-
Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs
- How the Struggle for Survival Has Shaped Birds and Their Behavior
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $14.61
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
One Wild Bird at a Time
- Portraits of Individual Lives
- By: Bernd Heinrich
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In One Wild Bird at a Time, Heinrich returns to his great love: close, day-to-day observations of individual wild birds. Heinrich's observations lead to fascinating questions - and sometimes startling discoveries. A great crested flycatcher bringing food to the young acts surreptitiously and is attacked by the mate. Why? A pair of northern flickers hammering their nest-hole into the side of Heinrich's cabin delivers the opportunity to observe the feeding competition between siblings.
-
-
An Adventure In Nature
- By Sara on 12-21-16
By: Bernd Heinrich
-
The Genius of Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Margaret Strom
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight.
-
-
What a disappointment!
- By S. Benedict on 07-05-16
-
The Triumph of Seeds
- How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.
-
-
Delightfully simplistic!
- By Adrian on 03-30-16
By: Thor Hanson
-
Life's Edge
- The Search for What It Means to Be Alive
- By: Carl Zimmer
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carl Zimmer investigates one of the biggest questions of all: What is life? The answer seems obvious until you try to seriously answer it. Is the apple sitting on your kitchen counter alive, or is only the apple tree it came from deserving of the word? If we can’t answer that question here on Earth, how will we know when and if we discover alien life on other worlds? The question hangs over some of society’s most charged conflicts - whether a fertilized egg is a living person, for example, and when we ought to declare a person legally dead.
-
-
What is Life?
- By Shane S Shull on 04-29-21
By: Carl Zimmer
-
The Bird Way
- A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"There is the mammal way and there is the bird way." But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries - what they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own.
-
-
Good Work but it doesn’t scale
- By Stanley Lippman on 07-02-20
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
-
I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
-
One Wild Bird at a Time
- Portraits of Individual Lives
- By: Bernd Heinrich
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In One Wild Bird at a Time, Heinrich returns to his great love: close, day-to-day observations of individual wild birds. Heinrich's observations lead to fascinating questions - and sometimes startling discoveries. A great crested flycatcher bringing food to the young acts surreptitiously and is attacked by the mate. Why? A pair of northern flickers hammering their nest-hole into the side of Heinrich's cabin delivers the opportunity to observe the feeding competition between siblings.
-
-
An Adventure In Nature
- By Sara on 12-21-16
By: Bernd Heinrich
-
The Genius of Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Margaret Strom
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight.
-
-
What a disappointment!
- By S. Benedict on 07-05-16
-
The Triumph of Seeds
- How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.
-
-
Delightfully simplistic!
- By Adrian on 03-30-16
By: Thor Hanson
-
Life's Edge
- The Search for What It Means to Be Alive
- By: Carl Zimmer
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carl Zimmer investigates one of the biggest questions of all: What is life? The answer seems obvious until you try to seriously answer it. Is the apple sitting on your kitchen counter alive, or is only the apple tree it came from deserving of the word? If we can’t answer that question here on Earth, how will we know when and if we discover alien life on other worlds? The question hangs over some of society’s most charged conflicts - whether a fertilized egg is a living person, for example, and when we ought to declare a person legally dead.
-
-
What is Life?
- By Shane S Shull on 04-29-21
By: Carl Zimmer
-
The Bird Way
- A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"There is the mammal way and there is the bird way." But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries - what they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their lives, how they communicate, forage, court, breed, survive. They are also revealing the remarkable intelligence underlying these activities, abilities we once considered uniquely our own.
-
-
Good Work but it doesn’t scale
- By Stanley Lippman on 07-02-20
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
-
I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
-
Standard Deviations
- Flawed Assumptions, Tortured Data, and Other Ways to Lie with Statistics
- By: Gary Smith
- Narrated by: Tim Andres Pabon
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Nobel Prize-winning economist Ronald Coase once cynically observed, "If you torture data long enough, it will confess." Lying with statistics is a time-honored con. In Standard Deviations, economics professor Gary Smith walks us through the various tricks and traps that people use to back up their own crackpot theories. Sometimes, the unscrupulous deliberately try to mislead us. Other times, the well-intentioned are blissfully unaware of the mischief they are committing.
-
-
Now, I can't talk to people.....
- By Andrew Dunbar on 09-28-21
By: Gary Smith
-
The Drunkard's Walk
- How Randomness Rules Our Lives
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this irreverent and illuminating audiobook, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, chance, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious causes, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance.
