The Wonder of Birds: What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future. By Jim Robbins. 2017. Spiegel and Grau, Penguin Random House, New York. 352 pp.

Abstract

world (pp. 81–83). The royal rooster has become a commodity and suffers at human hands. The actual costs of factory farmed chicken are hidden by keeping consumers unaware of the inhumane treatment of the chickens, the workers, the farmers who work as sharecroppers living below the poverty line, and the manure that pollutes land and water, leading to dead zones at sea (pp. 84–85). A central problem of the book is that the author does not follow through on the goals he sets and contradicts his stated aim. The preface argues that “It’s time to be more inclusive and more creative, to peer beneath the surface to vastly broaden our scope, to consider other ways of seeing and being in the world, and to reframe our perspective of nature, which will ultimately make us a far more resilient species” (p. xviii). He calls for an ethno-ornithological approach that can deepen our relationship to birds through Indigenous teachings. However, after claiming that birds offer us alternative perspectives on the world and the issues we face, he then expounds on the material benefits birds offer. Although the details of bird anatomy and behavior are intriguing, he justifies appreciation for birds by describing how this knowledge of birds can be used for medicine and engineering, such as understanding brain function and designing better planes and trains or paint (p. 26). He seems to believe people will appreciate birds because they are useful— for search and rescue missions (p. 239), for preventing or treating disease (p. 217), and reducing pests (p. 222). The author also ignores the pet trade This book explores the mystery and beauty of birds. There are chapters full of suspense— exploring avian enigmas such as flocks synchronizing their movements in murmurations, chickadees transferring complex information using calls with syntax, and migrations of Arctic terns traveling 12,000 miles. Other chapters provide fascinating detail on the aerodynamics of feathers that transmit information through skin attachments, avian eyesight with ultraviolet perception and magnetoreception, and extreme physiology that enables birds to endure great heights and depths with freezing temperatures. The author’s love for birds shines throughout the book and he writes in an engaging style. Each chapter begins with an elegant illustration by D.D. Dowden and quotes from Dickinson, Thoreau, John Lennon, and Mehmet Murat Ildan. Unfortunately, the scientific names of the birds are not included. The author describes what birds provide through food, feathers, dispersal of seeds and pollen, reducing insect pests, and guidance to people with advice or warnings. Birds “maintain ecosystem function and resilience” by “balancing the world” (pp. 109; 114). Robbins wants people to understand and appreciate birds because people conserve what they love. He addresses the types of emotional connection people have with birds and their power to heal. Through “Wings Over America,” at-risk teens and imprisoned youth in Washington, D.C. are introduced to falcons and taught how to protect these magnificent birds. Yet, Robbins laments that we have lost a sense of the sacred—of the cosmic egg as the origin of the The Wonder of Birds: What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Be er Future. By Jim Robbins. 2017. Spiegel and Grau, Penguin Random House, New York. 352 pp.