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The Ascent of Birds: How Modern Science Is Revealing Their Story
When and where did the ancestors of modern birds evolve? What enabled them to survive the meteoric impact that wiped out the dinosaurs? How did these early birds spread across the globe and give rise to the 10,500-plus species we recognise today ― from the largest ratites to the smallest hummingbirds? Based on the latest scientific discoveries and enriched by personal observations, The Ascent of Birds sets out to answer these fundamental questions.
The Ascent of Birds is divided into self-contained chapters, or stories, that collectively encompass the evolution of modern birds from their origins in Gondwana, over 100 million years ago, to the present day. The stories are arranged in chronological order, from tinamous to tanagers, and describe the many dispersal and speciation events that underpin the world's 10,500-plus species. Although each chapter is spearheaded by a named bird and focuses on a specific evolutionary mechanism, the narrative will often explore the relevance of such events and processes to evolution in general.
The book starts with The Tinamou’s Story, which explains the presence of flightless birds in South America, Africa, and Australasia, and dispels the cherished role of continental drift as an explanation for their biogeography. It also introduces the concept of neoteny, an evolutionary trick that enabled dinosaurs to become birds and humans to conquer the planet.
The Vegavis's Story explores the evidence for a Cretaceous origin of modern birds and why they were able to survive the asteroid collision that saw the demise not only of dinosaurs but of up to three-quarters of all species.
The Duck's Story switches to why have so few species retained the ancestral copulatory organ? Or, put another way, why do most birds exhibit the paradoxical phenomenon of penis loss, despite all species requiring internal fertilisation?
The Hoatzin's Story reveals unexpected oceanic rafting from Africa to South a stranger-than-fiction means of dispersal that is now thought to account for the presence of other South American vertebrates, including geckos and monkeys.
The latest theories underpinning speciation are also explored. The Manakin’s Story, for example, reveals how South America’s extraordinarily rich avifauna has been shaped by past geological, oceanographic and climatic changes, while The Storm-Petrel’s Story examines how species can evolve from an ancestral population despite inhabiting the same geographical area. The thorny issue of what constitutes a species is discussed in The Albatross's Story, while The Penguin’s Story explores the effects of environment on phenotype ― in the case of the Emperor penguin, the harshest on the planet.
Recent genomic advances have given scientists novel approaches to explore the distant past and have revealed many unexpected journeys, including the unique overland dispersal of an early suboscine from Asia to South America (The Sapayoa’s Story) and the blackbird's ancestral sweepstake dispersals across the Atlantic (The Thrush’s Story).
Additional vignettes update more familiar concepts that encourage sexual selection (The Bird-of-Paradise's Story); extended phenotypes (The Bowerbird's Story); hybridisation (The Sparrow's Story); and 'great speciators' (The White-eye's Story). Finally, the book explores the raft of recent publications that help explain the evolution of cognitive skills (The Crow's Story); plumage colouration (The Starling's Story); and birdsong (The Finch's Story)
The Ascent of Birds is divided into self-contained chapters, or stories, that collectively encompass the evolution of modern birds from their origins in Gondwana, over 100 million years ago, to the present day. The stories are arranged in chronological order, from tinamous to tanagers, and describe the many dispersal and speciation events that underpin the world's 10,500-plus species. Although each chapter is spearheaded by a named bird and focuses on a specific evolutionary mechanism, the narrative will often explore the relevance of such events and processes to evolution in general.
The book starts with The Tinamou’s Story, which explains the presence of flightless birds in South America, Africa, and Australasia, and dispels the cherished role of continental drift as an explanation for their biogeography. It also introduces the concept of neoteny, an evolutionary trick that enabled dinosaurs to become birds and humans to conquer the planet.
The Vegavis's Story explores the evidence for a Cretaceous origin of modern birds and why they were able to survive the asteroid collision that saw the demise not only of dinosaurs but of up to three-quarters of all species.