-
-
Interested in statistics? This is the book.
- By Robert on 02-21-14
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
A Most Elegant Equation
- Euler’s Formula and the Beauty of Mathematics
- By: David Stipp
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bertrand Russell wrote that mathematics can exalt "as surely as poetry". This is especially true of one equation: ei(pi) + 1 = 0, the brainchild of Leonhard Euler, the Mozart of mathematics. More than two centuries after Euler's death, it is still regarded as a conceptual diamond of unsurpassed beauty. Called Euler's identity, or God's equation, it includes just five numbers but represents an astonishing revelation of hidden connections.
-
-
Good treatment of the subject
- By Kindle Customer on 04-09-18
By: David Stipp
-
Mind of the Raven
- Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds
- By: Bernd Heinrich
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bernd Heinrich involves us in his quest to get inside the mind of the raven. But as animals can be spied on only by getting quite close, Heinrich adopts ravens, thereby becoming a "raven father", as well as observing them in their natural habitat. He studies their daily routines and, in the process, paints a vivid picture of the ravens' world. At the heart of this book are Heinrich's love and respect for these complex and engaging creatures, and through his keen observation and analysis we become their intimates, too.
-
-
16+ hours of Ravens, great stories & narration
- By Diana on 11-09-16
By: Bernd Heinrich
-
What Is Real?
- The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
- By: Adam Becker
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favored practical experiments over philosophical arguments.
-
-
Good, "light" "read"... potential caveat below...
- By James S. on 03-31-18
By: Adam Becker
-
Underland
- A Deep Time Journey
- By: Robert Macfarlane
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed as "the great nature writer of this generation" (Wall Street Journal), Robert Macfarlane is the celebrated author of books about the intersections of the human and the natural realms. In Underland, he delivers his masterpiece: an epic exploration of the Earth's underworlds as they exist in myth, literature, memory, and the land itself.
-
-
Wonderful book, disappointing narrator
- By Clare Woods on 07-05-19
-
The Alchemy of Us
- How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another
- By: Ainissa Ramirez
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Alchemy of Us, scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez examines eight inventions - clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware, and silicon chips - and reveals how they shaped the human experience. Ramirez tells the stories of the woman who sold time, the inventor who inspired Edison, and the hotheaded undertaker whose invention pointed the way to the computer.
-
-
Excellent Content, Horrible Narration
- By F. AHMAD on 05-01-21
By: Ainissa Ramirez
-
A World on the Wing
- The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds
- By: Scott Weidensaul
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the past two decades, our understanding of the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch has exploded. What we've learned of these key migrations is nothing short of extraordinary. This breathtaking work of nature writing also introduces listeners to those scientists, researchers, and bird lovers trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges.
-
-
Fantastic book for any nature enthusiast
- By FernT on 05-23-21
By: Scott Weidensaul
-
The Rise and Reign of the Mammals
- A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We humans are the inheritors of a dynasty that has reigned over the planet for nearly 66 million years, through fiery cataclysm and ice ages: the mammals. Our lineage includes saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, armadillos the size of a car, cave bears three times the weight of a grizzly, clever scurriers that outlasted Tyrannosaurus rex, and even other types of humans, like Neanderthals.
-
-
Fantastic Book
- By Peter Jensen on 09-08-22
By: Steve Brusatte
-
An Immense World
- How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
- By: Ed Yong
- Narrated by: Ed Yong
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us.
-
-
If you’ve never read about the wonder of animal sensory capabilities this is for you
- By MediaBaron on 06-27-22
By: Ed Yong
-
My Bondage and My Freedom
- By: Frederick Douglass, Dr. James M'Cune Smith - introduction
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is ex-slave Frederick Douglass' second autobiography. It was written after 10 years of reflection following his legal emancipation in 1846, and his break with his mentor, William Lloyd Garrison, catapulted Douglass into the international spotlight as the foremost spokesman for American blacks, both freed and slave.
-
-
Monotone delivery
- By Michael A Lewis on 06-19-17
By: Frederick Douglass, and others
-
A Life on Our Planet
- My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future
- By: Sir David Attenborough, Jonnie Hughes
- Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this scientifically informed account of the changes occurring in the world over the last century, award-winning broadcaster and natural historian Sir David Attenborough shares a lifetime of wisdom and a hopeful vision for the future.
