Tim Birkhead

Since the dawn of human history, birds have stirred our imagination, inspiring and challenging our ideas about science, faith, art and philosophy. Looking to the skies above, we have variously worshipped them as gods, hunted them for sustenance, adorned ourselves in their feathers, studied their wings to engineer flight and, more recently, attempted to protect them. In Birds and Us, award-winning writer and ornithologist Tim Birkhead takes us on an epic and dazzling journey through this mutual history with birds, from the ibises mummified and deified by Ancient Egyptians to Renaissance experiments on woodpecker anatomy, from Victorian obsessions with egg collecting to the present fight to save endangered species and restore their habitats. Weaving in stories from his own life as a scientist, including far-flung expeditions to wondrous Neolithic caves in Spain and the bustling guillemot colonies of the Faroe Islands, this rich and fascinating book is the culmination of a lifetime's research and unforgettably shows how birds shaped us, and how we have shaped them.

A 12,000 Year History, from Cave Art to Conservation

Birds and Us

Describes the senses that enable birds to interpret their environments and interact with one another, explaining how bird senses compare with those of humans and how they are able to detect distant and extraordinary elements.

What It's Like to Be a Bird

Bird Sense

How are eggs of different shapes made, and why are they the shape they are? When does the shell of an egg harden? Why do some eggs contain two yolks? How are the colours and patterns of an eggshell created, and why do they vary? And which end of an egg is laid first - the blunt end or the pointy end?These are just some of the questions 'A Bird's Egg' answers, as the journey of a bird's egg from creation and fertilisation to its eventual hatching is examined, with current scientific knowledge placed within an historical context. Beginning with an examination of the stunning eggs of the guillemot, each of which is so variable in pattern and colour that no two are ever the same, acclaimed ornithologist Tim Birkhead then looks at the eggs of hens, cuckoos and many other birds, revealing weird and wonderful facts about these miracles of nature

Inside (and Outside) a Bird’s Egg

The Most Perfect Thing


The life, death and afterlife of one of the true icons of extinction, the Great Auk

The great auk was a flightless, goose-sized bird superbly adapted for life at sea. Fat, flush with feathers and easy to capture, the birds were in trouble whenever sailors visited their once-remote breeding colonies. Places like Funk Island, off north-east Newfoundland, became scenes of unimaginable slaughter, with birds killed in their millions. By 1800 the auks of Funk Island were gone. A scramble by private collectors for specimens of the final few birds then began, a bloody, unthinking destruction of one of the world's most extraordinary species.

But their extinction in 1844 wasn't the end of the great auk story, as the bird went on to have a remarkable afterlife; skins, eggs and skeletons became the focus for dozens of collectors in a story of pathological craving and unscrupulous dealings that goes on to this day.

In a book rich with insight and packed with tales of birds and of people, Tim Birkhead reveals previously unimagined aspects of the bird's life before humanity, its death on the killing shores of the North Atlantic, and the unrelenting subsequent quest for its remains.

The great auk remains a symbol of human folly and the necessity of conservation. This book tells its story.

Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife

The Great Aulk

For thousands of years people have been fascinated by birds, and today that fascination is still growing. In 2007 bird-watching is one of the most popular pastimes, not just in Britain, but throughout the world, and the range of interest runs from the specialist to the beginner. In The Wisdom of Birds, Birkhead takes the reader on a journey that not only tells us about the extraordinary lives of birds - from conception and egg, through territory and song, to migration and fully flegded breeder - but also shows how, over centuries, we have overcome superstition and untested 'truths' to know what we know, and how recent some of that knowledge is. It was only in the nineteenth century that the ancient belief that swallows hibernated under water (!) finally gave way to general exxpetance of the facts of migration. In the same century of dazzling experimental science, even Darwin chose not to dwell on the sexual promiscuity of female birds to spare the blushes of his daughter, who was helping to correct the proofs of The Descent of Man. Conceived for a general audience, and illustrated throughout with more than 100 exquisitely beautiful illustrations, many of them rarely, if ever, seen before, The Wisdom of Birds is a book full of stories, knowledge and unexpected revelations. 'One of the most entertaining, informative and enthusiastic accounts of the history of ornithology; and of the many different ways in which we have observed, studied and wondered about birds.'-Daily Telegraph.

