Bird Bonds: Sex, Mate-Choice and Cognition in Australian Native Birds

Abstract

b a Some parts of this book are novel, interesting, or stimulating; the bibliography is useful. Much, however, has less to do with sex and mate-choice than with cognition and brain chemistry, some already appearing in the author’s Bird Minds (Kaplan 2016). Substantial parts are of value, notably where broad cognitive issues and research are discussed. Kaplan suggests that habitat complexity promotes avian intelligence, that pair-bonding is more than just about reproduction, and that bonding and cooperative group living correlate with longevity. As in Bird Minds, however, this book contains anthropomorphism, speculation (much unfounded), and factual errors so numerous that I cannot note them all. In presenting and interpreting her anecdotal observations of bird behaviour, the author is as much out of her depth as previously (see reviews of her bird books by Jarman & Jones 2005; Brigham 2008; Frith 2018; Ley 2018).