-
-
Engaging, powerful, hopeful, visionary.
- By K. Stark on 10-15-20
By: Sir David Attenborough, and others
Publisher's summary
When we see a bird flying from branch to branch happily chirping, it is easy to imagine they lead a simple life of freedom, flight, and feathers. What we don't see is the arduous, life-threatening challenges they face at every moment. Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs guides the listener through the myriad, and often almost miraculous, things that birds do every day to merely stay alive. Like the goldfinch, which manages extreme weather changes by doubling the density of its plumage in winter. Or urban birds, which navigate traffic through a keen understanding of posted speed limits. In engaging and accessible prose, Roger Lederer shares how and why birds use their sensory abilities to see ultraviolet, find food without seeing it, fly thousands of miles without stopping, change their songs in noisy cities, navigate by smell, and much more.
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
A Naturalist at Large
- The Best Essays of Bernd Heinrich
- By: Bernd Heinrich
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of the finest scientists and writers of our time comes an engaging record of a life spent in close observation of the natural world, one that has yielded marvelous, mind-altering insight and discoveries. In essays that span several decades, Bernd Heinrich finds himself at his beloved camp in Maine, plays host to annoying visitors from Europe (the cluster fly) and more helpful guests from Asia (ladybugs), and unravels the far-reaching ecological consequences of elephants in Botswana bruising mopane trees.
-
-
Listen and See the World Anew!
- By Thoughtful Learner on 06-03-18
By: Bernd Heinrich
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
-
Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
The Wonder of Birds
- What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
- By: Jim Robbins
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.
-
-
Stories about birds with something for everyone
- By D on 07-24-17
By: Jim Robbins
-
Feathers
- The Evolution of a Natural Miracle
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: Aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?
-
-
Fantastic Science and Fun
- By Chris Reich on 12-28-14
By: Thor Hanson
-
The Galápagos
- A Natural History
- By: Henry Nicholls
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Galapagos were once known to the sailors and pirates who encountered them as Las Encantadas: the enchanted islands, home to exotic creatures and dramatic volcanic scenery. In The Galapagos, science writer Henry Nicholls offers a lively natural and human history of the archipelago, charting its evolution from deserted wilderness to scientific resource (made famous by Charles Darwin) and global ecotourism hot spot.
-
-
Thought-Provoking
- By Jean on 10-23-18
By: Henry Nicholls
-
The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
-
-
Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
-
A Naturalist at Large
- The Best Essays of Bernd Heinrich
- By: Bernd Heinrich
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of the finest scientists and writers of our time comes an engaging record of a life spent in close observation of the natural world, one that has yielded marvelous, mind-altering insight and discoveries. In essays that span several decades, Bernd Heinrich finds himself at his beloved camp in Maine, plays host to annoying visitors from Europe (the cluster fly) and more helpful guests from Asia (ladybugs), and unravels the far-reaching ecological consequences of elephants in Botswana bruising mopane trees.
-
-
Listen and See the World Anew!
- By Thoughtful Learner on 06-03-18
By: Bernd Heinrich
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
-
Tree Hugger
- By Darwin8u on 04-18-19
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
The Wonder of Birds
- What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
- By: Jim Robbins
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.
-
-
Stories about birds with something for everyone
- By D on 07-24-17
By: Jim Robbins
-
Feathers
- The Evolution of a Natural Miracle
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Andy Ingalls
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: Aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?
-
-
Fantastic Science and Fun
- By Chris Reich on 12-28-14
By: Thor Hanson
-
The Galápagos
- A Natural History
- By: Henry Nicholls
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Galapagos were once known to the sailors and pirates who encountered them as Las Encantadas: the enchanted islands, home to exotic creatures and dramatic volcanic scenery. In The Galapagos, science writer Henry Nicholls offers a lively natural and human history of the archipelago, charting its evolution from deserted wilderness to scientific resource (made famous by Charles Darwin) and global ecotourism hot spot.
-
-
Thought-Provoking
- By Jean on 10-23-18
By: Henry Nicholls
-
The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
-
-
Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
-
The Thing with Feathers
- The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human
- By: Noah Strycker
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds are highly intelligent animals, yet their intelligence is dramatically different from our own and has been little understood. As we learn more about the secrets of bird life, we are unlocking fascinating insights into memory, relationships, game theory, and the nature of intelligence itself. The Thing with Feathers explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, the good deeds of fairy-wrens, the influential flocking abilities of starlings, the deft artistry of bowerbirds, the extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, and other mysteries.
-
-
Interesting book, terrible reader
- By MGM123 on 03-16-18
By: Noah Strycker
-
What a Fish Knows
- The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins
- By: Jonathan Balcombe
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An underwater exploration that overturns myths about fishes and reveals their complex lives, from tool use to social behavior. There are more than 30,000 species of fish - more than all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians combined. But for all their breathtaking diversity and beauty, we rarely consider how fish think, feel, and behave.
-
-
Title misled me
- By Margaret Weidemann on 08-12-17
-
Superlative
- The Biology of Extremes
- By: Matthew D. LaPlante
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world's largest land mammal could help us end cancer. The fastest bird is showing us how to solve a century-old engineering mystery. The oldest tree is giving us insights into climate change. The loudest whale is offering clues about the impact of solar storms. For a long time, scientists ignored superlative life forms as outliers. Increasingly, though, researchers are coming to see great value in studying plants and animals that exist on the outermost edges of the bell curve.
-
-
Fascinating survey of amazing biology
- By Nerd's-eye view on 12-06-19
-
Paleontology
- A Brief History of Life
- By: Ian Tattersall
- Narrated by: Brett Barry
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ian Tattersall, a highly esteemed figure in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and paleontology, leads a fascinating tour of the history of life and the evolution of human beings. Starting at the very beginning, Tattersall examines patterns of change in the biosphere over time, and the correlations of biological events with physical changes in the Earth's environment.
-
-
great summary of where we are with understanding
- By david on 06-25-11
By: Ian Tattersall
-
The Most Perfect Thing
- By: Tim Birkhead
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How are eggs of different shapes made, and why are they the shapes they are? When does the shell of an egg harden? Why do some eggs contain two yolks? How are the colours and patterns of eggshells created, and why do they vary? And which end of an egg is laid first - the blunt end or the pointy end?
-
-
Great book about eggs!!
- By Timothy on 03-24-21
By: Tim Birkhead
-
The Tyrannosaur Chronicles
- By: David Hone
- Narrated by: Gavin Osborn
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adored by children and adults alike, tyrannosaurus is the most famous dinosaur in the world, one that pops up again and again in pop culture, often battling other beasts such as King Kong, triceratops, or velociraptors in Jurassic Park. But despite the hype, tyrannosaurus and the other tyrannosaurs are fascinating animals in their own right and are among the best-studied of all dinosaurs.
-
-
An Engaging Biography of the King
- By Erik on 08-06-18
By: David Hone
-
One Wild Bird at a Time
- Portraits of Individual Lives
- By: Bernd Heinrich
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In One Wild Bird at a Time, Heinrich returns to his great love: close, day-to-day observations of individual wild birds. Heinrich's observations lead to fascinating questions - and sometimes startling discoveries. A great crested flycatcher bringing food to the young acts surreptitiously and is attacked by the mate. Why? A pair of northern flickers hammering their nest-hole into the side of Heinrich's cabin delivers the opportunity to observe the feeding competition between siblings.
-
-
An Adventure In Nature
- By Sara on 12-21-16
By: Bernd Heinrich
-
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
- A New History of a Lost World
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
-
-
"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
- By Daniel Powell on 09-16-18
By: Steve Brusatte
-
Animal Weapons
- The Evolution of Battle
- By: Douglas J. Emlen
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As singular and strange as some of the weapons are, we learn that similar factors set their evolution in motion. He looks at everything from our armor and camouflage to the evolution of the rifle and the structures human populations have built across different regions and eras to protect their homes and communities.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Susan on 07-17-15
By: Douglas J. Emlen
-
Sex in the Sea
- Our Intimate Connection with Kinky Crustaceans, Sex-Changing Fish, Romantic Lobsters and Other Salty Erotica of the Deep
- By: Marah J. Hardt
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forget the Kama Sutra. When it comes to inventive sex acts, just look to the sea. There we find the elaborate mating rituals of armored lobsters; giant right whales engaging in a lively threesome while holding their breath; full-moon sex parties of groupers; and daily mating blitzes by blueheaded wrasse. Deep-sea squid perform inverted 69s while hermaphrodite sea slugs link up in giant sex loops.