An Illustrated History of Ornithology

The Wisdom of Birds

From award-winning author and ornithologist Tim Birkhead, a sweeping history of the long and close relationship between birds and humans Since the dawn of human history, birds have stirred our imagination, inspiring and challenging our ideas about science, faith, art, and philosophy. We have worshipped birds as gods, hunted them for sustenance, adorned ourselves with their feathers, studied their wings to engineer flight, and, more recently, attempted to protect them. In Birds and Us, award-winning writer and ornithologist Tim Birkhead takes us on a dazzling epic journey through our mutual history with birds, from the ibises mummified and deified by Ancient Egyptians to the Renaissance fascination with woodpecker anatomy—and from the Victorian obsession with egg collecting to today’s fight to save endangered species and restore their habitats. Spanning continents and millennia, Birds and Us chronicles the beginnings of a written history of birds in ancient Greece and Rome, the obsession with falconry in the Middle Ages, and the development of ornithological science. Moving to the twentieth century, the book tells the story of the emergence of birdwatching and the field study of birds, and how they triggered an extraordinary flowering of knowledge and empathy for birds, eventually leading to today’s massive worldwide interest in birds—and the realization of the urgent need to save them. Weaving in stories from Birkhead’s life as scientist, including far-flung expeditions to wondrous Neolithic caves in Spain and the bustling guillemot colonies of the Faroe Islands, this rich and fascinating book is an unforgettable account of how birds have shaped us, and how we have shaped them.

A 12,000-Year History from Cave Art to Conservation

What is it like to be a swift, flying at over one hundred kilometres an hour? Or a kiwi, plodding flightlessly among the humid undergrowth in the pitch dark of a New Zealand night? And what is going on inside the head of a nightingale as it sings, and how does its brain improvise? Bird Sense addresses questions like these and many more, by describing the senses of birds that enable them to interpret their environment and to interact with each other. Our affinity for birds is often said to be the result of shared senses--vision and hearing--but how exactly do their senses compare with our own? And what about a bird's sense of taste, or smell, or touch, or the ability to detect the earth's magnetic field? Or the extraordinary ability of desert birds to detect rain hundreds of kilometres away--how do they do it? Bird Sense is based on a conviction that we have consistently underestimated what goes on in a bird's head. Our understanding of bird behaviour is simultaneously informed and constrained by the way we watch and study them. By drawing attention to the way these frameworks both facilitate and inhibit discovery, Birkhead identifies ways we can escape from them to explore new horizons in bird behaviour. There has never been a popular book about the senses of birds. No one has previously looked at how birds interpret the world or the way the behaviour of birds is shaped by all their senses. A lifetime spent studying birds has provided Tim Birkhead with a wealth of observation and a unique understanding of birds and their behaviour that is firmly grounded in science.

'I think that, if required on pain of death to name instantly the most perfect thing in the universe, I should risk my fate on a bird's egg' Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1862 How are eggs of different shapes made, and why are they the shape they are? When does the shell of an egg harden? Why do some eggs contain two yolks? How are the colours and patterns of an eggshell created, and why do they vary? And which end of an egg is laid first – the blunt end or the pointy end? These are just some of the questions A Bird's Egg answers, as the journey of a bird's egg from creation and fertilisation to its eventual hatching is examined, with current scientific knowledge placed within an historical context. Beginning with an examination of the stunning eggs of the guillemot, each of which is so variable in pattern and colour that no two are ever the same, acclaimed ornithologist Tim Birkhead then looks at the eggs of hens, cuckoos and many other birds, revealing weird and wonderful facts about these miracles of nature. Woven around and supporting these facts are extraordinary stories of the individuals who from as far back as Ancient Egypt have been fixated on the study and collection of eggs, not always to the benefit of their conservation. Firmly grounded in science and enriched by a wealth of observation drawn from a lifetime spent studying birds,A Bird's Egg is an illuminating and engaging exploration of the science behind eggs and the history of man's obsession with them.

