Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs
How the Struggle for Survival Has Shaped Birds and Their Behavior
5 of 5 copies available
When we see a bird flying from branch to branch happily chirping, it is easy to imagine they lead a simple life of freedom, flight, and feathers. What we don’t see is the arduous, life-threatening challenges they face at every moment. Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs guides the reader through the myriad, and often almost miraculous, things that birds do every day to merely stay alive. Like the goldfinch, which manages extreme weather changes by doubling the density of its plumage in winter. Or urban birds, which navigate traffic through a keen understanding of posted speed limits. In engaging and accessible prose, Roger Lederer shares how and why birds use their sensory abilities to see ultraviolet, find food without seeing it, fly thousands of miles without stopping, change their songs in noisy cities, navigate by smell, and much more.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 22, 2016 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781604697520
- File size: 16163 KB
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781604697520
- File size: 16163 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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May 15, 2016
This thoughtful, well-researched title comprises seven beefy chapters on migration and navigation, flying skills, foraging behavior, survival strategies (including adaptations to widely varying weather and climate conditions), sensory abilities, and community life, and the effects of human influences. Lederer's (emeritus, biological sciences, California State Univ.; Amazing Birds: A Treasury of Facts and Trivia About the Avian World) review of world literature is impressive, but his compelling, wide-ranging text would be more valuable if cross-referenced to relevant citations in the extensive bibliography. Ninety-four solid black-and-white illustrations showcase many of the birds, habitats, and phenomena so thoroughly described in his narrative, such as the bar-tailed godwit, many of which fly nonstop for seven days from Alaska to New Zealand (6,600 miles), and bar-headed geese, which migrate above the Himalayas. Lederer does a superlative job of incorporating contemporary issues: climate change; urbanization; noise, light, and other pollutions; feral cat predation, glass collision, and other hazards and developing changes. This is an exceptional overview of the life, adaptations, and impressive skill sets of wild birds. VERDICT Highly recommended for all interested in natural history and the impact of humans on the natural world.--Henry T. Armistead, formerly with Free Lib. of Philadelphia
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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