US book store Barnes & Noble announced the exclusive launch of Angry Birds Magic Places, which will enable players of Angry Birds on B&N’s Nook Color ebook reader to access a free “Mighty Eagle” character when paying the game in a B&N book store – the Mighty Eagle is normally available as an in-app purchase. It was previously reported that Rovio was planning to add location-based functionality to Angry Birds, and now 700 retail stores will be “the first real-world locations where Angry Birds fans can magically receive in-game rewards and unlockables” – no details were released about a wider rollout of the service.

Barnes & Noble said it will offer “an array of Angry Bird-themed games, toys and merchandise, and in the coming days, free Angry Birds stickers and temporary tattoos” for users.

Since launching an Android-based version of Nook earlier this year, which provides support for apps as well as its ebook content, Barnes & Noble has been aggressively building out its portfolio of titles for the device. Last week it said it had doubled the number of apps available for the device. In May 2011 it said that one million apps had been downloaded for Nook Color.