The creation of Dolly the sheep in the 1990s was for many people the start of a new era: the age of genetically modified animals. However, the idea was not new for in the 1920s an amateur scientist, Hans Duncker, decided to genetically engineer a red canary. Though his experiments failed, they paved the way for others to succeed when it was recognised that the canary needed to be both a product of nature and nurture. This highly original narrative, of huge contemporary relevance, reveals how the obsession with turning the wild canary from green to red heralded the exciting but controversial developments in genetic manipulation.

The Story of the First Genetically Engineered Animal

The Red Canary

Magpies are unmistakeable in their appearance, voice and extrovert, arrogant manner. While their persecution at the hands of gamekeepers over the last hundred years has made them wary and difficult to approach, a number of recent field studies, both in Europe and North America, have successfully revealed the intricacies of the magpie way of life. Two species of magpie feature in this book, the Black-billed Magpie, familiar to most Europeans, which occurs throughout much of the northern hemisphere, and the Yellow-billed Magpie, which is confined to California. Tim Birkhead has studied both species, and has produced a fascinating account of their ecology and behaviour. Many of the results from his ten-year study of magpies in northern England are published here for the first time. Particularly revealing however is his comparison of the two species and of their different races. Magpies occur in a wide range of habitats, including English farmland, the deserts of North America, the mountains of Saudi Arabia and the windswept plateaus of Tibet. As this book explains, magpies are able to exploit this diversity of habitats largely through their remarkably flexible social behaviour. The Magpies covers all aspects of their lives, including their marital relationships, food hoarding behaviour, longevity and survival, nesting behaviour, breeding success and their controversial relationship with man. The text is supported by numerous photographs, diagrams and tables, and superb illustrations by David Quinn. Illustrated by David Quinn

The Magpies: The Ecology and Behaviour of Black-Billed and Yellow-Billed Magpies

From the author of Bird Sense and The Most Perfect Thing, a biography of Francis Willughby, the first ornithologist Francis Willughby lived and thrived in the midst of the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. Along with his Cambridge tutor John Ray, Willughby was determined to overhaul the whole of natural history and impose order on its complexity. It was exhilarating, exacting and exhausting work. Yet before Willughby and Ray could complete their monumental encyclopaedia of birds, Ornithology, Willughby died. In the centuries since, Ray's reputation has grown, obscuring that of his collaborator. Now, for the first time, Willughby's own story and genius are given the attention they deserve. Tim Birkhead celebrates how Willughby's endeavours set a standard for the way birds and natural history should be studied. Rich with glorious detail, The Wonderful Mr Willughby is a fascinating insight into a thrilling period of scientific history and a lively biography of a man who lived at its heart.

The First True Ornithologist

The Wonderful Mr Willughby

Préface d'Allain Bougrain Dubourg Pourquoi les flamants roses ne se perdent-ils jamais au cours de leur migration ? Comment un merle repère-t-il un ver caché dans la terre ? Comment un guillemot adulte reconnaît-il son petit au milieu de la cacophonie des milliers d’individus de la colonie ? Contrairement à bien des idées reçues, les oiseaux bénéficient d’une large palette de perceptions sensorielles : ils disposent non seulement de sens qui nous sont familiers – la vue, l’ouïe, l’odorat, le toucher, le goût – mais aussi du sens magnétique et du sens de l’émotion. Tout en décryptant les données scientifiques pour les rendre intelligibles, l’auteur nous fait découvrir les mécanismes sous-jacents à ces perceptions : nerfs, hormones, régulations diverses... À travers de très nombreux exemples amusants ou étonnants, et sans verser dans un anthropomorphisme facile, Tim Birkhead nous amène à mieux comprendre comment les oiseaux se représentent le monde. Autant de leçons pour réfléchir à la façon dont nous-mêmes appréhendons notre univers... Tim Birkhead est un ornithologue passionné, professeur à l’université de Sheffield (Angleterre) en comportement animal et en histoire des sciences. Ses recherches sur les oiseaux ont donné lieu à de nombreux articles scientifiques et à plusieurs ouvrages. Savant éclectique, il aime aujourd’hui à partager ses connaissances auprès d’un public non spécialiste.