The Duck's Story switches to why have so few species retained the ancestral copulatory organ? Or, put another way, why do most birds exhibit the paradoxical phenomenon of penis loss, despite all species requiring internal fertilisation?
The Hoatzin's Story reveals unexpected oceanic rafting from Africa to South a stranger-than-fiction means of dispersal that is now thought to account for the presence of other South American vertebrates, including geckos and monkeys.
The latest theories underpinning speciation are also explored. The Manakin’s Story, for example, reveals how South America’s extraordinarily rich avifauna has been shaped by past geological, oceanographic and climatic changes, while The Storm-Petrel’s Story examines how species can evolve from an ancestral population despite inhabiting the same geographical area. The thorny issue of what constitutes a species is discussed in The Albatross's Story, while The Penguin’s Story explores the effects of environment on phenotype ― in the case of the Emperor penguin, the harshest on the planet.
Recent genomic advances have given scientists novel approaches to explore the distant past and have revealed many unexpected journeys, including the unique overland dispersal of an early suboscine from Asia to South America (The Sapayoa’s Story) and the blackbird's ancestral sweepstake dispersals across the Atlantic (The Thrush’s Story).
Additional vignettes update more familiar concepts that encourage sexual selection (The Bird-of-Paradise's Story); extended phenotypes (The Bowerbird's Story); hybridisation (The Sparrow's Story); and 'great speciators' (The White-eye's Story). Finally, the book explores the raft of recent publications that help explain the evolution of cognitive skills (The Crow's Story); plumage colouration (The Starling's Story); and birdsong (The Finch's Story)
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 22, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 9, 2018
Every once in a while you stumble on a new natural history book that seems destined to be a classic. Is that a bold enough opening to convey how much I enjoyed The Ascent of Birds by John Reilly, new this spring from Pelagic Publishing? ... more
January 28, 2020
I have to say, I loved this book, and expect to be diving back into it from some time to come. It's an excellent and well-written resource on the evolution of modern birds, including the very latest information at the time it was written (2018).
I should, however, begin by pointing out what it isn't. In particular, it isn't an entire evolutionary history of birds. Archaeopteryx for instance, is only mentioned briefly and in passing. Rather, it deals only with the birds we have now, so that the story begins in the Late Cretaceous and primarily concerns what's colloquially known as the 'Age of Mammals'. (Although, in fact, there are more recognised bird species alive today than species of mammal...)
Instead, what we get is a chapter-by-chapter discussion of the different groups of modern bird, moving along the family tree from ostriches at one end to tanagers at the other. Not every order of living bird gets a full treatment here, perhaps because we know relatively little about some of them, but the coverage is nonetheless about as broad as it reasonably could be. Along the way, we are introduced to a whole host of evolutionary principles, most of which apply equally to other animal groups, as well as recounting the advances made by particular scientific studies.
There's discussion of sexual selection, vicariance, hybridisation, the species problem, Pleistocene refugia, and much more. There's also a fair amount about specific aspects of bird biology, including the mechanisms of long-distance migration, the cognitive abilities of crows, and why most male birds don't have a penis. This could have been a dry read but, for me at least, it certainly wasn't and - as somebody more familiar with mammalian biology - there were a number of things that were entirely new to me.
Perhaps it's a specialist interest, a topic that particular appeals to me. This isn't a glossy, coffee table book (although there a few pages of colour photos in the middle) but it isn't highly academic, either, written largely for the lay reader and containing a comprehensive glossary at the end.
I should, however, begin by pointing out what it isn't. In particular, it isn't an entire evolutionary history of birds. Archaeopteryx for instance, is only mentioned briefly and in passing. Rather, it deals only with the birds we have now, so that the story begins in the Late Cretaceous and primarily concerns what's colloquially known as the 'Age of Mammals'. (Although, in fact, there are more recognised bird species alive today than species of mammal...)
