The Wonder of Birds: What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future

In this engaging, thoughtful title, Robbins (The Man Who Planted Trees), an accomplished science reporter for the New York Times since 1980, surveys birds' notable characteristics and their impact on humans in a worldwide survey. Topics include evolution, flight, the qualities of feathers, birds both domestic and wild as food, language, intelligence, physiology, and extreme feats of migration. An astounding chapter on guano, once a vital economic resource, segues into a look at birds as spreaders of seeds. Though the single black-and-white drawings at the start of each chapter are effective, some readers may wish for more illustrations throughout the volume. Also, most of the authors and intriguing articles cited are not also listed in the bibliography. Despite some minor flaws, however, this work is worthy of a place alongside David Attenborough's documentary The Life of Birds or Graeme Gibson's The Bedside Book of Birds.