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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
White Feathers, or the one in which Bernd Heinrich does his best impression of a trickster god by continuously messing with the poor swallows, who are just trying their best, by first giving them feathers and then taking them away to see what happens. The more I know about the scientific method, the more I understand why alien abduction movies are like that.
Regardless of how rude this was to the birds, it was absolutely fascinating to see how they behave, and how their commitment to their partners, their nest and the chicks goes through stages.
Regardless of how rude this was to the birds, it was absolutely fascinating to see how they behave, and how their commitment to their partners, their nest and the chicks goes through stages.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
This book was essentially a play-by-play of what went down at the author’s bird boxes over several years. The titular question of why tree swallows put white feathers in their nests was only hypothesized about in the epilogue, and the actual content of the book doesn’t do anything to support or refute his theory that the feathers are meant to indicate to other birds that a nesting cavity is occupied.
I suppose the target audience is people who enjoy being cornered at parties by the most obsessive kind of birder, or are jealous of those who have unbelievable amounts of time to sit outside interacting with birds and taking notes on their behavior.
This would be a 2 star review, but the author mentions that his birthday is April 19th, which also happens to be my birthday.
Only recommended if you’re obsessed with bird behavior.
I suppose the target audience is people who enjoy being cornered at parties by the most obsessive kind of birder, or are jealous of those who have unbelievable amounts of time to sit outside interacting with birds and taking notes on their behavior.
This would be a 2 star review, but the author mentions that his birthday is April 19th, which also happens to be my birthday.
Only recommended if you’re obsessed with bird behavior.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
I have read some general interest bird books and have enjoyed them. This title, however, was my first foray into a highly-detailed look at one specific bird species, containing the work of a skilled and highly-disciplined naturalist bird watcher. There is a lot of fascinating information on the annual nest-building, mating, and young-raising habits of tree swallows.
Over the course of several spring mating seasons, the author observes intently the nest boxes in his yard and devotes an astonishing amount of time collecting data in a detailed fashion. Much of the information was less impressive to me than the amazing fortitude and incredible attention Heinrich gave to his task of understanding the behavior of swallows. As much as I enjoyed the activities of the swallows recounted here, I found myself frequently marveling at the discipline of the observer and the detail shared in the explanation of the birds' behaviors.
The central draw for me is the unusual and fascinating interest the swallows express in the lining their nest with feathers. The author cleverly conducted various experiments with feathers of various colors, shapes, and sizes. Sometimes he would lay them on the ground and observe which ones were chosen and used, sometimes he would remove feathers from a nest and watch to see which ones were replace, and sometimes he would toss them in the air and watch swallows catch them in flight or even nearly pluck them from his fingers.
If you have any interest at all in swallows particularly, or even birds in general, this book will be particularly enjoyable and potentially fascinating.
Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley.com for the electronic advance review copy.
Over the course of several spring mating seasons, the author observes intently the nest boxes in his yard and devotes an astonishing amount of time collecting data in a detailed fashion. Much of the information was less impressive to me than the amazing fortitude and incredible attention Heinrich gave to his task of understanding the behavior of swallows. As much as I enjoyed the activities of the swallows recounted here, I found myself frequently marveling at the discipline of the observer and the detail shared in the explanation of the birds' behaviors.
The central draw for me is the unusual and fascinating interest the swallows express in the lining their nest with feathers. The author cleverly conducted various experiments with feathers of various colors, shapes, and sizes. Sometimes he would lay them on the ground and observe which ones were chosen and used, sometimes he would remove feathers from a nest and watch to see which ones were replace, and sometimes he would toss them in the air and watch swallows catch them in flight or even nearly pluck them from his fingers.
If you have any interest at all in swallows particularly, or even birds in general, this book will be particularly enjoyable and potentially fascinating.
Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley.com for the electronic advance review copy.
A friend of mine is a birdwatcher. I once sat with her on a rock in the neighbourhood woods on a spring day, holding our binoculars upwards, looking for birds and listening to their chirpings. She taught me how to differentiate birds by their appearance and songs, but I was a bad student. Neverness, I find birdwatching therapeutic.
Audiobooking White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows is like listening to an expert's birdwatching. Bernd Heinrich observed, documented and analyzed the nesting habits of tree swallows in a clearing in Maine woods between 2012 to 2018.
Audiobooking White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows is like listening to an expert's birdwatching. Bernd Heinrich observed, documented and analyzed the nesting habits of tree swallows in a clearing in Maine woods between 2012 to 2018.