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What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World
A guide to listening to songbirds—the key to observing nature in a whole new way. Includes audio of bird vocalizations!
A lifelong birder, tracker, and naturalist, Jon Young is guided in his work and teaching by three basic the robin, junco, and other songbirds know everything important about their environment, be it backyard or forest; by tuning in to their vocalizations and behavior, we can acquire much of this wisdom for our own pleasure and benefit; and the birds’ companion calls and warning alarms are just as important as their songs.
Birds are the sentries of—and our key to understanding the world beyond our front door. By learning to remain quiet and avoid disturbing the environment, we can heed the birds and acquire an amazing new level of awareness. We are welcome in their habitat. The birds don’t fly away. The larger animals don’t race off. No longer hapless intruders, we now find, see, and engage the deer, the fox, the red-shouldered hawk—even the elusive, whispering wren.
Deep bird language is an ancient discipline, perfected by Native peoples the world over. Finally, science is catching up. This groundbreaking book unites the indigenous knowledge, the latest research, and the author’s own experience of four decades in the field to lead us toward a deeper connection to the animals and, in the end, ourselves.
A lifelong birder, tracker, and naturalist, Jon Young is guided in his work and teaching by three basic the robin, junco, and other songbirds know everything important about their environment, be it backyard or forest; by tuning in to their vocalizations and behavior, we can acquire much of this wisdom for our own pleasure and benefit; and the birds’ companion calls and warning alarms are just as important as their songs.
Birds are the sentries of—and our key to understanding the world beyond our front door. By learning to remain quiet and avoid disturbing the environment, we can heed the birds and acquire an amazing new level of awareness. We are welcome in their habitat. The birds don’t fly away. The larger animals don’t race off. No longer hapless intruders, we now find, see, and engage the deer, the fox, the red-shouldered hawk—even the elusive, whispering wren.
Deep bird language is an ancient discipline, perfected by Native peoples the world over. Finally, science is catching up. This groundbreaking book unites the indigenous knowledge, the latest research, and the author’s own experience of four decades in the field to lead us toward a deeper connection to the animals and, in the end, ourselves.
277 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
812 people are currently reading
5703 people want to read
About the author
Jon Young
19 books66 followersJon Young is on the leading edge of animal tracking and understanding bird language. He has been exploring animal communication for 35 years and was mentored by the famous tracker Tom Brown Jr. as well as a tribal elder in Africa. Jon developed the 8 Shields Cultural Mentoring System, a model that has influenced more than 100 nature programs in communities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe and is also creator of the Shikari Method for data collection, which is used by the USFWS. Jon has given over 1,000 public presentations and has mentored numerous students of his own. Married, with six children, Jon lives in Santa Cruz, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 235 reviews
January 3, 2014
My favorite nature book discovery of 2013. Since I am a naturalist by both vocation and avocation I read and even write books about nature.
This past year is no except and the book that left the biggest impression, actually forcing me to look at the birdlife around me in an entirely new way is Jon Young's What the Robin Knows (2012).
Before this recent work, like many or most birders, I'd look past the ordinary cardinals, wrens, jays, robins, chickadees, towhees hoping to find something more exotic like a kinglet or warbler flitting about the treetops.
Since this book, not only do I watch birds, but I WATCH birds. And just because they live in our neighborhoods doesn't mean they are uninteresting. Their day-to-day lives are ruled by two motivators: 1. Find food, 2. Not be eaten. And all of their daily behavior, vocalizations and interactions with their mates and other species are governed by those two imperatives. No movement is purposeless. Awareness is survival.
On top of that, they have to produce clutches of crying helpless vulnerable nestlings in a world full of predators that eat crying helpless vulnerable nestlings. Even high above the ground, Cooper's hawks are any parents nightmare.
Now, if I hear an American robin call "tuk, tuk, tuk," I look around to see what's got it on edge.
For the birds in your backyard, every day is a life and death struggle to live another day. Who needs TV with all this drama just outside their window.
This past year is no except and the book that left the biggest impression, actually forcing me to look at the birdlife around me in an entirely new way is Jon Young's What the Robin Knows (2012).
Before this recent work, like many or most birders, I'd look past the ordinary cardinals, wrens, jays, robins, chickadees, towhees hoping to find something more exotic like a kinglet or warbler flitting about the treetops.
Since this book, not only do I watch birds, but I WATCH birds. And just because they live in our neighborhoods doesn't mean they are uninteresting. Their day-to-day lives are ruled by two motivators: 1. Find food, 2. Not be eaten. And all of their daily behavior, vocalizations and interactions with their mates and other species are governed by those two imperatives. No movement is purposeless. Awareness is survival.
On top of that, they have to produce clutches of crying helpless vulnerable nestlings in a world full of predators that eat crying helpless vulnerable nestlings. Even high above the ground, Cooper's hawks are any parents nightmare.
Now, if I hear an American robin call "tuk, tuk, tuk," I look around to see what's got it on edge.
For the birds in your backyard, every day is a life and death struggle to live another day. Who needs TV with all this drama just outside their window.
July 20, 2015
What the Robin Knows is a work of (more or less) nonfiction, written by a person who teaches tracking and wildland skills. His basic message is that to understand the natural world, you need to become a savvy observer of bird behavior and bird calls—because birds are the early warning system for all other wildlife.
This is good advice, and the book has some very interesting information about specific species and about the ways animals perceive and react to hazards (especially humans) in their environment. I liked the last chapter quite a lot: it talks about the impact of humans in animal habitat and ways to minimize the harm we do in animals’ lives. There is supposed to be an accompanying audio component to the book; many reviewers have complained that this component did not work for them, so I have not attempted to access it. I could easily understand the book’s arguments without listening to the animal calls.
