The Life of the Hummingbird

by Alexander F. Skutch, Authur B. Singer (Illustrator)

Here is a completely enchanting book about the most enchanting of birds. On the tiniest of avian bodies, Hummingbirds bear the most glittering plumage and the most elegant adornments. Their beauty, intense activity, and association with brilliant flowers have fascinated birdlovers and naturalists for centuries.

Within these pages, Alexander Skutch and Arthur B. Singer, both world-renowned ornithologists, have combined forces to produce a balanced and exciting account of the life of Hummingbirds--their appearance and structure, where they live, how they fly, what they eat, their relations with flowers, their temperament, how they court and build their nests and rear their young, their enemies and prospects for survival.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Birds

95 pages, Hardcover

First published June 13, 1980

About the author

Doctor Alexander Frank Skutch was a naturalist and writer. He published numerous scientific papers and books about birds and several books on philosophy. He is best remembered for his pioneering work on helpers at the nest. Skutch wrote over 40 books and over 200 papers on ornithology, preferring a descriptive style and eschewing statistics and even banding.

Reviews

[Susanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Older avian books are a mixed bag, so I was delighted to find that the author's words about these birds sounded truly compassionate. Never too scientific or cold. The writing was conversational and clear. It made me smile and even laugh out loud at points. The illustrations are useful and downright cute; they really helped me visualize and understand the facts and abilities of these sometimes less than 2 gram birds.
As it was published in 1980, some information is bound to be outdated and as stated in the book, many statistics about flight and other information was unclear at the time of his writing.
3000000/10, really loved!

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although outdated, the illustrations were superb and I thoroughly enjoyed the style of writing. It wasn't too long to be a book of endless facts or too short to just be a review of things you already knew. It sparked your imagination.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork was beautiful and the narrative just enough detail to be informative but not so much to be dull.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used this book as a reference for a speech I made about hummingbirds. A lot of good and interesting inmformation. Lovely, lovely art work too.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Skutch provides just the right amount of detail, science, and information in this well-written overview of hummingbirds.

[Mrsculpepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

the art was just beautiful! also i learned a lot about hummingbirds.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old school type of bird writing, and interesting for that reason alone, Skutch is new to me. While he writes generally about hummingbirds, it's all over the place in any given paragraph with tropical, neotropical, South American, North American ones. Interesting stuff and nice drawings.