La sabiduría de las aves: Una historia ilustrada de la ornitología

by Tim Birkhead, Patricia Pérez Rovira (Translator)

La sabiduría de las aves

Genres: Birds, Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Biology, Natural History, History

456 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Tim Birkhead is an award-winning author and one of the world’s leading bird biologists. He is the coauthor of Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin (Princeton) and the author of The Wonderful Mr. Willughby: The First True Ornithologist, The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg, and Bird Sense: What It’s Like to Be a Bird, among other books. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and professor emeritus of zoology at the University of Sheffield.

Reviews

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sub-title of Birkhead’s book tells you pretty accurately what to expect, except that it doesn't tell you that it’s limited to scientific work based mostly in Europe and, within that, mostly in the UK. Perfect if you’re interested in tracing the development of British ornithology as a science, less so if, like me, you’re someone from the southern hemisphere whose birds and scientists don't get a mention.

Within those limitations, I can understand the enthusiasm by which it has been received by British bird people like Bill Oddie and Mark Cocker, author of Birds Britannica. Birkhead has a great deal of knowledge (bird wisdom?), both book learning and observational, and writes straightforwardly on areas of science that can be quite difficult to understand, such as evolution.

The book is beautifully produced. Our hard back edition has paper that feels good to the touch and hundreds of beautiful illustrations, many in colour and mostly reproductions of prints and paintings of birds and bird parts – there’s a lot of anatomy in this book. I can't imagine it in paperback, much of its joy would be diminished.

The reader needs to be ready to read about experiments with live birds that are designed with the worthiest scientific intentions, but which made me feel deeply for the poor little birds who were the experimental subjects – objects, would be a better word, I think.

But of course there were many things that caught my interest, given that I’m interested in bird cognition and behaviour. For instance:

. Birds like parrots and crows are pre-adapted to learn things relevant to their survival. There is no hard divide between nature and nurture in learning, but a continuum of behaviour dictated and moulded by the environment. In complex environments, natural selection has favoured bigger brains and more flexibility. (p129).

. The cue that birds use for breeding and migration is day length, indicating change of season and therefore food availability.

. Birds have territories for which males compete, using song to deter other males and to attract females. Territories can be for food and nesting and are often shard with other species whose nesting and food requirements are different.

. Natural selection operates on individuals, not for the good of the species, therefore any effect that territory has in regulating bird populations is a consequence of territoriality, not its cause.

. Females of many species are promiscuous. Eggs may be fertilised by more than one male. Some very entertaining descriptions of some male bird behaviours designed to keep control of paternity (sparrows, eg, mate multiple times an hour). The more often a bird mates the earlier it will die (of exhaustion?).

[Igor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Зміст відповідає назві: тут є і купа красивих ілюстрацій, і низка об'єднаних у тематичні розділи історій про орнітологію, від Аристотеля до наших днів. Книжка цікаво пояснює, як учені відповіли на багато питань, що так довго їх бентежили, наприклад: чому курка може відкладати запліднені яйця ще три тижні після зустрічі з півнем? Чи зимують ластівки на дні ставка, як вважалось протягом багатьох століть? Скільки насправді живуть птахи і чи прискорюється їхнє старіння від надмірного сексу?

[Tilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

This was a good Ornithological book but not the best I have read. Even though only written in 2008, it feels peetty out of date as well.
The writing was good and there was a decent amount of interesting information. I also liked the different types of illustrations throughout from different stages in bird science.
Unfortunately I did get a little bored at times and have definitely learnt more ornithology from other books which is why I am only giving 3 stars.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hardly know how to rate this book! I very much enjoyed parts of it, and loved the beautiful historical illustrations. The author undertook to find out how we know what we know about birds--the people whose ideas and study helped us to discover things like migration, reproduction, territory, etc. There was a LOT of evolutionary theory in the book. I sort of expected that. There was also a LOT of "bird sex" I was a little less thrilled with that. I suppose it's necessary, but it's not why I am interested in birds. :-) I wish I could give the first part of the book a "4" and the rest a 2 or a 3. There was a lot of information in here that was fascinating, but also some stuff I skimmed. And at 400 pages, it still took me a long time to read it!
If you are a bird nut and interested in bird reproduction, this book is terrific. If you are a run-of-the-mill birdwatcher, perhaps borrow it from the library and just skim or skip the chapters on sex and infidelity.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subtitle is "An Illustrated History of Ornithology". It has an interesting approach to approaching that subjext, looking at what the author argues is the most influential ornithologist of all time – John Ray. He was a late 17th century English naturalist who wrote some very influential books. Birkhead believes that Ray “was the turning point”, and that his ideas “launched the study of modern ornithology”. The most important thing he changed was going from studying birds in captivity to studying birds not in captivity to learn about their behavior--this seems so obvious, and it led to a burst of knowledge, but it is clearly easier to capture them than to find them in the wild and follow them!
This book walks the reader through the range of topics that comprise modern ornithology, going through what used to be thought occurred and then what we know now. It also includes a good number of high-quality reproductions of vintage paintings and diagrams. Ranging in origin from the medieval period through the early 20th century, they depict birds and activities mentioned in the text. As someone who is just scratching the surface on the biology of birds, I learned a lot.

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un maravilloso e interesante recorrido por la historia de la ciencia a través de las aves, muy bien explicado y acompañado de unas ilustraciones hermosas

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book answered, in broad outline, many of my questions about birds and their activities. It went on to answer some I had not thought to ask. I enjoyed this history of the study of birds, from Aristotle to today, all through the lens of the work of a late seventeenth century pioneer who anticipated many of the questions that later students of birds worked to answer. The illustrations are beautiful and relevant.

[Robert Klonoski]

Half the joy in reading tWoB was entirely experiential. Pages almost heavy to the hand, dense and thoroughly opaque, that lay flat without restraint. Clean edged font in uniform black. Profusely illustrated with exquisite full color art. Everything says "we are proud of what we did here."

And Mr. Birkhead brings a deep love for the subject, a warm appreciation for the diversity of characters, and a probing scientific inquiry to the critical ornithological matters at hand, as they evolved. In ten cohesive chapters he covers what we now know as it arose from what we thought we knew. He perfectly meshes the history with the biology, and takes us from birds as food, and entertainment, and living art to the meld of field observation and often clever experimentation that is modern ornithology, all the while offering a deep appreciation for the marvels of feather and song that we love.

[Lynn Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Birkheads writing style is very accessible to the non-biologist and he makes the research into Ornithology fascinating, the scientists come to life as people. One thing I did not understand before I read this , was how the world views of themselves and those of the scientists and non-scientists in their society around them shaped the way they studied and wrote about their research, e.g. it was very hard to disagree with Aristotle, or write something that the inquisition would want to suppress. Also how bird breeders through the ages could have told the scientists a lot, if only they had been asked! Thoroughly recommend it.

[Ricki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for ten years and it’s only when cleaning during lockdown that I found it again. It is both a beautiful book and in a sense a timeless one. I’m sure current studies take the science further but this views the historical development of the thinking and research about various aspects of birds and that history is fascinating and isn’t going to change. It’s readable, flows well and I highly recommend it. You don’t need lots of prior knowledge to enjoy it and if, like me, you want to dip into it in bits and bobs, that works well too.

[Jente Ottenburghs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been standing in my ornithology collection for some time. Finally, I started reading it and I was not disappointed. A wonderful overview of the history of ornithology with great insights. A nice mixture between old ideas and current knowledge. In some sections the text was a bit too heavy on the quotations, but luckily that did not break the flow of the story.

[Tim Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, just not quite as interesting as I had hoped. A little bit lost in between history of science and current (ish) science. Lots of nice illustrations that didn't really need to be there. They were nice pictures to look at, not an integral part of the history. Took me back to Sheffield zoology lectures though which was nice!

[Garrett Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read book by any bird/ornithology nerd. A very broad but detailed history of ornithology and what amazing things we have learned about birds and how much more there is to learn. Read this book and come away with a much greater knowledge and appreciation of birds than you had before .

[Hildegunn Hodne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main title is a bit confusing as it's really not a book about the wisdom of birds. However, it is an interesting book about the history of ornithology and the people involved in deciphering the lives and habits of birds. And it's well worth a read.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

great very interesting book for bird lovers. a lot of fun new knowledge.

[Ramona Gherghe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well documented, really informative book. It's a must read for any birds lovers.

[Ángel · Rating 5 out of 5]

El mejor libro de divulgación científica sobre biología de aves que existe.

[Wesley Poelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only for birdfreaks ;-)

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Low-key history of bird science. Lots of good nuggets in here, e.g., we didn't know that birds migrated for a long time; we thought that birds hibernated underwater during the winter.
The book was written partially to answer the question: who were the most important ornithologists? I was surprised that Aristotle dominated the field for a long time. There are no non-Western ornithologists listed. Apparently if the Chinese have studied birds, their work hasn't made a big impact on Western ornithology yet. Seems like there's an opportunity there.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb! This one was a Christmas present and it was a joy to read. I enjoyed every page including all of the old illustrations.

If you are interested in birds and want to dig deeper into your avocation, I enthusiastically recommend “The Wisdom of Birds” by Tim Birkhead. The hefty volume traces the history of ornithology, detailing how the amateur birdwatchers, out in the field, changed the study of birds, removing it from the hands of the stuffy old museum men and their dried specimens and taking the science outside where it belongs.

Along the way, Birkhead writes about the curious life histories of many species and how careful observation of each cleared up many mysteries. No, swallows do not spend their winters at the bottom of ponds but many very learned men believed it so for hundreds of years.

Also, why do male birds sing so ardently in the spring? And who figured it out? And just why do those salacious house sparrows couple 15 to 20 times an hour during their mating season? Yes, there’s a reason, although, such ardent behavior can shorten a bird’s life.

Well researched. Wonderfully presented.

[David R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what was advertised, but satisfactory reading. Birkhead steps through mostly early revelations about bird behavior with heavy focus on the eminent 17th century ornithologist John Ray (ca.1676) The material is arranged topically, with individual chapters on migration, infidelity, etc. the illustrations from early scholarly works are lush and don't get in the way of the text. This one is probably appropriate only for readers with a keen interest in birds.

[Chhanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

just finished reading this book. it was absolutely fascinating. combining two of my favorite subjects--history and birds. what could be better than this? there were so many 'aha', 'so thats how it works' moments in this book. if you are even slightly curious about nature, birds etc. browse this book. it is written in simple english, very little scientific jargon. just the basic biology of birds is utterly fascinating.

[Hannes · Rating 4 out of 5]

De titel is misleidend en ondertitel is belangrijk: je zult meer leren over de geschiedenis van ornithologie en leven van ornithologen dan over de vogels zelf. Niettemin interessant en knap geïllustreerd.

The title is misleading and subtitle is important: you'll learn more about the history of ornithology and life of important ornithologists than about birds. Nevertheless, worth the read and great illustrations.

[Louise Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this fascinating history of ornithology down. It is compellingly written, as much for the lay person as for the professional.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in birds; even if you don't read it, immerse yourself in the color plates of birds from all over the world, painted from medieval times to the present.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really informative book! Full of lovely illustrations out of some of the original works or past ornithologists. Gives a history of one of the most popular sections of zoology today in very good detail, which is also easy to read. If you even just slightly interested in the history of any science or bird then this is the book for you.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! Tim Birkhead loves his subject: the development of ornithology through the centuries. Included are lovely illustrations and some science made completely accessible - sheds some light on the chicken and egg conundrum.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I learned so much and was completely engaged from start to finish. A whole new world has been revealed to me!

[Mark Greco · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic introduction to the subject of ornithology, its history and some of the main players. An informative and engaging read.

[Mark Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting description of what people used to believe and why they used to believe them.

[Rolf De · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting for anyone with a love of birds ...