An Uncertain Future: Australian Birdlife in Danger

by Geoffrey Maslen

In An Uncertain Future, Geoffrey Maslen takes us into the fascinating lives of Australian birds, showing us how intelligent they are, the significant threats they face due to disappearing habitats and climate change and how essential these angels of the air are to our own survival. Soaring through the skies, light as the air itself, birds are the closest creatures we have to angels on the planet. They bring song and beauty to our lives, and they play a significant role in sustaining Earth’s ecosystems. But birds are also facing the threat of extinction. Drawing on numerous interviews with researchers and biologists studying birdlife in Australia and dozens of scientific reports from around the world, Maslen reveals a dire picture of what plummeting bird populations means for humanity.

'Maslen’s book is a clarion call for Australia’s brilliant but disappearing birds.' Bob Brown, former Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens

304 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2017

Reviews

[Alan Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first saw An Uncertain Future in the bookshop, I thought it would be a neat introduction to the birds of Australia - but unfortunately, from the first depressing page to the last, it seems like many Australian birds have a bleak future ahead of them.

This book darts between popular science and more academic, facts and figures writing. The research is fascinating and necessary, but I wish the moments of wonder - the dance of the lyrebird, the beautiful epilogue - were just a little more frequent. Regardless, Maslen makes a compelling case for why we must act immediately to preserve birdlife.

Also, if you still eat chicken after reading about how intelligent and wonderful they are, I don't know what would convince you otherwise.

[John Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is as beautiful as it is shocking. I was prepared for the terrifying tales of the declines of Australia’s beautiful birds but it doesn’t make it any easier to read. Habitat loss on a devastating scale is affecting global bird populations but every country has its unique problems. I was surprised to read how native birds that have adapted so well have become part of the problem.

There is hope and wonder in here too though. Maslen brilliantly describes bird behaviours, scientific findings and conservation action that is making a positive impact.

For me, it was also a nostalgic read, having spend two years in the wonderful land of kookaburras, rainbow lorikeets and cockatoos. A fascinating read and one I highly recommend anyone with in interest in the natural world. It carries an important message and one everyone should know.

[Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from the library and read it on my Kobo, but after I read about 70% of it I had issues with the book not showing up on my Kobo properly, and after many varied attempts to resolve it I decided the book isn't worth the hassle to finish anyway.

As another reviewer said, it's not very clear what the book is aiming for, as the structure seems confused, and the style of writing changes a lot between chapters. Sometimes it's more formal and academic, with lots of sources cited. Other times it's very personal and subjective and overly excitable. It started stronger and got weaker as it went on, so I'm not too sad to miss the last 30% or so.

[Benjamin L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure who the target audience for An Uncertain Future was meant to be. The book lacks the kind of biological and ecological detail to be of interest to bird geeks like myself, but at the same time lacks the ability to draw out and present information in an intriguing, interesting way - so is unlikely to get anyone not already interested on Team Bird. Similarly with it's approach to bird diversity loss, the book lacks the kind of figures, graphs, and statistics that would make a compelling scientific argument in favour of general statements and anecdotes. The central argument, that birds have an inherent right to life, is unlikely to be convincing to anyone who doesn't already hold the position - and those that do, don't need to be convinced.

So if An Uncertain Future lacks the kind of depth for a bird geek, lacks the presentation for a general reader, lacks the figures and statistics for a reference book, and lacks the argumentative strength to convince anyone, who is it for?

Over the 19 Chapters, Maslen takes a look at roughly one species of bird per chapter, and most of these fall into an incredibly formulaic pattern; we are introduced to a scientist or research team involved in either studying some aspect of that bird's behaviour or conservation. We are given some flowery descriptions of the bird's habitat, the challenges it faces, and the bird itself, and then some anecdotal insight into the scientists's work. The problem is, Maslen rarely takes a deep dive into the science (Physiology, ecology, nor conservation science) and most of the information seems to be drawn from very superficial interviews with scientists - or, in cases where Maslen didn't have access, from their press releases. As a result, An Uncertian Future barely scratches the surface of these birds, their lives, and the conservation work going on - reading like a series of slow news day articles that present little information in a lot of words. In a few of these chapters, the experts are not scientists but Locals who live near where the birds do, and in these cases there is a lot of speculation and little substance. For the most egregious example, one of the Lyrebird chapters charts an urban legend about a lyrebird that sounds like a flute, but has little to do with Lyrebirds themselves. Maslen has included a lot of undue speculation in his book, and the lack of proper referencing makes it difficult to pull apart what is a properly sourced fact, and what is not.

The first four chapters were the best, and it's easy to see why. The book opens with a focus on Seabirds, and because these chapters do not restrain themselves to once species, it is possible to make much more general, widely-applicable claims and chart the 'bigger picture' - the varied and interconnected threats that seabirds face, and the ways we can help protect them. Since many seabirds are migratory, Seabird extinction is a global challenge that will require a global solution. This bigger picture problem is much more lending to the kind of bigger picture approach Maslin has tried to tried to take with An Uncertain Future, so these chapters are quite good and tackle the problems in a coherent way. Unfortunately, after these opening chapters on Seabirds, we fall into the one-bird-per-chapter pattern that does an incredible disservice to this kind of book, for all the problems described above.

An Uncertain Future isn't really bad - its just not what it could have been and, in my opinion, not what it was trying to be. As I mentioned, I'm unsure who the target audience is meant to be. While I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone, I certainly wouldn't recommend against it either.

[Alex Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat uneven - a mix of scientific research reporting, very gloomy prognosis re climate change and how it is devastating our birdlife (along with everything else natural) and some delightful and illustrative anecdote and more personal reporting. A generally enjoyable and informative read, but some very grim passages of information along with it