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Far from Land: The Mysterious Life of Seabirds
Seabirds evoke the spirit of the earth's wildest places. They spend large portions of their lives at sea, often far from land, and nest on beautiful and remote islands that humans rarely visit. Thanks to the development of increasingly sophisticated and miniaturized devices that can track their every movement and behavior, it is now possible to observe the mysterious lives of these remarkable creatures as never before. This beautifully illustrated book takes you on a breathtaking journey around the globe to reveal where these birds actually go when they roam the sea, the tactics they employ to traverse vast tracts of ocean, the strategies they use to evade threats, and more.
Michael Brooke has visited every corner of the world in his lifelong pursuit of seabirds. Here, he draws on his own experiences and insights as well as the latest cutting-edge science to shed light on the elusive seafaring lives of albatrosses, frigatebirds, cormorants, and other ocean wanderers. Where do puffins go in the winter? How deep do penguins dive? From how far away can an albatross spot a fishing vessel worth following for its next meal? Brooke addresses these and other questions in this delightful book. Along the way, he reveals that seabirds are not the aimless wind-tossed creatures they may appear to be, and explains the observational innovations that are driving this exciting area of research.
Featuring illustrations by renowned artist Bruce Pearson and packed with intriguing facts, Far from Land provides an extraordinary up-close look at the activities of seabirds.
Michael Brooke has visited every corner of the world in his lifelong pursuit of seabirds. Here, he draws on his own experiences and insights as well as the latest cutting-edge science to shed light on the elusive seafaring lives of albatrosses, frigatebirds, cormorants, and other ocean wanderers. Where do puffins go in the winter? How deep do penguins dive? From how far away can an albatross spot a fishing vessel worth following for its next meal? Brooke addresses these and other questions in this delightful book. Along the way, he reveals that seabirds are not the aimless wind-tossed creatures they may appear to be, and explains the observational innovations that are driving this exciting area of research.
Featuring illustrations by renowned artist Bruce Pearson and packed with intriguing facts, Far from Land provides an extraordinary up-close look at the activities of seabirds.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 6, 2018
15 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
dnf
January 18, 2018DNF at about 15%.
I love birds, and the tagline of this--"The Mysterious Life of Seabirds"--sounded right up my alley. However, I just wasn't able to get into the subject. It's not that I'm not interested in it, it's just the way it was written seemed too haphazard to me. it constantly jumped from talking about one species of bird to another and then another all within a two page span. While I understood the set-up of the chapters, it didn't jive with the way my brain comprehends this type of info.
This is not to say this is a bad book--it just didn't work for me, personally. If you are a more number and/or tech oriented birder, then definitely give this one a try!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
I love birds, and the tagline of this--"The Mysterious Life of Seabirds"--sounded right up my alley. However, I just wasn't able to get into the subject. It's not that I'm not interested in it, it's just the way it was written seemed too haphazard to me. it constantly jumped from talking about one species of bird to another and then another all within a two page span. While I understood the set-up of the chapters, it didn't jive with the way my brain comprehends this type of info.
This is not to say this is a bad book--it just didn't work for me, personally. If you are a more number and/or tech oriented birder, then definitely give this one a try!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
October 26, 2025
Good book peeking into the lives of numerous seabird species across the globe and how the advancement of research technology has helped aid in our understanding of the lives of seabirds presently. This book made me more appreciative towards seabirds, reading of the many intense challenges they have to go through in order to survive a changing world.
January 11, 2019
I love a good natural history book and in Far from Land, Brooke delivers exactly just that. Going into this I didn't know much about seabirds in general and far less than that about their activities and movements in particular. This book neatly addresses these and many other topics in a thorough, compelling and authentic fashion. Rather than presenting just summaries or articles, or at the other extreme, prosaic passages without much meat, Brooke authors a comprehensive book that has enough facts to back up the story but he writes in a way that you can hear the fascinated authors voice come through. Having had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Brooke, I can attest to this book being similar to having a chat over a cup of tea and listening to a master scientist talk about what keeps him engaged and excited with his research. I found this book to be appropriate as an supplemental for an undergraduate zoology class or as an enjoyable book for a nature enthusiast who is keen to learn more about these graceful masters of the sea and sky.