Instead, what we get is a chapter-by-chapter discussion of the different groups of modern bird, moving along the family tree from ostriches at one end to tanagers at the other. Not every order of living bird gets a full treatment here, perhaps because we know relatively little about some of them, but the coverage is nonetheless about as broad as it reasonably could be. Along the way, we are introduced to a whole host of evolutionary principles, most of which apply equally to other animal groups, as well as recounting the advances made by particular scientific studies.
There's discussion of sexual selection, vicariance, hybridisation, the species problem, Pleistocene refugia, and much more. There's also a fair amount about specific aspects of bird biology, including the mechanisms of long-distance migration, the cognitive abilities of crows, and why most male birds don't have a penis. This could have been a dry read but, for me at least, it certainly wasn't and - as somebody more familiar with mammalian biology - there were a number of things that were entirely new to me.
Perhaps it's a specialist interest, a topic that particular appeals to me. This isn't a glossy, coffee table book (although there a few pages of colour photos in the middle) but it isn't highly academic, either, written largely for the lay reader and containing a comprehensive glossary at the end.
February 7, 2021
Libro obligatorio para los amantes de las aves. Aunque algunas cosas han ido cambiando en los últimos años, te despierta tal curiosidad por la evolución de este grupo de animales, que acabas buscando tú mismo información sobre las diferentes especies. Se aprende muchísimo! Una maravilla.
February 21, 2021
I am in the absolute pinpoint demographic for this book, and every page contained some revelation. Absolutely fascinating stuff. I appreciate that it was written fairly straightforward, keeping the focus on the science and not, on, say personal reflection filler. Gets fairly technical at times, but all in service of the facts. Highly recommended for any bird-lover looking away from their lists towards a deeper understanding.
July 13, 2023
Excellent. I feel like I need to go back and read it again.
August 21, 2023
This is a book for the intelligent and inquisitive birder who wants to know the science– but also for students of evolutionary biology and all those who have wondered at how we have ended up, in any part of the world, with the mix of species we see today. It is written by an intelligent and inquisitive birder who understands the science, so it all works out!
It is a book about the evolutionary origins of, and relationships between, different groups of birds and about biogeography. The level of detail is astounding, and while several reviews describe it as beautifully written, I would characterize it as comprehensive in scope and that the break down of highly detailed information about exactly how bird families happened evolutionarily speaking is astounding but understandable in this account. There is the very occasional instance of going rogue (most notably when he calls David Sibley egotistical)--but he largely sticks to the pattern, whereby he walks the reader through what was known and written about birds from an early time, far earlier than Darwin, and then what we now know from DNA about birds.
It is a book about the evolutionary origins of, and relationships between, different groups of birds and about biogeography. The level of detail is astounding, and while several reviews describe it as beautifully written, I would characterize it as comprehensive in scope and that the break down of highly detailed information about exactly how bird families happened evolutionarily speaking is astounding but understandable in this account. There is the very occasional instance of going rogue (most notably when he calls David Sibley egotistical)--but he largely sticks to the pattern, whereby he walks the reader through what was known and written about birds from an early time, far earlier than Darwin, and then what we now know from DNA about birds.
February 24, 2020
A highly readable and enjoyable, tour-de-force of avian evolution and diversification, in which the author highlights how the birds we see today came to be and their geographic distribution. This book will enlighten on several fronts and simply will not disappoint, especially to anyone interesting in birds and evolution. Highly recommended reading!
October 28, 2025
Hardcore bird science, so probably not the easiest read for a beginner. But the excellent structure of the book, the extraordinary knowledge levels it contains and the author's ability to tell a good story well get this the full five stars.
July 26, 2021
A really satisfying book for anyone interested in the origins of birds.
November 28, 2021
Excellent overview of avian evolution
This is a book both professional ornithologists and amateur bird watchers must read. The story of avian evolution, masterfully told.
This is a book both professional ornithologists and amateur bird watchers must read. The story of avian evolution, masterfully told.
January 16, 2023
This is the book that I have been waiting for for a long time! A comprehensive guide to the current state of our understanding, without dumbing it down too much, and using engaging stories.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews