of the book and delights and wonders of the avian world. Come one, come all to Explore Omnibirding with Giselle Clarkson!