May 25, 2019
Brooke, a Cambridge zoologist specializing in seabirds, gives an overview of what can be learned about the lives of these creatures using recently developed technologies. It's amazing to think that all we really knew about most seabirds until 30-or-so years ago came from watching what they did on land, and whatever could be observed directly of individuals when spotted at sea. What they were up to for large chunks of their lives was basically a mystery.
New miniaturized tracking devices and cameras have changed all that, and some great discoveries have been made. These devices have shown differences in movement, migration and hunting behavior by age, sex, and whether the bird is feeding young. There are even devices that can measure the depth of dives (for seabirds that do that), altitude in flight, how wide a beak is opening (indicating likely feeding) and drops in stomach temperature (also a sign of feeding).
Brooke clearly is passionate about this topic. And he does a great job of not veering too far into the academic minutiae of the studies he describes. Everyone once in a while he veers into seabird nerd-dom by chuckling at the titles of research articles and conference presentations, but for the most part he keeps things interesting for the lay person. His final chapter about the largest threats to seabirds (mostly us and the things we do) is rather sobering but ultimately optimistic.
One thing I learned from this book is that, although they are cute, I don't ever want to get close to a puffin.
New miniaturized tracking devices and cameras have changed all that, and some great discoveries have been made. These devices have shown differences in movement, migration and hunting behavior by age, sex, and whether the bird is feeding young. There are even devices that can measure the depth of dives (for seabirds that do that), altitude in flight, how wide a beak is opening (indicating likely feeding) and drops in stomach temperature (also a sign of feeding).
Brooke clearly is passionate about this topic. And he does a great job of not veering too far into the academic minutiae of the studies he describes. Everyone once in a while he veers into seabird nerd-dom by chuckling at the titles of research articles and conference presentations, but for the most part he keeps things interesting for the lay person. His final chapter about the largest threats to seabirds (mostly us and the things we do) is rather sobering but ultimately optimistic.
One thing I learned from this book is that, although they are cute, I don't ever want to get close to a puffin.
November 10, 2025
Fåglar :]
January 12, 2024
Tl:dr - fascinating, well-researched and novel content let down by the writing style, organisation and some odd asides
I had to keep dragging myself back to this book. I kept it in my desk drawer at work for months and had to half-force myself to read 5-10 pages at a time on my lunch break a few times a week. Not that the subject wasn't interesting to me. I've always been fascinated by seabirds and watch them compulsively whenever I'm near the coast; the last time I was at the beach I got so transfixed on watching a white-faced heron skim over the water that I got bowled over by a massive wave I hadn't seen coming. So when I picked up this book it was because I really wanted to know more about seabirds - unfortunately I don't know if I've come away from the book with that desire satisfied.
That's not at all because Brooke doesn't know his stuff, he absolutely does. He's clearly drawing from a lifetime of not only his own experience and research, but that of dozens of his fellow ornithologists from all over the world, many of whom he seems to have known and worked with personally. That all shines through brilliantly, and his deep familiarity with his specialty is evident. His knowledge of seabirds encyclopedically spans the 20th Century, but is also thoroughly up-to-date, and he will often walk you through the history of our understanding of say, X seabird's feeding habits, before pulling up a study from 2017 that turns that understanding on its head.
He also goes to lengths to explain how researchers came to know what they know. Where a lazier or less confident academic might brush over the more technical details of a study, Brooke rarely makes any claim without explaining, at least briefly, how the researchers came to that conclusion, and a section of the introductory first chapter is dedicated to a survey of various tracking devices used by ornithologists in their studies. That dedication to clarity at the risk of exposing your readers to potentially very dry content is to be admired, and Brooke does what he can to leaven it. To that end he writes with a lot of verve and personality.