My three-star rating is probably more of a two-and-a-half because of a few concerns. First of all, the material could be presented in a long article or two, or a paperback booklet; it has been padded with a lot of repetition to draw it out into a book. My greater concern, though, is that I believed what the author was telling me more often when I was unfamiliar with the species he was talking about. The more I personally knew about the species (I am a longtime birder and backyard wildlife observer), the less credible I found his assertions.
And there were odd gaps and errors. He speaks a lot about the spotted towhee, but he lives in an area where California towhees are far more common and does not bring them up. He speaks of Cooper's hawks flying through wooded areas and catching songbirds who are trying to hide in the leaves, but my observations of Cooper's hawk hunting behavior are that they prefer an open space near trees where they can catch birds in flight. And he seems bewildered by the behavior of mockingbirds in flying up briefly from a perch in what he calls a “dance”—but I thought it was widely understood that the male mockingbird does this in order to distract potential predators away from the location of his mate and his nest. This is an expert?
I don’t want to take away from what is good in this book; it does provide insight into the mind-set of wild animals in nature, and suggests some important things for humans to consider when entering other creatures’ worlds. But I fear many of the particulars must be taken with a grain of salt.
This is good advice, and the book has some very interesting information about specific species and about the ways animals perceive and react to hazards (especially humans) in their environment. I liked the last chapter quite a lot: it talks about the impact of humans in animal habitat and ways to minimize the harm we do in animals’ lives. There is supposed to be an accompanying audio component to the book; many reviewers have complained that this component did not work for them, so I have not attempted to access it. I could easily understand the book’s arguments without listening to the animal calls.
My three-star rating is probably more of a two-and-a-half because of a few concerns. First of all, the material could be presented in a long article or two, or a paperback booklet; it has been padded with a lot of repetition to draw it out into a book. My greater concern, though, is that I believed what the author was telling me more often when I was unfamiliar with the species he was talking about. The more I personally knew about the species (I am a longtime birder and backyard wildlife observer), the less credible I found his assertions.
And there were odd gaps and errors. He speaks a lot about the spotted towhee, but he lives in an area where California towhees are far more common and does not bring them up. He speaks of Cooper's hawks flying through wooded areas and catching songbirds who are trying to hide in the leaves, but my observations of Cooper's hawk hunting behavior are that they prefer an open space near trees where they can catch birds in flight. And he seems bewildered by the behavior of mockingbirds in flying up briefly from a perch in what he calls a “dance”—but I thought it was widely understood that the male mockingbird does this in order to distract potential predators away from the location of his mate and his nest. This is an expert?
I don’t want to take away from what is good in this book; it does provide insight into the mind-set of wild animals in nature, and suggests some important things for humans to consider when entering other creatures’ worlds. But I fear many of the particulars must be taken with a grain of salt.
August 18, 2012
A fascinating and practical tool for understanding the natural world - whether urban, suburban or rural - through paying close attention to bird vocalizations and behavior. It's a way to put oneself into harmony with nature through knowledge and respectful practice, and thus to be able to see more wildlife. It is also a plea to get in touch with a more primordial aspect of our consciousness that modern life has pushed aside, the aspect that connects us with our environment and our own depths. He quotes a San Bushman: "If one day I see a small bird and recognize it, a thin thread will form between me and that bird. If I just see it but don't really recognize it, there is no thin thread. If I go out tomorrow and see and really recognize that same individual small bird again, the thread will thicken and strengthen just a little. Every time I see and recognize that bird, the thread strengthens. Eventually it will grow into a string, then a cord, and finally a rope. This is what it means to be a Bushman. We make ropes with all aspects of the creation in this way."
This focused attention and awareness of surrounding nature is a form of meditation. The author concludes: "When we train ourselves to listen to the birds with every synapse of our brains (or so it may seem), when we 'lose our mind' and 'come to our senses' in the fullest possible way, the chattering, texting, e-mailing, twittering mind will eventually quiet down and almost silence itself. This is a sacred and connected silence, and within this zone we can choose to turn on the conscious throughts or leave them off. It's like a deep, still pond reflecting the stars of the night sky. I believe this is the baseline for human consciousness, and I'm convinced that the birds are the best mentors in the natural world for bringing us to it."
This focused attention and awareness of surrounding nature is a form of meditation. The author concludes: "When we train ourselves to listen to the birds with every synapse of our brains (or so it may seem), when we 'lose our mind' and 'come to our senses' in the fullest possible way, the chattering, texting, e-mailing, twittering mind will eventually quiet down and almost silence itself. This is a sacred and connected silence, and within this zone we can choose to turn on the conscious throughts or leave them off. It's like a deep, still pond reflecting the stars of the night sky. I believe this is the baseline for human consciousness, and I'm convinced that the birds are the best mentors in the natural world for bringing us to it."
March 18, 2022
Month of March 2022 - Nature
I purchased this ebook for $1.99 three years ago, in 2019. Now is the time to read it as the robins will be passing through in the next week or two. They will hang around for about one week, then disappear. I won’t see another robin here on Hoo Hoo Acres until next year.
The title of the book may be a little misleading. You won’t find out much about the robin. But, you will learn a LOT about bird language, and that’s really what this book is all about. I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved the audios included throughout the ebook of the various types of bird calls.
Although they are listed together as well in one place in the back, in the Appendix, I feel he should have listed them in alphabetical order. Also, just as the author was driven to know the kind of bird singing, I want to know as well. A picture of the songbird next to each audio provided would have brought this ebook over the top, especially for beginners. Otherwise, you are left Googling the images on a separate device, or scouring through a bird book.