L'Oiseau et ses sens

Wie es ist ein Vogel zu sein – ein bahnbrechender Blick auf die Sinneswelt der Vögel Das Buch des britischen Ornithologen Tim Birkhead hat die englische Leserwelt im Sturm erobert –und begeistert nun auch das deutschsprachige Publikum. Fliegen wie ein Vogel – das ist für viele Menschen ein Traum. Doch nur wenige von uns sind sich der anderen Fähigkeiten und Sinnesleistungen bewusst, die das Vogelsein zu einer großartigen und ganz besonderen Erfahrung machen. Wie ist es, ein Flamingo zu sein, der den unsichtbaren Regen fühlt, welcher Hunderte von Kilometern entfernt niedergeht? Oder ein Kiwi, der in einer stockfinsteren neuseeländischen Nacht durch das feuchte Unterholz stapft? Was empfindet ein Tölpel, der nach langer winterlicher Trennung seinen Partner wiedertrifft? Und wie gelingt es Zugvögeln, das Erdmagnetfeld wahrzunehmen? Die Sinne der Vögel zeichnet historisch nach, wie unser Wissen über Vögel vor allem durch technische Fortschritte im Lauf der letzten 50 Jahre gewachsen ist. Das Buch erzählt faszinierende Geschichten darüber, wie Vögel ihre Sinne – Gesichts-, Hör-, Geruchs-, Geschmacks-, Tast- und Magnetsinn – gebrauchen, um ihre Umwelt zu interpretieren und miteinander zu interagieren. Moderne Testverfahren haben frühere Überzeugungen als falsch entlarvt, beispielsweise den Glauben, dass Vögel einen schlecht entwickelten Geruchssinn haben. Dennoch unterschätzen wir noch immer, was im Kopf eines Vogels vor sich geht – vor allem deshalb, weil die Art und Weise, wie wir sie beobachten und studieren, unser Verständnis gleichzeitig voranbringt und einschränkt. Indem dieses Buch deutlich macht, wie unsere eigenen Sinne neue Erkenntnisse sowohl fördern als auch hemmen, zeigt es Wege auf, das Verhalten von Vögeln besser zu verstehen. Nie zuvor hat ein populäres Sachbuch so klar dargelegt, wie grundlegend das Verhalten von Vögeln von ihren Sinnen geprägt wird. Dank seiner lebenslangen wissenschaftlichen Beschäftigung mit diesen Tieren verfügt Tim Birkhead über einen umfangreichen Schatz an Beobachtungen, der ihm erlaubt, Vögel und ihr Verhalten zu deuten und zu verstehen. Niemand, der dieses faszinierende und wunderbar illustrierte Buch liest, wird davon unberührt bleiben.

