White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows – Questions and Insights from an Acclaimed Naturalist

by Bernd Heinrich

The surprising, rich life of tree swallows in nesting season—with Heinrich’s beautiful illustrations and photographs—by the acclaimed naturalist.Heinrich is sparked one early spring day by a Why does a pair of swallows in a nest-box close to his Maine cabin show an unvarying preference for white feathers—not easily available nearby—as nest lining? He notices, too, the extreme aggressiveness of “his” swallows toward some other swallows of their own kind. And he wonders, given swallows’ reputation for feistiness, at the extraordinary tameness and close contact he experiences with his nesting birds. From the author of the beloved books Ravens in Winter and A Naturalist at Large, this richly engaging view of the lives of wild birds, as always with Heinrich, yields “marvelous, mind-altering” insight and discoveries. —Los Angeles Times  

Genres: Birds, Nature, Science, Nonfiction, Animals

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 18, 2020

About the author

Bernd Heinrich was born in Germany and moved to Wilton, Maine as a child. He studied at the University of Maine and UCLA and is Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of Vermont.

He is the author of many books including Winter World, Ravens in Winter, Mind of the Raven, and Why We Run. Many of his books focus on the natural world just outside the cabin door.

Heinrich has won numerous awards for his writing and is a world class ultra-marathon runner.

He spends much of the year at a rustic cabin that he built himself in the woods near Weld, Maine.

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good book by Bernd Heinrich, naturalist, teacher, author and Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University of Vermont. While not one of my favorites by the author, it is nevertheless definitely worth reading.

The author writes of the nesting habits of American tree swallows. Each year, over an eight year period, he has studied that year’s swallow pair who has claimed as their own one of the nest-boxes adjacent to his Maine cabin. He has several nest-boxes, but each year only one is inhabited. He studies them according to the rigors of full scientific protocol, carefully noting down all aspects of their nesting behavior. He conducts experiments to test hypotheses.

Why tree swallows line their nests with white feathers is a question he seeks to answer. Is the choice of white feathers due simply to a preference for them? Is their choice related to the insulation they provide and the protection they give against cuckolding and parasitism? Aspects related to the choice of nest-box, its lining with grass or sometimes pine needles, feather-playing, the mating process, the laying of eggs, the importance of clutch size, incubation, divebombing behavior and the fledgling of the chicks are followed year by year.

By accustoming the swallows to his presence, he has been able to touch them. They have come to take feathers from him! The intimate relationship he has established with these birds is astounding. It is a result of his engagement, his in depth knowledge and careful observation of individual birds, one by one.

Bernd Heinrich is a scientist, and he conducts his experiments with precision. While this is exactly how it should be, in following the experiments carried out year by year, the data presentation does at times become tedious and repetitive. His wording is clear and precise. It is not hard to understand the conclusions drawn. He points out where additional testing is necessary before conclusive results can be attained.

Rick Adamson narrates the audiobook marvelously. His narration I have given five stars. He mimics the calls and chirps of the birds. Every word spoken is clear and the tempo perfect. There should have been added a PDF file with the book’s photos and illustrations.

I recommend this book. I don’t think you will regret the time spent reading or listening to it.

*************************

*The Snoring Bird: My Family's Journey Through a Century of Biology 5 stars
*Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds 4 stars
*One Wild Bird at a Time: Portraits of Individual Lives 4 stars
*White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows 3 stars
*Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival 3 stars
*A Year in the Maine Woods 3 stars
*A Naturalist at Large: The Best Essays of Bernd Heinrich 3 stars
*Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs: How the Struggle for Survival Has Shaped Birds and Their Behavior TBR
*Summer World: A Season of Bounty TBR
*Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death TBR

[Camelia Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend of mine is a birdwatcher. I once sat with her on a rock in the neighbourhood woods on a spring day, holding our binoculars upwards, looking for birds and listening to their chirpings. She taught me how to differentiate birds by their appearance and songs, but I was a bad student. Neverness, I find birdwatching therapeutic.