Birdwatching isn’t just about seeing one and checking it off your checklist, although, I love that idea too. It’s about learning to hear what the birds are saying. It is important to connect with them, after all, you have to get the birds permission to see other animals…such as deer. You go plowing through the woods and scare a bunch of birds, they will take flight, or give warning calls to all other animals around.
The reversal could also be true. A bear or wildcat could be traipsing through the woods toward you. If you know bird language, you could be well informed ahead of time.
The natives were well in-tuned with bird language, and in times of war, especially against the whites, they could tell where their enemies were, even a mile away by the birds flight reactions and language.
BIRDWATCHING TIPS
Find a “sit spot”. A place to go and just sit and listen. Go often, everyday for at least 20 min (this is how long it takes birds to get back to business once disturbed by your presence), or up to 40 min is best. Make it CONVENIENT! Not far from your front door. Can create it by placing bird feeders and birdbaths around your yard, or simply select a place near the woods.
My sit spot is the swing on my front porch where I can watch the birds and the squirrels interacting with each other underneath the live oak tree, but I now want to create a couple more sit spots: one watching the coop, where I see and hear a lot of bird activity…besides the chickens…and one near the woods to see if I can connect and figure out what goes on there.
Understanding baselines: Bird territories (15 to 50 feet), What “should” be happening in trees from dawn to morning bustle, weather conditions, approaching predators, migrating, mating, nesting, feeding habits, etc…
The object is to recognize a “baseline symphony”, the daily routine, of nature sounds in birds. The bird language sounds are all explained in this book. The different sounds to listen for:
1. Songs
2. Companion calls
3. Territorial aggression (male to male normally)
4. Adolescent begging
5. Alarms
NOTE: Before heading out to sit spot or your walk to sit spot, start emptying your mind of everything except awareness. Walk softly to your sit spot. Do not stomp noisily into your area. Glide, do not bounce into area. Small slow steps like a Fox. And do not fidget once you sit. Be still! This is the way of the Sans, a native tribe of Africa.
KEEP A JOURNAL
To learn quicker, jot everything you perceive in a journal every 10 minutes…
1. SEE: Learn to see like the owl. Focus on one thing, and using your peripheral vision see around that item…above, below, right, left. Then focus on another spot, repeat
2. LISTEN: Listen more to the “silence”, not just to the sounds up close, to hear the quieter birds, companion calls…planes, winds through the brush, branches, the grass or through all of it at the same time.
3. FEEL: What do you feel? Sitting on the ground, the wind, wet, cold, hot, sun on skin, etc…
4. SMELL: Smell the air around you. What do you smell? Earth, pollution, dog shit, sewer, rotting leaves, etc…
It seems incredibly difficult to learn the sounds from different birds because so many do sound the same to me. But, I have learned three things since reading this book:
1) There’s a beautiful black and white chickadee that feeds at my feeder,
2) It’s the chickadee’s song that I’ve learned and have been imitating for many years in summer for the past several years while sitting out on the front porch, and
3) I recognized a “bullet” flight with a lot of birds chip, chip, chipping their alarm as they bolted away from the live oak tree and from their prey…me. There were about 30 birds, mostly assorted sparrows, sitting in the live oak off my front porch that I didn’t even know were there. They were in “silence” alarm as I picked up a couple of twigs. When I walked underneath the tree, bully style, they bulleted out of there, straight to the other live oak.
I purchased this ebook for $1.99 three years ago, in 2019. Now is the time to read it as the robins will be passing through in the next week or two. They will hang around for about one week, then disappear. I won’t see another robin here on Hoo Hoo Acres until next year.
The title of the book may be a little misleading. You won’t find out much about the robin. But, you will learn a LOT about bird language, and that’s really what this book is all about. I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved the audios included throughout the ebook of the various types of bird calls.
Although they are listed together as well in one place in the back, in the Appendix, I feel he should have listed them in alphabetical order. Also, just as the author was driven to know the kind of bird singing, I want to know as well. A picture of the songbird next to each audio provided would have brought this ebook over the top, especially for beginners. Otherwise, you are left Googling the images on a separate device, or scouring through a bird book.
Birdwatching isn’t just about seeing one and checking it off your checklist, although, I love that idea too. It’s about learning to hear what the birds are saying. It is important to connect with them, after all, you have to get the birds permission to see other animals…such as deer. You go plowing through the woods and scare a bunch of birds, they will take flight, or give warning calls to all other animals around.
The reversal could also be true. A bear or wildcat could be traipsing through the woods toward you. If you know bird language, you could be well informed ahead of time.
The natives were well in-tuned with bird language, and in times of war, especially against the whites, they could tell where their enemies were, even a mile away by the birds flight reactions and language.
BIRDWATCHING TIPS
Find a “sit spot”. A place to go and just sit and listen. Go often, everyday for at least 20 min (this is how long it takes birds to get back to business once disturbed by your presence), or up to 40 min is best. Make it CONVENIENT! Not far from your front door. Can create it by placing bird feeders and birdbaths around your yard, or simply select a place near the woods.
My sit spot is the swing on my front porch where I can watch the birds and the squirrels interacting with each other underneath the live oak tree, but I now want to create a couple more sit spots: one watching the coop, where I see and hear a lot of bird activity…besides the chickens…and one near the woods to see if I can connect and figure out what goes on there.