Unfortunately that's where I ran into the first of my two significant problems: Brooke's writing style can veer into the...overly cute, you might say. More specifically, he has a tendency to pepper in some weird little asides that I found unnecessary, distracting, and frankly, sometimes embarrassing.
I'll fully admit that this is a matter of taste - if I were a different sort of person, or maybe from a different demographic or generation, I might find this style charming - but even though it wasn't a constant feature on every single page, I simply found it hard to get past.
One example from fairly late in the book (chosen both because it struck me as particularly egregious in its needlessness and because the involvement of a female researcher makes it even more awkward) is from this long paragraph discussing the underwater feats of penguins:
When I first read this paragraph I was so perplexed at that bizarre last sentence I had to re-read it to make sure I hadn't missed something. I also went back to check if Wienecke and her apparently perpetually surprised expression had been established in an earlier chapter - but no, this is the first and last time she's mentioned in the book. The comment comes out of nowhere and serves no apparent purpose in context.
As much as uninvited comments about a female colleague's appearance don't sit well with me as someone who is a member of a rather later generation than Brooke's, I don't think this is necessarily a sexist impulse on his part. Earlier in the book he also made reference to a male researcher "...with a tattoo count that is normal for a building site..." so my impression is that he's just trying to add colour to his writing and give these people - who are otherwise just names on a page to the reader - a degree of depth. Nonetheless, I found these and a few other off-topic asides to be a little gratuitous.
I don't even really blame Brooke for all of them though; I think Brooke is probably just writing with the same wry, slightly irreverent personality that would come across if you knew him in real life. Instead I think it should have been the job of an editor to highlight these extraneous lines and go back to Brooke to ask "Mike, what are these bits adding?"
My second and more serious problem regards the way in which information was organised. Other reviewers have also mentioned feeling like the text is disjointed or unstructured, though I imagine Brooke would be a bit taken aback by that accusation. I think in his mind the text is laid out very logically: every broad aspect of seabird life (fledging, migrations, breeding, feeding, etc) has its own chapter in which a wide variety of seabirds are surveyed and compared in relation to that aspect.
On the surface I think that's a fine approach, the problem comes within a given chapter. Brooke is inconsistent with how he lays out a given chapter's information, and he'll jump around with little consideration for how a reader will digest what he's saying. One moment he'll be discussing say, penguins, then he'll switch to shearwaters with barely a breath, then to albatrosses, then to kittiwakes for a paragraph, then a line and a half about fulmars, then back to a different species of penguin, and so on, and so on. He does usually connect one paragraph to the next in accordance with some internal logic, but it still gets dizzying to bounce back and forth like that. It's certainly not a good way for a lay reader to absorb and consolidate information.
The scope of the subject matter doesn't help. The fact he has to race through the science on three dozen different species for every chapter places a burden on the reader to remember details from previous chapters with little help from Brooke in connecting the dots. Each new chapter was an exercise in asking myself questions like:
"Wait, the common guillemot...is that the species where the chicks hatch in the Oregon woods then migrate to the north Pacific, or am I thinking of the marbled murrelet?" (it's the latter)
or
"Is the sooty tern the tern species that breeds in the North Atlantic and feeds in the South Atlantic, or the one that breeds in the South Atlantic and feeds in the North Atlantic?" (neither, it's a tropical species)
I don't mean to suggest that Brooke should have written a textbook instead, but I do think I would have retained more if he had written each chapter with a bit more focus and consistency. Maybe he could've discussed each seabird family systematically, one by one, eg. all the penguins together, then move on to the albatrosses, then the auks, etc etc. That would slow down the apparent pace, make it easier to absorb the information, and allow readers to both compare the habits of species within a family and contrast them with the habits between families.
I feel the effect of this lack of focus has been to give me an overview of the current state of seabird research, rather than to comprehensively inform me about seabirds. That may sound like a subtle distinction, but in other words I feel like it was a widening rather than a deepening of my knowledge. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't what I was hoping to get out of the book.
Overall, I think Brooke is a consummate ornithologist and a decent writer, who maybe needed a little bit more oversight or direction from an outside influence to make sure his writing was appropriate in tone and structure for a general lay audience. Whether I would recommend it really comes down to whether you think you'd be bothered by the style, and whether you're more interested in seabirds or seabird research.
I had to keep dragging myself back to this book. I kept it in my desk drawer at work for months and had to half-force myself to read 5-10 pages at a time on my lunch break a few times a week. Not that the subject wasn't interesting to me. I've always been fascinated by seabirds and watch them compulsively whenever I'm near the coast; the last time I was at the beach I got so transfixed on watching a white-faced heron skim over the water that I got bowled over by a massive wave I hadn't seen coming. So when I picked up this book it was because I really wanted to know more about seabirds - unfortunately I don't know if I've come away from the book with that desire satisfied.
That's not at all because Brooke doesn't know his stuff, he absolutely does. He's clearly drawing from a lifetime of not only his own experience and research, but that of dozens of his fellow ornithologists from all over the world, many of whom he seems to have known and worked with personally. That all shines through brilliantly, and his deep familiarity with his specialty is evident. His knowledge of seabirds encyclopedically spans the 20th Century, but is also thoroughly up-to-date, and he will often walk you through the history of our understanding of say, X seabird's feeding habits, before pulling up a study from 2017 that turns that understanding on its head.
He also goes to lengths to explain how researchers came to know what they know. Where a lazier or less confident academic might brush over the more technical details of a study, Brooke rarely makes any claim without explaining, at least briefly, how the researchers came to that conclusion, and a section of the introductory first chapter is dedicated to a survey of various tracking devices used by ornithologists in their studies. That dedication to clarity at the risk of exposing your readers to potentially very dry content is to be admired, and Brooke does what he can to leaven it. To that end he writes with a lot of verve and personality.
Unfortunately that's where I ran into the first of my two significant problems: Brooke's writing style can veer into the...overly cute, you might say. More specifically, he has a tendency to pepper in some weird little asides that I found unnecessary, distracting, and frankly, sometimes embarrassing.
I'll fully admit that this is a matter of taste - if I were a different sort of person, or maybe from a different demographic or generation, I might find this style charming - but even though it wasn't a constant feature on every single page, I simply found it hard to get past.
One example from fairly late in the book (chosen both because it struck me as particularly egregious in its needlessness and because the involvement of a female researcher makes it even more awkward) is from this long paragraph discussing the underwater feats of penguins:
"In 2007 Barbara Wienecke and colleagues from the Australian Antarctic Division published a paper with the title 'Extreme dives by free-ranging emperor penguins' ... [technical details of the study and its impressive findings] ... No wonder Wienecke's face is one characterised by raised eyebrows expressing surprise and delight at the dives of penguins, and life in general."
When I first read this paragraph I was so perplexed at that bizarre last sentence I had to re-read it to make sure I hadn't missed something. I also went back to check if Wienecke and her apparently perpetually surprised expression had been established in an earlier chapter - but no, this is the first and last time she's mentioned in the book. The comment comes out of nowhere and serves no apparent purpose in context.
As much as uninvited comments about a female colleague's appearance don't sit well with me as someone who is a member of a rather later generation than Brooke's, I don't think this is necessarily a sexist impulse on his part. Earlier in the book he also made reference to a male researcher "...with a tattoo count that is normal for a building site..." so my impression is that he's just trying to add colour to his writing and give these people - who are otherwise just names on a page to the reader - a degree of depth. Nonetheless, I found these and a few other off-topic asides to be a little gratuitous.
I don't even really blame Brooke for all of them though; I think Brooke is probably just writing with the same wry, slightly irreverent personality that would come across if you knew him in real life. Instead I think it should have been the job of an editor to highlight these extraneous lines and go back to Brooke to ask "Mike, what are these bits adding?"
My second and more serious problem regards the way in which information was organised. Other reviewers have also mentioned feeling like the text is disjointed or unstructured, though I imagine Brooke would be a bit taken aback by that accusation. I think in his mind the text is laid out very logically: every broad aspect of seabird life (fledging, migrations, breeding, feeding, etc) has its own chapter in which a wide variety of seabirds are surveyed and compared in relation to that aspect.
On the surface I think that's a fine approach, the problem comes within a given chapter. Brooke is inconsistent with how he lays out a given chapter's information, and he'll jump around with little consideration for how a reader will digest what he's saying. One moment he'll be discussing say, penguins, then he'll switch to shearwaters with barely a breath, then to albatrosses, then to kittiwakes for a paragraph, then a line and a half about fulmars, then back to a different species of penguin, and so on, and so on. He does usually connect one paragraph to the next in accordance with some internal logic, but it still gets dizzying to bounce back and forth like that. It's certainly not a good way for a lay reader to absorb and consolidate information.
The scope of the subject matter doesn't help. The fact he has to race through the science on three dozen different species for every chapter places a burden on the reader to remember details from previous chapters with little help from Brooke in connecting the dots. Each new chapter was an exercise in asking myself questions like:
"Wait, the common guillemot...is that the species where the chicks hatch in the Oregon woods then migrate to the north Pacific, or am I thinking of the marbled murrelet?" (it's the latter)
or
"Is the sooty tern the tern species that breeds in the North Atlantic and feeds in the South Atlantic, or the one that breeds in the South Atlantic and feeds in the North Atlantic?" (neither, it's a tropical species)
I don't mean to suggest that Brooke should have written a textbook instead, but I do think I would have retained more if he had written each chapter with a bit more focus and consistency. Maybe he could've discussed each seabird family systematically, one by one, eg. all the penguins together, then move on to the albatrosses, then the auks, etc etc. That would slow down the apparent pace, make it easier to absorb the information, and allow readers to both compare the habits of species within a family and contrast them with the habits between families.
I feel the effect of this lack of focus has been to give me an overview of the current state of seabird research, rather than to comprehensively inform me about seabirds. That may sound like a subtle distinction, but in other words I feel like it was a widening rather than a deepening of my knowledge. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't what I was hoping to get out of the book.
Overall, I think Brooke is a consummate ornithologist and a decent writer, who maybe needed a little bit more oversight or direction from an outside influence to make sure his writing was appropriate in tone and structure for a general lay audience. Whether I would recommend it really comes down to whether you think you'd be bothered by the style, and whether you're more interested in seabirds or seabird research.
September 17, 2025
Jam-packed with hard seabird science but weaves it all into a beautiful illustration of these birds awe-inspiring lives
September 4, 2019
I have become a fan of the recent trend in ornithologists writing books summarizing a certain group or adaptation of birds in a fashion that is both specific and scientifically accurate, as well as palatable by the general public who may know nothing of the subject or perhaps just have a loose interest in it.
I think Brooke covered the basics of seabird behavior and life well, and I enjoyed that he referenced a multitude of specific papers to further support his points. One thing I would like to point out, though, is that many of the examples focus on species that breed in Europe, and though he used a decent number of referenced papers for a 200-page book, it was quite easy to notice that he reused a lot of the same authors (how many times did I see Weimerskirch cited?). While it's fine to reference particular authors a multitude of times due to either the cutting-edge character of their work or due to their credibility, I know for a fact that there are many, many other reputable authors out there contributing to the wealth of seabird research. I can see why he did so, but it didn't fail to escape my notice, and seemed ... dare I say ... lazy.
Brooke's writing style was the perfect blend of entertaining and informative for me. I can see how someone expecting a Weidensaul-esque chatty, yet scientific, nonfiction piece could be disappointed. But, for me, that was just fine. The more information, the better. I didn't like, however, when Brooke decided he suddenly wanted to randomly include a very select few snarky comments in the form of footnotes. I hated this, actually. Why, when the entire rest of the book had a fairly serious tone, do this only a few times, then never again? If you're going to write a chatty scientific piece, then write it. But waffling a bit (and randomly so) just took the gravity away from his tone. Brooke is talking about some pretty serious subjects in this book - and ones that I, who have worked with seabirds for multiple biological field seasons, truly hold dear to my heart - and ones that the public do not fully recognize completely; the switch in moods is simply aggravating.
Overall, though, the discussion of all of the aspects of 'being a seabird' were handled very well. He did a good job of depicting a general idea of the life histories of a variety of groups of seabirds that - to be completely honest - aren't that similar. I would have liked for him to talk more about behavioral differences between different species (not just in foraging tactics), like in courtship displays and chick rearing.
One thing Brooke could have gone into more detail on, though, is how climate change is affecting seabirds. This topic was addressed at the end of the book and was rushed (about 4 pages covering climate change and seabirds, whereas about 15-20 pages devoted to seabird feeding tactics and adaptations).
I really would have loved for Brooke to have an even stronger, more abrasive agenda. Here is a man who has worked with seabirds for most of his life and is respected and credible: why not use this opportunity to fully stress that things in our current world need to change. There was a hint of it, but honestly, not nearly enough. If you're going to stand up for something, why do it half-heartedly? That's just a waste of everyone's time.
Complaining aside: loved the book, loved the information, would recommend this to anyone who has even a slight interest in seabirds. For those complaining of a serious, too scientific tone - a little science is good for you, it doesn't always pay to read fiction every day.
PEACE.
Jojo
I think Brooke covered the basics of seabird behavior and life well, and I enjoyed that he referenced a multitude of specific papers to further support his points. One thing I would like to point out, though, is that many of the examples focus on species that breed in Europe, and though he used a decent number of referenced papers for a 200-page book, it was quite easy to notice that he reused a lot of the same authors (how many times did I see Weimerskirch cited?). While it's fine to reference particular authors a multitude of times due to either the cutting-edge character of their work or due to their credibility, I know for a fact that there are many, many other reputable authors out there contributing to the wealth of seabird research. I can see why he did so, but it didn't fail to escape my notice, and seemed ... dare I say ... lazy.
Brooke's writing style was the perfect blend of entertaining and informative for me. I can see how someone expecting a Weidensaul-esque chatty, yet scientific, nonfiction piece could be disappointed. But, for me, that was just fine. The more information, the better. I didn't like, however, when Brooke decided he suddenly wanted to randomly include a very select few snarky comments in the form of footnotes. I hated this, actually. Why, when the entire rest of the book had a fairly serious tone, do this only a few times, then never again? If you're going to write a chatty scientific piece, then write it. But waffling a bit (and randomly so) just took the gravity away from his tone. Brooke is talking about some pretty serious subjects in this book - and ones that I, who have worked with seabirds for multiple biological field seasons, truly hold dear to my heart - and ones that the public do not fully recognize completely; the switch in moods is simply aggravating.
Overall, though, the discussion of all of the aspects of 'being a seabird' were handled very well. He did a good job of depicting a general idea of the life histories of a variety of groups of seabirds that - to be completely honest - aren't that similar. I would have liked for him to talk more about behavioral differences between different species (not just in foraging tactics), like in courtship displays and chick rearing.
One thing Brooke could have gone into more detail on, though, is how climate change is affecting seabirds. This topic was addressed at the end of the book and was rushed (about 4 pages covering climate change and seabirds, whereas about 15-20 pages devoted to seabird feeding tactics and adaptations).
