Review by Choice Review
This excellent book describes wild birds' five senses as well as their emotions and capacity to use geomagnetism during migration. Birkhead (Univ. of Sheffield, UK) is an award-winning author of several books, including The Wisdom of Birds (2008), and coeditor with Michael Brooke of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Ornithology (CH, Mar'92, 29-3893). His well-documented text is a pleasure to read. Chapters include "Seeing," "Hearing," "Touch," "Taste," "Smell," "Magnetic Sense," and "Emotions," which describe various findings and even controversies, especially as regards emotions. His thoughtful preface and postscript are also important, as is the glossary of terms. Birkhead provides an overview of investigations, both historic and current, and discusses how birds (as do humans) use their senses in combination. He employs dramatic examples to illustrate this. Perhaps the most spectacular is the migration of some bar-tailed godwits that fly 11,000 km (ca. 6,800 statute miles) from Alaska to New Zealand for eight days nonstop. Much of the book, appropriately, concerns physiology, but behavior is also a major component, with much relevant history regarding the progress of avian research in these fields. Mammals, fish, and reptiles also come in for some commentary. The author's focus is international. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Academic, professional, and general readers, all levels. H. T. Armistead formerly, Free Library of Philadelphia
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Birkhead (The Wisdom of Birds, 2008) presents an in-depth study of the sensory biology of birds. Drawing on evolutionary science and resisting the temptation of anthropomorphism, he offers careful general analysis of how exactly birds see, hear, taste, and more, then considers an array of different species and how certain senses are more or less significant for each of them, such as penetrating vision for the falcon and a sensitive tongue for the woodpecker. Birkhead is particularly effective in his exploration of birds' magnetic sense and avian emotion, which leads to the issue of animal suffering. Birkhead quotes the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne as well as Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, and by reclaiming forgotten work, such as that of medical illustrator Betsy Bang, who in the late 1950s single-handedly . . . transformed the study of avian olfaction, and highlighting the studies of contemporary scientists, he opens up a wealth of new material to bird-loving readers. Fresh and inquiring, Bird Sense is a gateway title on the inner lives of birds.--Mondor, Colleen Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With clear gusto for his subject, animal behavior expert Birkhead (The Wisdom of Birds) breaks down what it might be like to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell as a bird. Tracing the insights, clever experiments, and surprise contributions that have helped debunk myths about birds' senses, he takes us to Caripe, Venezuela, where a Harvard undergrad discovered that the cave-dwelling guacharo can navigate in total darkness via echolocation, and introduces us to Betsy Bang, the amateur ornithologist who persuaded the scientific community in the 1960s that birds can smell. After walking us through the five familiar senses that birds share with humans, he also shows how they may be able to orient themselves by the earth's magnetic field using magnetite crystals within their beaks or even by seeing the field, the way we might a cloud or a tree. And he considers less tangible feelings, too. Although little is known about birds' emotions, Birkhead makes reasonable behavior-based guesses about what a bird might feel when glimpsing a predator, losing a skirmish with a rival, or reuniting with a mate. The well-organized book takes pains to explain any avian jargon, making for an uncomplicated, entertaining read perfect for birdwatchers and animal enthusiasts. Agent: Felicity Bryan, Felicity Bryan Associates (U.K.). (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This book helps readers understand what it's like to be something else-in this case, a bird. Ornithologist Birkhead (animal behavior & history of science, Univ. of Sheffield, UK; The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology) writes about avian senses, with chapters on seeing, hearing, touch, taste, smell, magnetic sense, and emotions. He illustrates the history of scientific thought regarding birds' senses. Birkhead argues that it is difficult for humans to imagine themselves as birds because birds see a different ultraviolet spectrum, hear at higher frequencies, and somehow sense the earth's magnetic field. Moving among field locations (e.g., New Zealand, Florida, Atlantic islands), he illustrates the abilities of birds and their survival techniques, and, in the postscript, describes how all their senses function together. VERDICT Birkhead provides fascinating information for birders and naturalists, but his story often lacks smooth transitions between topics. His jargon may be unfamiliar to nonbirders, and because the author is British some terminology is different from American usage. Still, birders, naturalists, animal scientists, and students will be interested.-Sally Bickley, Del Mar Coll. Lib., Corpus Christi, TX (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Birkhead (Animal Behavior and the History of Science/Univ. of Sheffield; The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology, 2008, etc.) looks at the adaptive significance of bird behavior. A lifetime spent in ornithological research and old-fashioned bird-watching has convinced the author that "we have consistently underestimated what goes on in a bird's head." He describes how using the latest available tools, neurobiologists have uncovered new aspects of bird perception--e.g., the fact that female birds that see in the ultraviolet range chose mates on the basis of characteristics we can't directly perceive such as plumage markings. Even more fascinating, Birkhead explains that some birds "tend to use their right eye for close-up activities like feeding and the left eye for more distant activities such as scanning for predators." Another unexpected discovery which he hopes may prove relevant to the treatment of neuro-degenerative brain disease in humans is the plasticity of the brains of birds that live in temperate regions. As the days shorten with the approach of winter, the birds' brains shrink; conversely, increasing daylight triggers a hormone release resulting in an increase in brain size. This is correlated to the great mental activity required as new songs are acquired, mating occurs and nests are protected from predators. Another exciting discovery is the evidence of sensitive areas on their tongues and beaks, which enable them to preen in a manner similar to chimpanzee grooming. While Birkhead recognizes the problem of anthropomorphic interpretations of animal behavior, he describes a colleague's observation of birds engaging in an intense 17-minute greeting ceremony after being separated, behavior that suggested a human reunion. He admits to finding it tempting to infer that "birds experience similar pleasurable emotions." An entertaining book guaranteed to bring pleasure to bird-watchers that will also fascinate students contemplating a career in ecology.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