Understanding baselines: Bird territories (15 to 50 feet), What “should” be happening in trees from dawn to morning bustle, weather conditions, approaching predators, migrating, mating, nesting, feeding habits, etc…
The object is to recognize a “baseline symphony”, the daily routine, of nature sounds in birds. The bird language sounds are all explained in this book. The different sounds to listen for:
1. Songs
2. Companion calls
3. Territorial aggression (male to male normally)
4. Adolescent begging
5. Alarms
NOTE: Before heading out to sit spot or your walk to sit spot, start emptying your mind of everything except awareness. Walk softly to your sit spot. Do not stomp noisily into your area. Glide, do not bounce into area. Small slow steps like a Fox. And do not fidget once you sit. Be still! This is the way of the Sans, a native tribe of Africa.
KEEP A JOURNAL
To learn quicker, jot everything you perceive in a journal every 10 minutes…
1. SEE: Learn to see like the owl. Focus on one thing, and using your peripheral vision see around that item…above, below, right, left. Then focus on another spot, repeat
2. LISTEN: Listen more to the “silence”, not just to the sounds up close, to hear the quieter birds, companion calls…planes, winds through the brush, branches, the grass or through all of it at the same time.
3. FEEL: What do you feel? Sitting on the ground, the wind, wet, cold, hot, sun on skin, etc…
4. SMELL: Smell the air around you. What do you smell? Earth, pollution, dog shit, sewer, rotting leaves, etc…
It seems incredibly difficult to learn the sounds from different birds because so many do sound the same to me. But, I have learned three things since reading this book:
1) There’s a beautiful black and white chickadee that feeds at my feeder,
2) It’s the chickadee’s song that I’ve learned and have been imitating for many years in summer for the past several years while sitting out on the front porch, and
3) I recognized a “bullet” flight with a lot of birds chip, chip, chipping their alarm as they bolted away from the live oak tree and from their prey…me. There were about 30 birds, mostly assorted sparrows, sitting in the live oak off my front porch that I didn’t even know were there. They were in “silence” alarm as I picked up a couple of twigs. When I walked underneath the tree, bully style, they bulleted out of there, straight to the other live oak.
May 8, 2024
This very enlightening book is ultimately a wonderful introduction to observing & interacting with nature. The author’s knowledge of bird language is extensive and his foundational argument that birds are the “town criers” of the natural world is solid. Differentiating different bird vocalizations will obviously take someone years to master, however, the basic premise that we humans should tread much softer as we walk the paths of this world can be instantly practiced. Recommended.
November 1, 2018
This book contains some fascinating information, based on the author's many years watching and listening to birds. Jon Young describes a range of behaviours of a number of common birds from All clear, Mild concern, Something's maybe wrong so pay extra attention, Get higher/Hide, and to Crap! Fly! The accompanying sound files of these birds helped illustrate each of these states birds can go through (the italicized phrases are how I interpreted Young's descriptions.)
I love watching the birds in my neighbourhood as they return in the spring, frantically prepare for raising young, then get ready to leave in the fall. There's an intensity and constant vigilance to the finches, sparrows, black birds, cardinals, thrushes, chickadees and doves. The jays are busy scolding everyone (and occasionally dive-bombing other species away from feeders, which I've seen a few times), while the crows fly by more frequently as all the other species raise their clutches. While the red-tailed hawks and vultures ride the thermals overhead.
I've never read any other books about watching birds in this way, but I can attest to having seen some of the behaviours Young describes in my backyard (which seems to often be cat central in the neighbourhood). I know I'll be paying much more attention to the birds in my vicinity, and try not to be too egregious a distraction while they go about their lives.
I love watching the birds in my neighbourhood as they return in the spring, frantically prepare for raising young, then get ready to leave in the fall. There's an intensity and constant vigilance to the finches, sparrows, black birds, cardinals, thrushes, chickadees and doves. The jays are busy scolding everyone (and occasionally dive-bombing other species away from feeders, which I've seen a few times), while the crows fly by more frequently as all the other species raise their clutches. While the red-tailed hawks and vultures ride the thermals overhead.
I've never read any other books about watching birds in this way, but I can attest to having seen some of the behaviours Young describes in my backyard (which seems to often be cat central in the neighbourhood). I know I'll be paying much more attention to the birds in my vicinity, and try not to be too egregious a distraction while they go about their lives.
April 28, 2013
A wonderful read. I've spent many many hours in the outdoors observing nature, and I've guessed about a lot of what I saw. Young's book is amazing. He helped me to see how the birds tell everyone who knows how to listen and watch - what's in the woods and what is happening all around them. He studies bird language and invites you too also. But, he shows you how. Select a sit spot where you stay and observe day after day - get to know the birds in your yard and their companion and alarm calls. He discusses how birds react depending on what type of predator is around, and Young has taught me lots about the different types of responses that emit from prey animals when a predator comes into the neighborhood, and this includes humans. I learned about how raptors utilize alarms about other threats as a way to get songbirds and how crows mimic some birds to find out where other birds are. How nestling are found. How foxes move through the woods. How big cats hunt. And much, much more. Young's book has increased my appreciation of my experiences in the outdoors greatly, and I am paying a new type of attention to the birds. Highly recommended for amateur naturalists and birders.
March 3, 2021
Packed with information about North American birds and what we can learn from them through quiet, daily observation. More suitable for dipping in and out of than reading straight through.
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May 25, 2024Great book about understanding the basics of bird language. Completely changed how I view my relationship with birds and the natural world. I think this may be one the most fun non-fic books I’ve read since ‘Hidden life of Trees.’ If you are new or interested in birding this is essential reading.
