The Nesting Season: Cuckoos, Cuckolds, and the Invention of Monogamy

by Bernd Heinrich

Why are the eggs of the marsh wren deep brown, the winter wren's nearly white, and the gray catbird's a brilliant blue? And what in the DNA of a penduline tit makes the male weave a domed nest of fibers and the female line it with feathers, while the bird-of-paradise male builds no nest at all, and his bower-bird counterpart constructs an elaborate dwelling? These are typical questions that Bernd Heinrich pursues in the engaging style we've come to expect from him—supplemented here with his own stunning photographs and original watercolors. One of the world's great naturalists and nature writers, Heinrich shows us how the sensual beauty of birds can open our eyes to a hidden evolutionary process. Nesting, as Heinrich explores it here, encompasses what fascinates us most about birds—from their delightful songs and spectacular displays to their varied eggs and colorful plumage; from their sex roles and mating rituals to nest parasitism, infanticide, and predation. What moves birds to mate and parent their young in so many different ways is what interests Heinrich—and his insights into the nesting behavior of birds has more than a little to say about our own.

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

352 pages, Hardcover

First published May 15, 2010

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

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very readable and highly informative discussion of birds' nesting behavior, with a focus on the northeastern U.S. See my full review.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book yet again by Bernd. He has matured in his writing in that he does not limit himself to only proven facts with regards to his observations. He now allows himself some speculation as to the root of animal behavior.

- I read eveythingg he writes so this was a natural pick

[Suzanne Auckerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent bird book. It was organized very well. It started out a little slow and spent a lot of time on whether birds were monogamous. But then it got very interesting about parasitism and nest building, egg laying, etc. If you like birds, it is an excellent read.

[Lavinia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tries to present a narrative arc over the course of the "mating season" -- meeting a mate, making/finding a nest, laying eggs, raising fledglings (or not) -- for what seems like every bird in existence. The length of the sections and their meandering nature means that narrative arc is broken up. But I did enjoy the descriptions of fieldwork, as well as the diversity of behaviors described. Heinrich embraces a certain degree of anthropomorphism on the grounds that humans feel certain emotions in response to certain stimuli and it's reasonable shorthand to say that animals feel them too in response to the same. However, he also doesn't shy away from describing behaviors that would seem monstrous to humans (like killing a neighbor's children to force her to raise your own) without attempting to make them more palatable -- drawing the comparison makes the human reader more aware of the animal-ness of humans, without speciously inventing more human-ness in animals. I found the ecological and economic speculations about what drives birds to certain behaviors better thought out than the attempts to describe natural beauty. It's a little difficult to picture the birds and I resorted to a lot of image searches, but easy to understand their behavior.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love evolutionary biology so much.

I thought this was fantastic. It is definitely a piece of academic work so may not be palatable/accessible/comprehensible to the lay-reader (to whom I highly suggest The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan).

But as someone who has gotten seriously into learning about birds and their behavior, I really appreciated this in-depth, works-cited book about bird evolutionary biology published by Harvard University Press.

[CodyWolfHiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the latter half drags a bit, but overall a fascinating and well written world.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heinrich's books are always fascinating. I found this one to contain a bit more than I wanted to read about birds and their nests and eggs and behavior but just when I would tire of reading it, Heinrich would describe another amazing bit of bird knowledge. Here is a taste:" When I did manage to drop food into the baby phoebe's mouth, it swallowed and then as in a reflex, instantly turned around within a second presented its rear end to me, voiding a fecal pellet, before immediately dropping back down to sleep. It did not do this at every feeding, but it did not do it in between feedings. Thus, the parents has only to wait a second at the nest, and in that time, while already there, it attends to nest hygiene. Now I knew how the phoebes could keep their nest so immaculately clean without much extra effort."

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one can write like Heinrich when it comes to describing science in action. His inquisitive and very scientific mind coupled with his great enthusiasm for learning and knowledge make everything he writes interesting. I especially liked this book because it covered a wide range of behaviors and breeding systems for birds. He covered the theory and then gave examples of what he has observed around his home and cabin. Great read!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read other reviews of this book that complained the author was too repetitive, but I found that it helped me learn and retain the subject matter. I am passionate about bird life and this book taught me a lot about their nest-building, mate-choosing, egg-laying habits. I do think it could have used a better editor, though. Some paragraphs could have used some tightening up.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but repetitious, disorganized, and desperately in need of proofreading.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining learning experience.
A great read for anyone interested in birds and nature.

[Zhiyuan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bernd's book on natural history is, as always, enjoyable to read.