-
-
How to laugh while learning/ learn while laughing
- By Miamigrrl on 07-27-16
By: Marah J. Hardt
-
The Great Animal Orchestra
- Finding the Origins of Music in the World's Wild Places
- By: Bernie Krause
- Narrated by: Bernie Krause
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Musician and naturalist Bernie Krause is one of the world's leading experts in natural sound, and he's spent his life discovering and recording nature's rich chorus. Searching far beyond our modern world's honking horns and buzzing machinery, he has sought out the truly wild places that remain, where natural soundscapes exist virtually unchanged from when the earliest humans first inhabited the earth.
-
-
Too frustrating to put up with
- By Steve Gross on 07-17-12
By: Bernie Krause
-
Nature's Best Hope
- A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard
- By: Douglas W. Tallamy
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Douglas W. Tallamy's first book, Bringing Nature Home, awakened thousands of individuals to an urgent situation: wildlife populations are in decline because the native plants they depend on are fast disappearing. His solution? Plant more natives. In this new book, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation.
-
-
A must read for everybody! Not just nature lovers.
- By Steve Ebert on 06-11-20
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Earth Moved
- On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms
- By: Amy Stewart
- Narrated by: Heather Henderson
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They destroy plant diseases. They break down toxins. They plough the earth. They transform forests. They’ve survived two mass extinctions, including the one that wiped out the dinosaur. Not bad for a creature that’s deaf, blind, and spineless. Who knew that earthworms were one of our planet’s most important caretakers? Or that Charles Darwin devoted his last years to studying their remarkable achievements?
-
-
I bow down to our benevolent worm overlords
- By Kirstin on 04-17-14
By: Amy Stewart
-
The Wonder of Birds
- What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
- By: Jim Robbins
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.
-
-
Stories about birds with something for everyone
- By D on 07-24-17
By: Jim Robbins
-
The Bees
- A Novel
- By: Laline Paull
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive, where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hive's survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw, but her courage and strength are assets. She is allowed to feed the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect nectar and pollen.
-
-
My Favorite Book of 2014
- By Em on 12-07-14
By: Laline Paull
-
A World on the Wing
- The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds
- By: Scott Weidensaul
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the past two decades, our understanding of the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch has exploded. What we've learned of these key migrations is nothing short of extraordinary. This breathtaking work of nature writing also introduces listeners to those scientists, researchers, and bird lovers trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges.
-
-
Fantastic book for any nature enthusiast
- By FernT on 05-23-21
By: Scott Weidensaul
-
Coyote America
- A Natural and Supernatural History
- By: Dan Flores
- Narrated by: Elijah Alexander
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Coyote America is both an environmental and a deep natural history of the coyote. It traces both the five-million-year-long biological story of an animal that has become the "wolf" in our backyards and its cultural evolution from a preeminent spot in Native American religions to the hapless foil of the Road Runner. A deeply American tale, the story of the coyote in the American West and beyond is a sort of Manifest Destiny in reverse.
-
-
Very Enjoyable Book, Subject Matter, and Reader
- By John Townsend on 03-17-17
By: Dan Flores
-
Anthill
- By: E. O. Wilson
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspirational and magical, here is the story of a boy who grows up determined to save the world from its most savage ecological predator: Man himself. "What the hell do you want?" snarled Frogman at Raff Cody, as the boy stepped innocently onto the reputed murderer's property. Fifteen years old, Raff, along with his older cousin, Junior, had only wanted to catch a glimpse of Frogman's 1,000-pound alligator. Thus, begins the saga of Anthill....
-
-
You just have to love ants
- By Kathryn on 10-27-10
By: E. O. Wilson
-
Earth Moved
- On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms
- By: Amy Stewart
- Narrated by: Heather Henderson
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They destroy plant diseases. They break down toxins. They plough the earth. They transform forests. They’ve survived two mass extinctions, including the one that wiped out the dinosaur. Not bad for a creature that’s deaf, blind, and spineless. Who knew that earthworms were one of our planet’s most important caretakers? Or that Charles Darwin devoted his last years to studying their remarkable achievements?
-
-
I bow down to our benevolent worm overlords
- By Kirstin on 04-17-14
By: Amy Stewart
-
The Wonder of Birds
- What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
- By: Jim Robbins
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds, Jim Robbins posits, are our most vital connection to nature. They compel us to look to the skies, both literally and metaphorically, draw us out into nature to seek their beauty, and let us experience vicariously what it is like to be weightless. Birds have helped us in so many of our human endeavors: learning to fly, providing clothing and food, and helping us better understand the human brain and body.
-
-
Stories about birds with something for everyone
- By D on 07-24-17
By: Jim Robbins
-
The Bees
- A Novel
- By: Laline Paull
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive, where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hive's survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw, but her courage and strength are assets. She is allowed to feed the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect nectar and pollen.
-
-
My Favorite Book of 2014
- By Em on 12-07-14
By: Laline Paull
-
A World on the Wing
- The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds
- By: Scott Weidensaul
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the past two decades, our understanding of the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch has exploded. What we've learned of these key migrations is nothing short of extraordinary. This breathtaking work of nature writing also introduces listeners to those scientists, researchers, and bird lovers trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges.
-
-
Fantastic book for any nature enthusiast
- By FernT on 05-23-21
By: Scott Weidensaul
-
Coyote America
- A Natural and Supernatural History
- By: Dan Flores
- Narrated by: Elijah Alexander
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Coyote America is both an environmental and a deep natural history of the coyote. It traces both the five-million-year-long biological story of an animal that has become the "wolf" in our backyards and its cultural evolution from a preeminent spot in Native American religions to the hapless foil of the Road Runner. A deeply American tale, the story of the coyote in the American West and beyond is a sort of Manifest Destiny in reverse.
-
-
Very Enjoyable Book, Subject Matter, and Reader
- By John Townsend on 03-17-17
By: Dan Flores
-
Anthill
- By: E. O. Wilson
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspirational and magical, here is the story of a boy who grows up determined to save the world from its most savage ecological predator: Man himself. "What the hell do you want?" snarled Frogman at Raff Cody, as the boy stepped innocently onto the reputed murderer's property. Fifteen years old, Raff, along with his older cousin, Junior, had only wanted to catch a glimpse of Frogman's 1,000-pound alligator. Thus, begins the saga of Anthill....
-
-
You just have to love ants
- By Kathryn on 10-27-10
By: E. O. Wilson
-
The Genius of Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Margaret Strom
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight.
-
-
What a disappointment!
- By S. Benedict on 07-05-16
-
Spineless
- The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone
- By: Juli Berwald
- Narrated by: Juli Berwald
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jellyfish are an enigma. They have no centralized brain, but they see and feel and react to their environment in complex ways. They look simple, yet their propulsion systems are so advanced that engineers are just learning how to mimic them. They produce some of the deadliest toxins on the planet and still remain undeniably alluring. Long ignored by science, they may be a key to ecosystem stability. Juli Berwald's journey into the world of jellyfish is a personal one.
-
-
Very Little Jellyfish Science
- By Xangle on 06-13-19
By: Juli Berwald
-
The Revolutionary Genius of Plants
- A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior
- By: Stefano Mancuso
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do plants have intelligence? Do they have memory? Are they better problem solvers than people? The Revolutionary Genius of Plants - a fascinating, paradigm-shifting work that upends everything you thought you knew about plants - makes a compelling scientific case that these and other astonishing ideas are all true.
-
-
Inaccurate book description
- By windelbo on 02-18-19
By: Stefano Mancuso
-
The Brilliant Abyss
- Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It
- By: Helen Scales
- Narrated by: Helen Scales
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teeming with unsuspected life, an extraordinary, interconnected ecosystem deep below the waves has a huge effect on our daily lives, influencing climate and weather systems, with the potential for much more—good or bad, depending on how it is exploited. Currently, the fantastic creatures that live in the deep—many of them incandescent in a world without light—and its formations capture and trap vast quantities of carbon that would otherwise poison our atmosphere, and novel bacteria as yet undiscovered hold the promise of potent new medicines.
-
-
Amazing facts about the deep
- By Austin F. on 11-18-22
By: Helen Scales
-
Our Native Bees
- North America’s Endangered Pollinators and the Fight to Save Them
- By: Paige Embry
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Honey bees get all the press, but the fascinating story of North America's native bees - an endangered species essential to our ecosystems and food supplies - is just as crucial. Our Native Bees is the result of Paige Embry's yearlong quest to learn more about these forgotten, yet fundamental, creatures. Through interviews with farmers, gardeners, scientists, and bee experts, Embry explores the importance of native bees and focuses on why they play a key role in gardening and agriculture.
-
-
Meh
- By Kim on 02-27-19
By: Paige Embry
-
Soul of an Octopus
- A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness
- By: Sy Montgomery
- Narrated by: Sy Montgomery
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sy Montgomery's popular 2011 Orion magazine piece, "Deep Intellect", about her friendship with a sensitive, sweet-natured octopus named Athena and the grief she felt at her death, went viral, indicating the widespread fascination with these mysterious, almost alien-like creatures. Since then Sy has practiced true immersion journalism, from New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, pursuing these wild, solitary shape-shifters.
-
-
Eight legs and so much more!
- By Kirstin on 07-02-15
By: Sy Montgomery
-
The Sting of the Wild
- By: Justin O. Schmidt
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Entomologist Justin O. Schmidt is on a mission. Some say it's a brave exploration, others shake their heads in disbelief. His goal? To compare the impacts of stinging insects on humans, mainly using himself as the gauge. In The Sting of the Wild, the colorful Dr. Schmidt takes us on a journey inside the lives of stinging insects, seeing the world through their eyes as well as his own.
-
-
An interesting look at stinging insects
- By Colin Mc on 04-13-17
-
Endless Forms
- The Secret World of Wasps
- By: Seirian Sumner
- Narrated by: Sumner Seirian
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone worries about the collapse of bee populations. But what about wasps? Deemed the gangsters of the insect world, wasps are winged assassins with formidable stings. Conduits of Biblical punishment, provokers of fear and loathing, inspiration for horror movies: wasps are perhaps the most maligned insect on our planet. But do wasps deserve this reputation? Endless Forms opens our eyes to the highly complex and diverse world of wasps.
-
-
Informative, but...
- By Jeffrey D on 10-17-22
By: Seirian Sumner
-
In Defense of Plants
- An Exploration into the Wonder of Plants
- By: Matt Candeias PhD
- Narrated by: Matthew Boston
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since his early days of plant restoration, amateur plant scientist Matt Candeias has been enchanted with flora and the greater environmental ecology of the planet. Now, he looks at the study of plants through the lens of his ever-growing houseplant collection.
-
-
Great book - mediocre narration
- By Brenda Mendoza on 05-15-21
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
-
I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
-
The Life of Birds (Updated Edition)
- By: David Attenborough
- Narrated by: David Attenborough
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds. Over 9,000 species, the most widespread of all animals: on icebergs, in the Sahara or under the sea, at home in our gardens or flying for over a year at a time. Earthbound, we can only look and listen, enjoying their lightness, freedom and richness of plumage and song. David Attenborough has been watching and learning all his life. His classic book, now fully updated with the latest discoveries in ornithology, is a brilliant introduction to bird behaviours around the world: what they do and why they do it.
-
-
Delightful and comprehensive, presented with masterful narration by David Attenborough.
- By Steve A on 06-27-24
-
The Thing with Feathers
- The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human
- By: Noah Strycker
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds are highly intelligent animals, yet their intelligence is dramatically different from our own and has been little understood. As we learn more about the secrets of bird life, we are unlocking fascinating insights into memory, relationships, game theory, and the nature of intelligence itself. The Thing with Feathers explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, the good deeds of fairy-wrens, the influential flocking abilities of starlings, the deft artistry of bowerbirds, the extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, and other mysteries.
-
-
Interesting book, terrible reader
- By MGM123 on 03-16-18
By: Noah Strycker
What listeners say about Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- PLCC
- 03-24-20
Facts mixed with EVOLUTION
This is interesting information however, it's frequently filled with evolution information about what a bird evolved from rather than what characteristics are at present. I wasn't looking for an evolution book and it just became frustrating to listen to what they used to be 10 billion years ago.
I didn't finish it for that reason alone. It became too frustrating.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 03-30-20
Birds I hardly knew you
This book exposed me to so much knowledge about birds. We really need to help these endangered species or their song and benifts will disappear and we will all lose.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jefferson
- 02-04-22
A Compact and Fascinating Overview of Birds
Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs (2016) by Roger Lederer is all about its subtitle: How the Struggle for Survival Has Shaped Birds and Their Behavior. Lederer covers Foraging, Sensory Abilities, Flight, Migration and Navigation, Survival Strategies for Weather, Communities, and Human Influence. The book percolates with interesting information on birds in general and on particular species. As he proceeds, Lederer also covers a bit of the history of ornithology, citing earlier landmark studies and explanations of birds that according to contemporary science are either woefully incorrect or still accurate.
