A Year of Birdsong: 52 Stories of Songbirds

by Dominic Couzens, Madeleine Floyd (Illustrator)

Fascinating stories about birdsong for every week of the year.

Leading bird expert Dominic Couzens takes us on a journey around the world to enjoy an authentic year of birdsong, from the influence of the blackbird's song on classical music to the amazing imitations of the lyrebird. A myriad of topics are covered, including bird nature and behavior, literature inspired by birdsong, the musicality of the sounds, and what different songs communicate. The fifty-two entries are illustrated by award-winning artist Madeleine Floyd and come with a QR code to let readers listen to the birdsong.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2022

About the author

Dominic Couzens is an expert bird guide and author. He has published numerous books and articles on natural history, including for BBC Wildlife and Bird Watching, specialising in birds and mammals. His books include Extreme Birds, Atlas of Rare Birds, The Secret Lives of Garden Birds, and Top 100 Birding Sites of the World.

He travels widely for writing and speaking, and his website is www.birdwords.co.uk.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book were gorgeous. I could frame all of them One of the biggest draws in picking up this book were the QR codes of birdsong for each bird. Playing the songs definitely made my cats' ears perk up. I enjoyed reading and learning about each bird featured in the book, some of which I'd heard of before and many of which I'd never heard of.

The birds featured in this book are very European-centered with a side of Africa, especially if that's their home country where they spend most of the year living. So if you're hoping to learn more about North American birds that you may see around your travels in the States, you'll be disappointed.

[Jess Keast · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's plenty of interesting information in this book, but also several things that let it down for me. Still definitely worth a read but use google to get better pictures and recordings than are provided.

The illustrations and recordings do NOT do the birds justice in the slightest. I spent a lot of time looking and listening on ebird.
The recordings are very variable, some long, some short, and some even have speaking in them. While the introduction talks about calls vs songs i did feel a little misled by the title.
The 52 weeks was confusing (and pointless?), especially when it says "at this time of year".
At times one wonders if the author even likes birds, as there are some oddly disparaging comments made about them.
The font makes numbers appear above and below the line. And odd kerning occasionally.
My book had poor printing with lots of the left hand page having shadowy text.
Why no afterword at all? Even a sentence or two would've improved the end of the book.

[Lisanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

All these different types of birdsong were a balm to my bird loving heart 🦅💛 Well, okay maybe some are better described as more of a shock to the heart… Like the distorted, apocalyptic sounds of the Australian magpie. Or the call of the white bellbird which can reach 125 dB. For reference, that’s the level at which “pain begins” according to the Environmental Noise decibel chart. Never knew a bird could actually give you acoustic trauma 🫠

I do wish this would have been a bit more extensive but I still got to read about some amazing birds so I’m content 🦅

[Aurora Lion Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok boek. Geen foto's van de vogels, wel grove tekeningen, waardoor ze wat moeilijk te herkennen zijn, zeker de exotische soorten.

Vrij mooi geschreven met veel boeiende weetjes over de vogels die zelfs helpen om de geluiden te onthouden en te associëren met de juiste vogel, omdat het geluid zo treffend wordt omschreven.

Het taalgebruik is soms wat wollig of de schrijver schrijft bijvoorbeeld "de jonge vogel voelt de dwang om...". Dit moet bv. "drang" zijn. Niemand dwingt die vogel om te zingen. Alsof iemand een geweer tegen zijn hoofdje houdt en zegt "zingen!".

De duur van de fragmenten is afhankelijk van de repetitiviteit van de vogel. Dit is goed gevonden. Zo kan je minder fouten maken.

De keuze van de vogelsoorten vond ik niet zo goed. Wat moet ik nu met het geluid van een "geelstuitbuidelspreeuw"? Als je geluiden gaat toevoegen van soorten waar we nog nooit van gehoord hebben, ja, dan kan je wel langer bezig zijn dan dat. Ook de inheemse soorten zijn onvolledig. Dus een beetje het mindere van allebei. Iedereen weet hoe een houtduif klinkt. Ik had er graag meer inheemse soorten in gehad die ik wou leren spotten en daarnaast de exotische soorten die tot de verbeelding spreken (pauw, quetzal, arend, valken, kolibrie, ijsvogel, paradijsvogel, flamingo, kaketoe, rijger, toekan, papegaaien...).

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another audition for 2024's Morning Time Book of the Year.

A Year of Birdsong is a beautifully put together book, with gorgeous illustrations and a couple pages of information and anecdotes for each bird, as well as a QR code to listen to that bird's song.

I could see this being a delightful addition to our Morning Time, but I will confess, I am more drawn to daily poetry than daily birds. We'll definitely keep this on the list for future years, but won't be immediately adding it to our bookshelf.

[Kelly Veatch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so informative! Each week it featured a different songbird. One thing that I really liked that for each bird, the author provided a QR code that when you clicked on it, it took you to a sound clip of that bird. It wad fun to read about the bird while listening to its song. The author offered a lot of interesting facts about his bird and connected it with literature, movies, science, and more. Pretty neat book for bird lovers!

[Ross Mckinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful book, a week by week sampling of birds that are singing then and why. Each chapter has a QR code linked to a birdsong player, and each chapter has a concise story about the bird species of the week. The stories are both engaging and educational. Highly recommended for bird lovers.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully presented book. Gorgeous illustrations and fascinating facts. It’s been a delight to have this with me through the year.

[Eric Dutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable reading for most ages.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t even plan it but how appropriate to start this book again on Earth Day. I remember the first Earth Day- it was in Arlington, VA on 22 April 1970.

Describes 1 bird every week and has a QR code so we can listen to its call. Fabulous!