Audiobooking White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows is like listening to an expert's birdwatching. Bernd Heinrich observed, documented and analyzed the nesting habits of tree swallows in a clearing in Maine woods between 2012 to 2018.

[Edward Amato · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is Encouraging to note that more is going on in Maine other than what is being reported by Steven King. Heinrich is more interested in the macaw more that the macabre. Although having thought that, Maine being overrun with parrots would be bizarre. Perhaps I have planted the seed of a literary collaboration.
White Feathers is another interesting study of Tree Swallows. Having read the author's books on ravens, which I thought were brilliant, I was excited to read another of his books. It was very insightful. I must admit I was annoyed on behalf of the swallows that he kept on removing the hard-earned feathers they were using for their nests. I guess in compensation he was providing them easily enough without the hard searching that they may have had to exercise. All in all a fascinating book.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Feathers, or the one in which Bernd Heinrich does his best impression of a trickster god by continuously messing with the poor swallows, who are just trying their best, by first giving them feathers and then taking them away to see what happens. The more I know about the scientific method, the more I understand why alien abduction movies are like that.

Regardless of how rude this was to the birds, it was absolutely fascinating to see how they behave, and how their commitment to their partners, their nest and the chicks goes through stages.

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Secret Lives of Birds, in this case, tree swallows. Their day to day lives in detail. Surprisingly riveting.

[Shirley Chapura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as his previous books but still enjoyable. I now watch birds a bit differently!

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Had gotten this from the library before the quarantine went into full effect. Not really sure what I had expected with it. I usually have liked Heinrich's work, but have mostly read essay pieces of his, or parts of books. I felt this one read more like a journal of observations, which held my interest for a chunk of the book, until stylistically, it didn't.

[David Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read some general interest bird books and have enjoyed them. This title, however, was my first foray into a highly-detailed look at one specific bird species, containing the work of a skilled and highly-disciplined naturalist bird watcher. There is a lot of fascinating information on the annual nest-building, mating, and young-raising habits of tree swallows.

Over the course of several spring mating seasons, the author observes intently the nest boxes in his yard and devotes an astonishing amount of time collecting data in a detailed fashion. Much of the information was less impressive to me than the amazing fortitude and incredible attention Heinrich gave to his task of understanding the behavior of swallows. As much as I enjoyed the activities of the swallows recounted here, I found myself frequently marveling at the discipline of the observer and the detail shared in the explanation of the birds' behaviors.

The central draw for me is the unusual and fascinating interest the swallows express in the lining their nest with feathers. The author cleverly conducted various experiments with feathers of various colors, shapes, and sizes. Sometimes he would lay them on the ground and observe which ones were chosen and used, sometimes he would remove feathers from a nest and watch to see which ones were replace, and sometimes he would toss them in the air and watch swallows catch them in flight or even nearly pluck them from his fingers.

If you have any interest at all in swallows particularly, or even birds in general, this book will be particularly enjoyable and potentially fascinating.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley.com for the electronic advance review copy.

[Mandy Applin Northwoods · Rating 4 out of 5]

"To be successful as a naturalist requires the mindset of a beggar, eager and thankful for every crumb of information". This book is basically Bernd's detailed field journals that have been turned into the story of sparrow watching. He studies the white feathers that are included in Tree Swallow nests, among other behaviors of the birds. Bernd is interested to find out where the feathers are gathered, what purpose do they serve, what happens if they're removed from the nest, what do the birds do if they're offered gray or black feathers ... and more! I like Bernd. I met him at a Northern Woodlands conference last year. He is an interesting man, tells engaging stories, and has quite a life history to share. The information in the book was fascinating. I wish there had been more in the way of his personal philosophy as a naturalist. I did appreciate reading his thoughts about emotions in the animal kingdom and his writing about anthropomorphism (although brief).

[Ben Landrum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was essentially a play-by-play of what went down at the author’s bird boxes over several years. The titular question of why tree swallows put white feathers in their nests was only hypothesized about in the epilogue, and the actual content of the book doesn’t do anything to support or refute his theory that the feathers are meant to indicate to other birds that a nesting cavity is occupied.

I suppose the target audience is people who enjoy being cornered at parties by the most obsessive kind of birder, or are jealous of those who have unbelievable amounts of time to sit outside interacting with birds and taking notes on their behavior.

This would be a 2 star review, but the author mentions that his birthday is April 19th, which also happens to be my birthday.

Only recommended if you’re obsessed with bird behavior.

[Marianne K · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author reports in minute detail the nesting habits of tree swallows he observes surrounding his Maine cabin. The author seems quite addicted to tracking and compiling data on all aspects of the swallows during 9 spring seasons. Believe it or not, it makes for mesmerizing reading! I did not want the book to end. I consider myself a bird lover of the casual endeavor, so I found the occasional bird facts thrown in fascinating. The title comes from the tree swallows' predilection for lining their nests with white feathers collected during the egg incubation process. An enjoyable and interesting read.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bernd Heinrich really has a way of making me want to go out and become some sort of a naturalist. His books always involve him just kinda hanging around in nature and observing animals and their behaviors, and it sounds so peaceful and interesting.

This is another one like that, where Heinrich details observations made over a few years of a few pairs of tree swallows nesting on his property. Looking forward to seeing some tree swallows myself when the appropriate season comes around now ☺.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting look at the nesting habits of tree swallows near the author's cabin in Maine(?) over 7 or 8 years. His ability sit and watch and note the most minute behaviors is impressive, but I struggled to stay interested towards the middle of the book as much of the behavior felt repetitive to me. However, Heinrich did manage to make egg laying and fledging very suspenseful. I was always rooting for those little birds to just FLY ALREADY!

[Torie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Bernd Heinrich's books. They're so slow and comforting to read, I really wish more people took the time to watch the world at the depth and with the curiosity Heinrich does. White Feathers isn't really a story- it does follow nearly a decade of nesting tree swallow pairs on his property, but it reads more like a journal of his observations with time stamps and hypotheses and questions about swallow behavior.

[Sj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goes into minute detail of nesting tree swallows over several years. I do admire his ability to do field work despite hordes of biting black flies. The book really demonstrates just how difficult surviving in the wild can be for individual animals. I much prefer his earlier books like Winter World or Ravens in Winter.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, I read a whole book about tree swallows...and I liked it. It’s probably not for everyone, but I still wanted to put a plug in for Bernd Heinrich, who is a gem. Totally recommend checking out some of his other work (Winter World, for example, or Mind of the Raven.) Good stuff!

[Gail Kennon · Rating 3 out of 5]

three and a half. all of a sudden i realized that this steady, detailed, day by day, year by year, reporting of the nesting behaviors of a pair of swallows each year, had made me so much more aware of the fullness of life lived by an individual bird. how wonderfull.

[Sherry Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt terribly drawn out. I kept thinking about how I would enjoy watching and experiencing his days with the birds. I wondered why I didn’t love reading about it then. Maybe my timing was bad to read it?

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second book I've read by this author- not as compelling as Mind of the Raven, but tree swallows don't have the personality of a raven. Beautifully written book, this, and I learned a lot.

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful science written beautifully. Heinrich draws you on to his forested land in the Maine woods and then guides you through his daily life to experience the wonders of his field research.

[Donna Luu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more essays. This was slightly interesting, but read more like direct journals without enough editing or analysis.

[Katie Corbeill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting look into the nesting habits of tree swallows, but painstakingly slow.

[Chloe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read for work.
Like all of Heinrich's publications, this book is dreadfully tedious and glorifies exploitation of wildlife.

[alex zeidman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but interesting read about the nesting habits of the common tree swallow. Nice narrative made it an easy read