January 17, 2015
I never knew that sitting and listening could be so fascinating. Parked there in the evening twilight, it was evident that the nearby robins were agitated, while those farther away were not. In retrospect, it seemed that the robins were barking, much as a dog might bark at something or someone scary, but in a shrill, bird-like way. I had often heard this behavior in the evening, and never made any sense of it, nor really tried to. But then this great horned owl swooped by overhead, and the “barking” followed it. The robins didn’t follow it themselves, but the barking did as robin after robin sounded the alarm in sequence along the owl’s flight path. I felt as if the door had just been opened to a whole new experience of nature.
The following day, and again a couple weeks later, I encountered barking robins and stopped to investigate. In each case they were barking at an owl. I do not know if that call is always associated with owls, but I definitely know to look, listen, and pay attention now when I hear the robins barking.
Interpreting bird language is a skill I’ve wanted to learn for the last thirty years, but somehow never figured out how to get started with it on my own. Back in the early 1980s, in junior high and high school, I devoured each one of Tom Brown’s books as fast as he could write them. I constantly practiced my fox walking, stalking, peripheral vision, intermittent attention, basic tracking, and survival skills. Brown also talked about the “concentric rings of nature,” how disturbances, such as a person walking, sent ripples of alarm out through nature. If you could learn to read these disturbances, he implied, then you could know what was happening beyond your field of vision. It was a skill I desperately wanted to learn, but somehow couldn’t figure out how to begin. Brown’s advice was basically to sit in one spot and observe nature until you figured it all out. I admit that I never really did. I got restless. My mind wandered. I didn’t have any tools to decipher what was going on around me.
I was completely stymied for twenty years, until Jon Young described learning the language of the birds in his Seeing Through Native Eyes audio series. Young outlined the five voices of the birds (song, companion calls, territorial aggression, juvenile begging, and alarms). Somehow, merely having definitions of these calls made it possible to begin to hear them for the first time.
In retrospect, I wonder if I might have been more successful if I had spent more time in the bird-rich riparian areas of the valleys, rather than in the hills and mountains. The whitetail deer of the valleys, for example, are hypersensitive to bird language. Sometimes it seems like you cannot walk ten feet through the woods, even quietly stalking, without spooking out a bunch of whitetails a quarter mile away. It is very different experience than in the mountains, where an absent-minded person can walk around a bush and nearly bump into a mule deer. The mule deer are either not as attuned to bird language as whitetails, or there is much less bird language to listen to. I suspect it is the latter.
Nowadays I take junior high kids out camping each spring in the bird-rich riparian zone along the nearby Jefferson River. I am in that busy part of my life where I have not yet been able to prioritize a sit spot on a daily basis, but we at least try to spend a few days in the field before the junior high kids arrive, tuning in, practicing bird language, and evaluating potential means to incorporate lessons about bird language into the experience for the kids.
This year I eagerly watched Jon Young’s new video, Bird Language: How to Interpret the Behaviors and Patterns of Nature, and learned several new tips for interpreting bird language. Most helpful was the journaling/mapping procedure, to record pretty much everything that is happening, as it is happening. Instead of randomly hearing bird song without meaning, and ultimately drifting off in thought, this method provided a clearly defined mission for my admittedly very busy Western mind to tackle and accomplish. Almost immediately I observed events that I may not have paid much attention to in the past. It opened up a whole new channel of experience. For example, while walking along the slough one day, I saw a common mallard duck shoot out of the water like a bullet. I recognized that it was not the usual, agitated, quacking rise and departure associated with my own approach, but rather that the duck was more like a missile fired straight out of the water. It reacted precisely to the arrival of a bald eagle flying in over the trees. It was utterly obvious, yet I probably wouldn’t have noticed the connection had I not just watched the bird language video. Somehow, writing it all down and making a map brings the bird world directly into my consciousness. It is pretty basic stuff, but it is a start!
Right on the heels of the video, Jon Young published his newest book, What the Robin Knows, which I also eagerly devoured. It is a veritable encyclopedia of bird language tips and tidbits, fleshing out and clarifying many of the themes he introduced in Seeing Through Native Eyes and the Bird Language DVD. The book is definitely not just about robins, but also describes bird language in detail across numerous other songbirds, as well as water birds, such as geese. Young also clarifies some previous statements, such as, “You cannot trust the corvids.” While the crows, ravens, magpies, and jays do not necessarily play by the rules of the five voices of the birds, they nevertheless have a lot to talk about in their own way, as Young expounds on throughout the book.
My only complaint about Young’s book is that it isn’t organized in encyclopedic fashion. The information is excellent, just so scattered through the text that it would be difficult to relocate and review a specific tip about any particular bird. The book wasn’t apparently written as a book per se, but condensed by editors from 200,000 words of other text and speeches given by Jon Young over the years then peppered with notes from bird biologists. No matter, the book is worth reading again and again and again.
A purist might argue that it is “cheating” to have such great resources to work from at all, rather than just sitting out in the woods and figuring it out from scratch. But on the other hand, even the best resources still just outline what is possible. It is ultimately up to the individual to go out and see firsthand some of the bird language patterns described by Jon Young, and from there to build one’s own library of observations about bird language and bird behavior. A person can still spend a lifetime listening and learning.
Having spent the past week visiting a friend, I couldn’t help but notice a particular robin singing on and off throughout each day. We were busy, so I didn’t have much time to sit and study bird language. But in the middle of a conversation one evening, I did notice the robin “barking” away at something. When I walked over to take a look, there was an owl sitting in a tree. It was a real thrill to recognize the same kind of behavior yet again. The door has definitely been opened to a whole new kind of experience in nature!
June 25, 2025
This book genuinely changed the way I understand and interact with nature, probably forever. Highly recommend if you spend time outdoors
July 12, 2019
I don't write reviews, usually, but this book has literally changed the way I exist in the world since the day I started reading it! Seriously. Prepare for some proselytizing. What the Robin Knows introduces a method of noticing what's going on by assuming communication in the nature around me and therefore being open to observe it and learn about my surroundings in the process - it's always there, I just feel more clued into it now, and I know that with practice it could become a sort of super-power like it is for Jon Young. The other day I found a red-tailed hawk and a great-horned owl on a walk in the city park after noticing the way the songbirds were indicating their presence with actions and vocalizations. All just from accepting the physical reality of those birds, having a tiny introduction about their day-to-day lives, and trying to notice a few more things than I did before. It leans on a theme that I've dwelt on for a while now - that we humans aren't usually trained to try to understand and learn from physical reality any more. If we do focus on it a bit though, there's so much we can gain! Be it in the realm of baking, or taking better care of our bodies, or feeling more connected to the ecosystem that is the tree outside our window.
I had an interesting conversation with a friend and excellent birder who read the book about how the tone Young uses in his writing could be interpreted as condescending or overly anthropomorphizing. My take is that he was tutored in a native tradition, and so his communication style is different than we might be used to for science writing. There's definitely a story-telling vibe, but he is also extremely knowledgeable and well-educated, he cites sources, and he prefaces his own less scientific terms as such. For me, the level of honor that he pays to the existence of other creatures around him is just so evident that this style built on rather than detracted from the reading experience for me.
PS: This weekend I used my body language to tell a deer that I wasn't a threat, and I watched his body posture change from about-to-bolt back to grazing. It felt MAGICAL. Read it!
I had an interesting conversation with a friend and excellent birder who read the book about how the tone Young uses in his writing could be interpreted as condescending or overly anthropomorphizing. My take is that he was tutored in a native tradition, and so his communication style is different than we might be used to for science writing. There's definitely a story-telling vibe, but he is also extremely knowledgeable and well-educated, he cites sources, and he prefaces his own less scientific terms as such. For me, the level of honor that he pays to the existence of other creatures around him is just so evident that this style built on rather than detracted from the reading experience for me.
PS: This weekend I used my body language to tell a deer that I wasn't a threat, and I watched his body posture change from about-to-bolt back to grazing. It felt MAGICAL. Read it!
June 20, 2014
This is one of the most helpful birding books I've read In a while. As a fairly experienced bird watcher, but by no means someone who considers herself an expert, I found that the ideas and terms here helped me label and more fully understand things I'd been seeing....but not fully observing and being present with....for years. Young not only describes different kinds of calls, songs, and alarms that birds give (including different types of shapes that birds' alarm flights take, and what those shapes mean), but also has a website with MANY examples of the kinds of sounds he describes. Wonderful book for the earnest observer of birds and the person wishing to see and understand more about birds and their interactions with other creatures in their territories, including humans. BTW this is not a bird identification book, but still should be very accessible to the beginning birder. In fact, Young espouses the development of some skills that should really help a newer birder see and hear more, plus enjoy it more!
August 7, 2020
I really liked what this book set out to do, and the intentions behind sharing the reasonable quirkiness of bird behavior are noble, I think: To share the joy that birds are able to bring to us and some understanding behind the mysterious choices of those little creatures. The anecdotes the author shared were moving and the encounters were uplifting, too. We could learn a lot about birds (and ourselves) if we slowed down to watch and listen.
I do feel like it was quite long-winded and could have been shorter and more engaging. It didn't hold my attention well.
That said, it's been a few months since I read it and I can say that certain stories have come back to me frequently, so it has stuck with me. I particularly enjoyed the concept of having a "sit spot". That makes perfect sense.
I do feel like it was quite long-winded and could have been shorter and more engaging. It didn't hold my attention well.
That said, it's been a few months since I read it and I can say that certain stories have come back to me frequently, so it has stuck with me. I particularly enjoyed the concept of having a "sit spot". That makes perfect sense.
June 5, 2020
Our online wildlife book club loved this book - it encouraged many people to find their "sit spot" and listen to the world around them! An excellent read, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.wildlifecenter.org/wildli...
April 11, 2014
I loved this book, not just for the practical side of learning bird language, but Young's compassion, enthusiasm, and most important, his respect for the birds as individuals.
January 31, 2017
I loved this book! Now I want to go sit in the woods for a couple of hours. But I can't because it's midnight and there would be no birds out. But tomorrow, TOMORROW I will do just that.
June 17, 2021
Jon Young shares the secrets of bird communication that he has learned from his work in the field for over four decades. He focuses on a dozen or so common backyard birds across America, and he splits their vocalizations into four categories: birdsong, companion calls, territorial aggression, and adolescent begging. He offers many examples of each, and he shares recorded vocalizations of these online. He suggests we all establish a sit spot and learn about the birds and other wildlife of our immediate environment ourselves.
January 30, 2019
What the Robin Knows is as much author Young’s personal story as it is a beginners’ how-to-bird book. Most of the information is given in anecdotes from the author’s years of teaching city-based adolescents how to be in nature. As such, it’s most useful for kids, or adult would-be birders from with limited experience in nature—and less for those of us from rural areas who are comfortable in the outdoors. For example, much is made of the “bird plow,” or making various noises and rapid movements when expecting to observe wildlife. Most people with a bit of experience in nature will naturally avoid this type of behavior. For those less familiar with the outdoors, Young gives many general tips for wildlife observation as well as specific information about bird watching.
One of the strengths of the book is its associated audio files of various bird calls, available online at no charge and with no signup required. Songs, contact calls, and alarm calls are listed. Other common animal calls that can alert birders to bird movements are included: squirrels, chipmunk, prairie dogs, and even deer! I was a little disappointed that the wrentit song was not included, since the author makes a point that this bird is commonly heard when other birds are silent due to a raptor in the area. This is because wrentits feed beneath dense shrubbery, rendering them invisible to predators—and humans. Hearing the contact calls would help me to identify this bird in the field. On the other hand, from the files I identified an indescribably sweet bird song that we frequently hear from high in the trees when we’re camping, belonging to the hermit thrush.
Young identifies various movements that birds make in reaction to different types of predators and the level of threat they impose in the moment. The Sentinel, Hook, and Popcorn are low-level alert behaviors when predators are just passing through. The Umbrella is used to foil nest robbers, of both avian and mammalian varieties. The Bullet, Ditch, and Hawk Drop are serious measures to avoid imminent predation. The illustrations of these movements are a clear, excellent guide to behaviors, which can be extrapolated to detect predator types and locations in the field.
This very approachable guidebook is an excellent introduction to bird and wildlife watching, particularly for adolescents and those inexperienced in quiet times in nature.
One of the strengths of the book is its associated audio files of various bird calls, available online at no charge and with no signup required. Songs, contact calls, and alarm calls are listed. Other common animal calls that can alert birders to bird movements are included: squirrels, chipmunk, prairie dogs, and even deer! I was a little disappointed that the wrentit song was not included, since the author makes a point that this bird is commonly heard when other birds are silent due to a raptor in the area. This is because wrentits feed beneath dense shrubbery, rendering them invisible to predators—and humans. Hearing the contact calls would help me to identify this bird in the field. On the other hand, from the files I identified an indescribably sweet bird song that we frequently hear from high in the trees when we’re camping, belonging to the hermit thrush.
Young identifies various movements that birds make in reaction to different types of predators and the level of threat they impose in the moment. The Sentinel, Hook, and Popcorn are low-level alert behaviors when predators are just passing through. The Umbrella is used to foil nest robbers, of both avian and mammalian varieties. The Bullet, Ditch, and Hawk Drop are serious measures to avoid imminent predation. The illustrations of these movements are a clear, excellent guide to behaviors, which can be extrapolated to detect predator types and locations in the field.
This very approachable guidebook is an excellent introduction to bird and wildlife watching, particularly for adolescents and those inexperienced in quiet times in nature.
June 2, 2020
I don’t envy people for their boats, wardrobes, or wine collections, but if I meet someone who can ‘read’ the natural landscape I instantly covet their knowledge. It doesn’t matter if they’re a geologist who can interpret the deep history of a field, or the hunter who knows that deer have been in the area recently. A richer connection with the natural world is an appetite I can never satisfy. So it was that I found the promise of What the Robin Knows to be fascinating. Is it really possible to ‘read’ an area by listening to birdsongs?
It is possible, says Jon Young, if you’re committed. A given species of bird may have different calls depending on what part of the country they’re in. The key, besides committing to sit every day in the same spot listening and observing, is to know what ‘baseline’ constitutes, so that departures from it — alarm calls — can be detected. Young devotes the first half of this book to exploring baseline, sharing the different types of bird calls, from singing to ‘companion calls’. The latter are interesting because they’re vocal ‘nudges’ that a mating pair of birds might exchange while separated. Those who purchase the Kindle version and can read it on a Kindle Fire or an Ipad have the additional treat of embedded audio, so that when Young refers to a call, touching the horn symbol will have it play. This won’t work for the Android or PC Kindle approaches, however. The concept of baseline is especially important, says Young, because animals pay attention to it, too; one species of bird will pay attention if another issues an alarm, or begins acting oddly, and creatures like deer are also involved in this exchange of information.
What the Robin Knows is a curious book, one that can’t convey all its explicit knowledge so much as it prepares the reader to obtain it for themselves. The cries Young shares as an example may not reflect the region a given reader is in. But this introduction to the different categories of bird calls, and its study of their alarm behavior, is of great interest readers with any interest at all in birding.
It is possible, says Jon Young, if you’re committed. A given species of bird may have different calls depending on what part of the country they’re in. The key, besides committing to sit every day in the same spot listening and observing, is to know what ‘baseline’ constitutes, so that departures from it — alarm calls — can be detected. Young devotes the first half of this book to exploring baseline, sharing the different types of bird calls, from singing to ‘companion calls’. The latter are interesting because they’re vocal ‘nudges’ that a mating pair of birds might exchange while separated. Those who purchase the Kindle version and can read it on a Kindle Fire or an Ipad have the additional treat of embedded audio, so that when Young refers to a call, touching the horn symbol will have it play. This won’t work for the Android or PC Kindle approaches, however. The concept of baseline is especially important, says Young, because animals pay attention to it, too; one species of bird will pay attention if another issues an alarm, or begins acting oddly, and creatures like deer are also involved in this exchange of information.
What the Robin Knows is a curious book, one that can’t convey all its explicit knowledge so much as it prepares the reader to obtain it for themselves. The cries Young shares as an example may not reflect the region a given reader is in. But this introduction to the different categories of bird calls, and its study of their alarm behavior, is of great interest readers with any interest at all in birding.
June 2, 2017
How to know what the robin knows: Find a place where you can sit quietly, and listen to and watch the birds and other animals. Spend as much time there as you can, going back as often as possible, and recording your observations in a journal. Study a bird field guide and listen to recordings of bird calls to become familiar with the species in your area. After a while, you'll start to figure it out.
Chapter 7: A Shape for Every Occasion is particularly useful with illustrations of distinct bird reactions to various stimuli (hawks, weasels, people, etc.).
Here are some recordings of calls from the author.
And here is a pretty good free bird ID app.
A broader discussion of paying attention to nature can be found in The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs by Tristan Gooley.
Chapter 7: A Shape for Every Occasion is particularly useful with illustrations of distinct bird reactions to various stimuli (hawks, weasels, people, etc.).
Here are some recordings of calls from the author.
And here is a pretty good free bird ID app.
A broader discussion of paying attention to nature can be found in The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs by Tristan Gooley.
August 28, 2020
Young turns birdwatching into constructive therapy, helping people slow down, connect, listen, and discover the world of inter-species relations going on all around them. It's an eye-opening book that raised my awareness of how I interact with other creatures, even when I'm absolutely oblivious of doing so. While reading about how bird signals ripple through the landscape, I missed my subway stop twice. I suspect that bird language camp really can be one of the finest experiences available for self-absorbed individuals like myself.
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April 10, 2017Robins know a lot, y'all. So do juncos and titmice and cardinals. Cardinals are the best.
Blue jays are dicks.
This book has changed the way I walk in the world and the way I look up, down, and around me. Jon Young's instruction for learning bird language and the basics of tracking are useful in nature and in other parts of life. The accompanying site has audio for all the different bird calls you'll need to start a bird hobby of your own.
Blue jays are dicks.
This book has changed the way I walk in the world and the way I look up, down, and around me. Jon Young's instruction for learning bird language and the basics of tracking are useful in nature and in other parts of life. The accompanying site has audio for all the different bird calls you'll need to start a bird hobby of your own.
December 9, 2017
I feel like this book has changed the way I think about birding. I am more attentive outside – aware of the amount of noise I make and any bird behavior as a result of my presence. I found it to be a great read with inspiring anecdotes, fascinating facts, and helpful advice. I feel like I've learned to appreciate sitting and observing behavior, instead of just trying to up my species list.
June 23, 2018
This book is best read on a Kindle because you can actually listen to the bird calls as you read. The author recommends finding a "sit spot" and taking some time each day to listen to what your birds in your yard are saying. Nice idea, but doubt I will ever find the time to do this. Even so, I learned a little more about robins and other backyard birds.
March 10, 2023
I read this book back in 2012, and there is not a day out with the birds in 'my spot' that I don't use a lesson from it in some little way. A gentle but effective introduction to learning to observe birds and, in a way, learning to observe yourself observing birds.
June 28, 2019
As a nature and bird lover, this obviously appealed to me. I soon realised though that it taught me more about how we as humans interact with nature as opposed to only how birds interact. It has certainly helped in understanding bird characteristics and how they operate with us. Bird-nerd level +1.
December 31, 2015
Contains many worth while tips for backyard birdwatchers.
April 11, 2016
A book describing the value of birds in nature that is absolutely sure to drastically change the way one views nature. Most of it is anecdotal evidence, but is still valuable.
May 27, 2022
I picked up this book because I have been getting more and more interested in birds and birding life. I imagined that this would be an excellent primer on how to start to identify birds based on their songs. Whereas that is true, it is just the tip of the iceberg for what this book has to offer about birds, nature, our place in it, and so much more!
Young does an amazing job teaching you about the primary ways in which birds communicate - alarms, companion calls, songs, juvenile hunger, and territorial. And he also lets you know that this is just the beginning of our understanding and journey and that science has a long way to go to catch up with indigenous wisdom in this regard.
He reveals the joy of how birds are the true sentinels and communicators of the stories of nature and what is happening in the natural world and if we open ourselves to it, we can understand nature and the world around us and our place in it more deeply.
Since starting this book, I have developed a typically morning (though sometimes other times in the day) practice of spending time in a sit spot listening and observing birds. At first it was a joyous way to start a day with beautiful song and then I started to understand more of the communication, learn more about what was happening on my property and getting to know the resident birds. I have a big daddy robin that lives here and watches over others like a protector. I have the sweetest mated pair of cardinals that love to talk to each other throughout the day. I have juncos that like and trust me so much that they built a nest on my back porch and a carolina wren that decided to build a nest in my motorcycle helmet. And I can hear not only the beautiful melodies of wood thrushes and warblers but also the quiet peeps and cheeps of towhees and juncos.
I love this book and highly recommend it to anyone that is in to birds or wants to develop a contemplative practice that is tied to nature. It is also worth noting that he shares a huge trove of audio files that you can listen to online to get to better know what calls mean what and by who.
Young does an amazing job teaching you about the primary ways in which birds communicate - alarms, companion calls, songs, juvenile hunger, and territorial. And he also lets you know that this is just the beginning of our understanding and journey and that science has a long way to go to catch up with indigenous wisdom in this regard.
He reveals the joy of how birds are the true sentinels and communicators of the stories of nature and what is happening in the natural world and if we open ourselves to it, we can understand nature and the world around us and our place in it more deeply.
Since starting this book, I have developed a typically morning (though sometimes other times in the day) practice of spending time in a sit spot listening and observing birds. At first it was a joyous way to start a day with beautiful song and then I started to understand more of the communication, learn more about what was happening on my property and getting to know the resident birds. I have a big daddy robin that lives here and watches over others like a protector. I have the sweetest mated pair of cardinals that love to talk to each other throughout the day. I have juncos that like and trust me so much that they built a nest on my back porch and a carolina wren that decided to build a nest in my motorcycle helmet. And I can hear not only the beautiful melodies of wood thrushes and warblers but also the quiet peeps and cheeps of towhees and juncos.
I love this book and highly recommend it to anyone that is in to birds or wants to develop a contemplative practice that is tied to nature. It is also worth noting that he shares a huge trove of audio files that you can listen to online to get to better know what calls mean what and by who.
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