On the wing

Abstract

Birds are fascinating. For one thing, they can do what we cannot, like flying—as easily as anything at that, like a flock of Common Swifts Apus apus hastening through the late summer skies with their piercing screams, or a Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans whose tip of the wing slices the ocean surface while the bird rides the wave troughs. For another, their appearance, their song, and their behaviours are so incredibly variable. In short, if you have ever really seen a bird, you will be forever smitten.