I really would have loved for Brooke to have an even stronger, more abrasive agenda. Here is a man who has worked with seabirds for most of his life and is respected and credible: why not use this opportunity to fully stress that things in our current world need to change. There was a hint of it, but honestly, not nearly enough. If you're going to stand up for something, why do it half-heartedly? That's just a waste of everyone's time.
Complaining aside: loved the book, loved the information, would recommend this to anyone who has even a slight interest in seabirds. For those complaining of a serious, too scientific tone - a little science is good for you, it doesn't always pay to read fiction every day.
PEACE.
Jojo
April 8, 2025
Knew I'd enjoy this one right from the opening paragraph of the prelude:
"It is a happy fact that people following many different callings will aver that they have the best job in the world. A high-altitude mountaineer surely realises how intensely precious is life, his life which hangs by a centimeter thickness of rope as the sun rises over the eastern peaks. An art historian can visit the National Galleries in London or Washington and thrill equally at how the fierce, even angry daubing of bright paint yields a Van Gogh masterpiece. But let me throw into the debate another, perhaps unexpected occupation, the seabird biologist. What could be more exciting than visiting stupendously dramatic far-flung islands, encountering exquisite creatures, and trying to answer questions about their daily lives."
Rather than a cohesive story of strictly personal experiences this book is a combination of that and highlights of ground- breaking and impressive peer-reviewed research/scientific papers throughout the years. Early seabird research is referenced and compared to modern techniques which was interesting to read and think about. Incredible photos, illustrations, maps, and figures are included that put into perspective the crazy feats different species of seabirds go through in order to survive and raise young. The time it must've taken to make this book is mind-blowing and much appreciated from Michael Brooke. If the intricacies of seabird ecology interests you at all, especially numbers wise, (things like foraging depth, time spent underwater, distance traveled to/from breeding colonies, diet composition, etc.) then you'll enjoy this. I can see how this wouldn't be everyone but was an awesome read for me.
"It is a happy fact that people following many different callings will aver that they have the best job in the world. A high-altitude mountaineer surely realises how intensely precious is life, his life which hangs by a centimeter thickness of rope as the sun rises over the eastern peaks. An art historian can visit the National Galleries in London or Washington and thrill equally at how the fierce, even angry daubing of bright paint yields a Van Gogh masterpiece. But let me throw into the debate another, perhaps unexpected occupation, the seabird biologist. What could be more exciting than visiting stupendously dramatic far-flung islands, encountering exquisite creatures, and trying to answer questions about their daily lives."
Rather than a cohesive story of strictly personal experiences this book is a combination of that and highlights of ground- breaking and impressive peer-reviewed research/scientific papers throughout the years. Early seabird research is referenced and compared to modern techniques which was interesting to read and think about. Incredible photos, illustrations, maps, and figures are included that put into perspective the crazy feats different species of seabirds go through in order to survive and raise young. The time it must've taken to make this book is mind-blowing and much appreciated from Michael Brooke. If the intricacies of seabird ecology interests you at all, especially numbers wise, (things like foraging depth, time spent underwater, distance traveled to/from breeding colonies, diet composition, etc.) then you'll enjoy this. I can see how this wouldn't be everyone but was an awesome read for me.
February 17, 2021
Every aspect of the lives of seabirds is examined in this book. There are today something more than 10,000 species of birds recognized by ornithologists. Of those, 300-350 species are classified as sea birds, those that feed along a coast or out to sea. Until maybe 50 years ago, man knew remarkably little about these birds, but because of modern electronics, devices can be used to monitor so many aspects of the lives of birds that we have gained this knowledge. For the nonscientist , this can be pretty dry reading, but thanks to Michael Brooke the information has become fascinating to even the layman like myself. Brooks's style make this really an informative book, but also one that makes the reader want to know more and above all protect those many species of seabird.
