Understanding Bird Behaviour

Peterson Reference Guide To Bird Behavior

A “captivating, informative, and often amusing” look at what birds do and why they do it (Booklist). Both casual and serious bird watchers can take their skills to the next level with this detailed consideration of bird behavior. This book makes it possible to move beyond identifying birds to understanding some of the underpinning and meaning of what birds do, how they do it, and why. Written in an easy-to-understand style, with an abundance of photos illustrating the behaviors, the book shows how flight, molt, migration, feeding, predation, social dynamics, courtship, and nesting shape birds’ actions. Birds are everywhere and easy to observe; this introduction to elements of bird behavior will connect readers more intimately with these remarkable and beguilingly perceptive animals.

The Bird Way

A SUNDAY TIMES NATURE BOOK OF THE YEAR It's flight and egg and feathers and song. It's the demure plumage of a mountain thornbill and the extravagant tail feathers of an Indian paradise flycatcher, the solo song of a superb lyrebird and the perfectly timed duets of canebrake wrens, an osprey's hurtling dive toward the sea, and a long-legged heron's still, patient eyeing of the dark water. There is no single bird way of being. Drawing on personal observations, the latest science, and her bird-related travel around the world, Jennifer Ackerman playfully explores our dramatically shifting understanding of these magnificent animals. 'Jennifer Ackerman knows what she's talking about...Her knack for catching the personalities of different species in gorgeous, playful prose further collapses comfortable barriers between the human and the birdlike' Daily Telegraph 'The real joy of [this] book is its close attention to some of the specialists of the region... Ackerman is alive to the humour at play in field research ' Mark Cocker, Spectator

Understanding Bird Behaviour