David Attenborough
The Life of Birds (1998)
Author: David Attenborough
Genre: Nonfiction (Science/Nature)
Book Summary:
The author deftly explores the history of birds and how they have come to be in the opening chapters. His research is through and the reader ought to be thankful that he has taken the time to extract only the most fascinating, remarkable and bizaree behaviours of birds. After, a thorough, but never tiresome, look at birds and how they lived and evolved long ago, the story takes on a narrative form as each new chapter examines a different stage of a bird's life: mating, the egg, nesting, flying and eating are all chapters from the book that creates a kind of logical procession. Sprinkled throughout every page are astounding facts(Did you know the Vogelkop gardener, which is the size of a common sparrow, creates something called a bower, or hut to woo their potential mates, and in some cases, the bowers are big enough to fit two grown men inside? Or that the Diederik cuckoos parasitise red bishop birds, white-winged widow birds, and some weaver birds by laying similarly colored eggs in their nests, and then these other birds actually raise the cuckoo's chicks, thinking that they are their own?) the vivid pictures(you HAVE to see the picture of the Black Heron fishing in Africa or the male lyrebird in display), and superbly described detail (Attenbrough observes, "The goldfinch, one of the smaller member of finches, has evolved a bill with longer more slender proportions than any of its cousins, so that it can perch on a teasel head and reach between the spines to take the seed without risk of spiking its head or its eyes.") The book is nicely cocnluded with a glimpse into humanity's effect on birds and how humans may take measures to ensure that birds can go on living with us, and us with them.
Geographical Setting: All over the world...from Antarctica to Africa.
Time Period: From 150 million years ago to the present.
Appeal Characteristics:
The clear, fluid writing of Attenborough will defintely attract readers and his lack of scientific jargon is an added plus, as well. Anyone interested in birds, or nature in general, will find fascinating anecdote after anecdote as this book is packed with interesting insights into the natural world. The level of detail is astounding and Attenborough's expertise on the subject is very apparent and the reader will surely go away from this book with more knowledge and a new appreciation for birds. Also, the beautiful color pictures are breathtaking and fascinating and plentiful.
Read-alikes:David Quammen's The Song of the Dodo is a fascinating look at the history and extinction of a bird that is mentioned in Attenborough's book. Also, Quammen's Monsters of God looks at man-eating predators and their history and man's psychology associated with these animals....not a 'bird' book necessarily, but an engaging nature read by an accomplished author. Two videos The March of Penguins and
Winged Migration have received ample attention in the documentary world and they would be excellent viewing for the bird-lover. Finally, if one wanted to read more of Attenborough's works, The Life of Mammalsfollows the same format, only it's all about mamals.
Red Flags: Some violence, some sex, some murder, some graphic images....no drugs.
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