September 20, 2021
Despite being all over the place and lacking in subject delineations, this book was quite the wealth of knowledge about the state of seabird research and our current understanding of seabird dispersal and migration. The last third of the book regarding the impacts of anthropogenic change on seabird colonies was well defined, but the rest of the book skipped around a little too often to keep one’s attention. I felt myself struggling to hang on to a lot of information and parse out different birds’ behaviors and life histories.
September 29, 2018
If you are interested in the mysterious world of seabirds, this book is very detailed and tells us much more than most people know. I found it fascinating, though not the easiest book to read. But it added greatly to my understanding, and for that, it is a 'must read'.
May 30, 2018
NF-Science
209 pages
The remarkable discoveries of what seabirds do.
Where they go. What they eat, how far they fly, the
depths of their dives etc.. Seabirds are amazing!
209 pages
The remarkable discoveries of what seabirds do.
Where they go. What they eat, how far they fly, the
depths of their dives etc.. Seabirds are amazing!
July 30, 2019
Found this book deeply fascinating and at times hilarious. Never thought I’d laugh out loud from a bird book.
May 29, 2020
Best starter book for ocean bird enthusiasts that there is.
February 26, 2018
* I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review a pre-publication version of this book. *
Ornithologist Michael Brooke has put together a very readable and highly interesting book about the behavioural habits of seabirds. This has been, until quite recently, a difficult area for researchers. Given how remote seabirds are from researchers most of the time, there has been a fair amount of intuition and guesswork underlying much of the research.
Brooke starts with a rundown of the technology breakthroughs that have allowed ornithologists to conduct much more comprehensive research than the simple tagging programs of the past.
"Not only can trans-oceanic flights be tracked with startling accuracy, it is also possible to tell, to within metres, where a breeding seabird is, whether it is flying or swimming, whether it is at the surface or underwater. If it is underwater, is its dive shallow or deep? It is possible to monitor the bird's heartbeat, and when it gulps down food".
Brooke canvasses the research that these technologies have enabled, going into breeding patterns, migrations, how and when birds feed, parental behaviour and much more. The picture that these new technologies allow researchers to draw is both interesting and, occasionally, jaw-dropping. Brooke mentions a shearwater that flew from Wales to Brazil in 16 days. Emperor penguins that can dive to a depth of 500 metres or more. Albatrosses that can scent food from 6 miles away. And much more.
The book is beautifully illustrated with many photo-realistic drawings of the seabirds being discussed. For a bird lover such as myself this book is a real treat.
Ornithologist Michael Brooke has put together a very readable and highly interesting book about the behavioural habits of seabirds. This has been, until quite recently, a difficult area for researchers. Given how remote seabirds are from researchers most of the time, there has been a fair amount of intuition and guesswork underlying much of the research.
Brooke starts with a rundown of the technology breakthroughs that have allowed ornithologists to conduct much more comprehensive research than the simple tagging programs of the past.
"Not only can trans-oceanic flights be tracked with startling accuracy, it is also possible to tell, to within metres, where a breeding seabird is, whether it is flying or swimming, whether it is at the surface or underwater. If it is underwater, is its dive shallow or deep? It is possible to monitor the bird's heartbeat, and when it gulps down food".
Brooke canvasses the research that these technologies have enabled, going into breeding patterns, migrations, how and when birds feed, parental behaviour and much more. The picture that these new technologies allow researchers to draw is both interesting and, occasionally, jaw-dropping. Brooke mentions a shearwater that flew from Wales to Brazil in 16 days. Emperor penguins that can dive to a depth of 500 metres or more. Albatrosses that can scent food from 6 miles away. And much more.
The book is beautifully illustrated with many photo-realistic drawings of the seabirds being discussed. For a bird lover such as myself this book is a real treat.
January 10, 2026
POV: you let your friend with the seabird hyperfixation to talk for four hundred pages
August 30, 2018
Looked interesting but read like a text book.
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