Bird Sense: What It's Like to Be a Bird

Birkhead, Tim

ISBN 10: 0802779662 / ISBN 13: 9780802779663

Published by Walker & Co, 2012

About this Item

1st edition. 288 pages. 8.75x5.75x1.00 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # 0802779662

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Bird Sense: What It's Like to Be a Bird
• Publisher: Walker & Co
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802779662
• ISBN 13: 9780802779663
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.37 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

Most people would love to be able to fly like a bird, but few of us are aware of the other sensations that make being a bird a gloriously unique experience. What is going on inside the head of a nightingale as it sings, and how does its brain improvise? How do desert birds detect rain hundreds of kilometers away? How do birds navigate by using an innate magnetic compass?

Tracing the history of how our knowledge about birds has grown, particularly through advances in technology over the past fifty years, Bird Sense tells captivating stories about how birds interact with one another and their environment. More advanced testing methods have debunked previously held beliefs, such as female starlings selecting mates based on how symmetrical the male's plumage markings are. (Whereas females can discern the difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical markings, they are not very good at detecting small differences among symmetrically marked males!)

Never before has there been a popular book about how intricately bird behavior is shaped by birds' senses. A lifetime spent studying birds has provided Tim Birkhead with a wealth of fieldwork experiences, insights, and a unique understanding of birds, all firmly grounded in science. No one who reads Bird Sense can fail to be dazzled by it.

About the Author

Tim Birkhead teaches animal behavior and the history of science at the University of Sheffield. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of London and the author of several books, including The Wisdom of Birds; The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Ornithology, which won the McColvin Medal; and The Red Canary, which won the Consul Cremer Prize. He lives in Sheffield, England.