Colophon

The animal on the cover of User Story Mapping is a lilac-breasted roller, often considered one of the most beautiful birds in the world with its pastel plumage, striking field marks, and long tail streamers. It’s the national bird of both Kenya and Botswana, and is relatively common and widespread throughout much of southern Africa.

These birds are typically solitary or are found in pairs, but may stay in small family groups during the winter months. They perch on high vantage points at the very tops of trees and poles, and stay still while watching for prey to approach. After dropping onto a victim, they may beat their prey against a rock or on the ground to kill it before swallowing it whole.

The birds are monogamous (believed to mate for life) and the name “roller” actually comes from the aerial displays the birds use during mating season. Lilac-breasted rollers will dive from a considerable elevation, and then roll in the air while simultaneously letting out a loud call to attract a partner.

Many of the animals on O’Reilly covers are endangered; all of them are important to the world. To learn more about how you can help, go to animals.oreilly.com.

The cover image is from Braukhaus Lexicon. The cover fonts are URW Typewriter and Guardian Sans. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Dalton Maag’s Ubuntu Mono.