Mit Zeichnungen von Katrina van Grouw

Die Sinne der Vögel oder Wie es ist, ein Vogel zu sein

Wie es ist ein Vogel zu sein – ein bahnbrechender Blick auf die Sinneswelt der Vögel Das Buch des britischen Ornithologen Tim Birkhead hat die englische Leserwelt im Sturm erobert –und begeistert nun auch das deutschsprachige Publikum. Fliegen wie ein Vogel – das ist für viele Menschen ein Traum. Doch nur wenige von uns sind sich der anderen Fähigkeiten und Sinnesleistungen bewusst, die das Vogelsein zu einer großartigen und ganz besonderen Erfahrung machen. Wie ist es, ein Flamingo zu sein, der den unsichtbaren Regen fühlt, welcher Hunderte von Kilometern entfernt niedergeht? Oder ein Kiwi, der in einer stockfinsteren neuseeländischen Nacht durch das feuchte Unterholz stapft? Was empfindet ein Tölpel, der nach langer winterlicher Trennung seinen Partner wiedertrifft? Und wie gelingt es Zugvögeln, das Erdmagnetfeld wahrzunehmen? Die Sinne der Vögel zeichnet historisch nach, wie unser Wissen über Vögel vor allem durch technische Fortschritte im Lauf der letzten 50 Jahre gewachsen ist. Das Buch erzählt faszinierende Geschichten darüber, wie Vögel ihre Sinne – Gesichts-, Hör-, Geruchs-, Geschmacks-, Tast- und Magnetsinn – gebrauchen, um ihre Umwelt zu interpretieren und miteinander zu interagieren. Moderne Testverfahren haben frühere Überzeugungen als falsch entlarvt, beispielsweise den Glauben, dass Vögel einen schlecht entwickelten Geruchssinn haben. Dennoch unterschätzen wir noch immer, was im Kopf eines Vogels vor sich geht – vor allem deshalb, weil die Art und Weise, wie wir sie beobachten und studieren, unser Verständnis gleichzeitig voranbringt und einschränkt. Indem dieses Buch deutlich macht, wie unsere eigenen Sinne neue Erkenntnisse sowohl fördern als auch hemmen, zeigt es Wege auf, das Verhalten von Vögeln besser zu verstehen. Nie zuvor hat ein populäres Sachbuch so klar dar gelegt, wie grundlegend das Verhalten von Vögeln von ihren Sinnen geprägt wird. Dank seiner lebenslangen wissenschaftlichen Beschäftigung mit diesen Tieren verfügt Tim Birkhead über einen umfangreichen Schatz an Beobachtungen, der ihm erlaubt, Vögel und ihr Verhalten zu deuten und zu verstehen. Niemand, der dieses faszinierende und wunderbar illustrierte Buch liest, wird davon unberührt bleiben.

Francis Willughby transformed the study of natural history in the mid-1600s. Using previously unexplored archives and new discoveries we show that Willughby was a polymath, a true virtuoso, who made original contributions to many different fields of endeavor.

Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby FRS (1635-1672)

Bob Montgomerie

Jo Wimpenny

Ten Thousand Birds provides a thoroughly engaging and authoritative history of modern ornithology, tracing how the study of birds has been shaped by a succession of visionary and often-controversial personalities, and by the unique social and scientific contexts in which these extraordinary individuals worked. This beautifully illustrated book opens in the middle of the nineteenth century when ornithology was a museum-based discipline focused almost exclusively on the anatomy, taxonomy, and classification of dead birds. It describes how in the early 1900s pioneering individuals such as Erwin Stresemann, Ernst Mayr, and Julian Huxley recognized the importance of studying live birds in the field, and how this shift thrust ornithology into the mainstream of the biological sciences. The book tells the stories of eccentrics like Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, a pathological liar who stole specimens from museums and quite likely murdered his wife, and describes the breathtaking insights and discoveries of ambitious and influential figures such as David Lack, Niko Tinbergen, Robert MacArthur, and others who through their studies of birds transformed entire fields of biology. Ten Thousand Birds brings this history vividly to life through the work and achievements of those who advanced the field. Drawing on a wealth of archival material and in-depth interviews, this fascinating book reveals how research on birds has contributed more to our understanding of animal biology than the study of just about any other group of organisms.

Ornithology since Darwin

Ten Thousand Birds

Birkhead reveals a world in which males and females vie with each other as they strive to maximize their reproductive success. Color illustrations.

Tim Birkhead

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