Throughout, the main point Lederer repeatedly demonstrates is that birds are amazing creatures of incredible diversity in their habitats, sizes, shapes, physiologies, lifestyles, abilities, and so on. While being perfectly adapted to their environments over millennia and even millions of years, birds’ existence is increasingly threatened and changed by human activity (cities, habitat degradation, hunting, etc. etc.). Everyday life is a struggle for survival which birds negotiate with all their intelligence, learning, and senses, making choices about how and where and when to forage for food, to nest and raise young, and to migrate, etc., all to maximize chances for success and minimize chances for failure. Although he does not push a didactic conservation agenda, he does reveal ways in which humans harmfully or helpfully affect avian life and concludes that “We have to be partners with birds.”
Here are some examples of the interesting things I learned from the book:
Why birds don’t have teeth and how gizzards partially replace them.
How sandpipers detect prey deep in sandy mud without seeing or smelling them.
Why woodpeckers don’t get headaches.
Why vultures defecate on their feet and have bald heads.
How birds see colors and UV etc. and use one eye or both eyes etc.
Why birds sing (it’s not for joy).
How birds fly (including soaring, gliding, diving, etc.).
How flocks and formations work (including how birds in dense flocks avoid flying into each other).
Why some birds migrate (and how they know when to go and how they fly such long distances).
How birds use sun maps, star maps, geomagnetic crystals, olfaction, infrasound, and landmarks to navigate.
How birds adjust their body temperatures to deal with cold and heat.
How and why birds mob (gang up on larger predators).
The Arctic Tern flies to the Antarctic and back, up to 66,000 miles per year, enough for three round trips to the moon if they live full life spans.
Acorn woodpeckers wedge acorns into trees so tightly that no other animals or birds can remove them, so they themselves can later break them open to get the nuts.
If other jays see them hiding their acorn caches, they’ll hide them again later, but only if they themselves are cache robbers.
Babies still in eggs tell parents to turn them right side up or make them warmer etc.
In each ecosystem and niche and guild, each bird plays a particular role in relationships with the other living parts of the environment.
Birds can get drunk on fermented fruit.
Diversity in an ecosystem is necessary, like a sophisticated and complicated watch with many functions and parts: remove enough of the parts and it will finally stop working.
Evolution and natural selection are good at making creatures change to suit changing environments etc., but since industrial revolution the pace of change has outstripped what evolution can do.
Birds in cities develop differently (behavior, color, wing size, song frequency, egg laying, singing, migrating or not, viability, etc.) from the same species in the country.
Global warming is making birds migrate earlier and fly farther north and breed earlier, etc.
Anyone interested in birds should read this book, though perhaps ornithologists and other experts might not find as much new interesting information as I did.
The audiobook reader Charles Constant is professional and smooth, though perhaps he reads a touch more speedily than I’d have liked.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- kevin barnett
- 10-17-22
Very informative
i enjoyed the readers voice. this book has so many interesting facts about birds. i loved it. if you like birds it's a must have.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Birdie
- 04-01-20
Fantastic and informative!
I'm an ornithologist and have worked with birds for over 20 years. Even I learned some new things in this book. It was so well narrated, and easy listening.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K.
- 03-20-19
very dense but good info
this book has a ton of great information, but there are parts where it can be so scientifically dense that even I had to take breaks from it. still recommend for bird lovers, but don't expect to binge listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
50 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- brandon
- 01-30-20
learned a lot
so the good news is the book is filled with information that the common bird enthusiast might not know
it's not even bad news but I just wish there was more information on action plans
what can I do to help and how can I take action?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David in Mississippi
- 06-15-20
A Layperson-Comprehensible Look at Bird Evolution
This was a quite enjoyable look at today's birds, what factors influenced the evolution of many of their characteristics, and how and why they specialize as they do.
However, I missed hearing samples of the bird songs - I had hoped from the title to be able to hear them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 08-27-20
Curious about birds.
Enjoyed the book. It's not-too-technical story telling tempo is great for a long car ride. I've been watching and photographing birds for over 15 years and it was good to hear things not necessarily in any text book or birding guide.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andrea Strickland
- 03-17-20
A must read for birders
Full of fascinating information, this book is perfect for Bird Nerds like me. Even those with a passing interest in the natural would should be impressed with what they learn.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!