One Wild Bird at a Time

Portraits of Individual Lives

By: Bernd Heinrich

Narrated by: Rick Adamson

Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's Summary

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 and to make a related discovery about nest cleaning. One of a clutch of redstart warbler babies fledges out of the nest from 20 feet above the ground and lands on the grass below. It can't fly. What will happen next?

©2016 Bernd Heinrich (P)2016 Dreamscape Media, LLC

worth it for the bird calls

This book is entirely charming, the audio version is especially good because the reader makes the extra effort to try to imitate the bird calls. As an occasional birder this is great as Peterson'$ guides have the calls written out it's nice to have a aural hint too. An original naturalist narrative.

You are in good hands with this one.

Imagine being with a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable birdwatcher friend talking to you about his experiences with birds. That's what it feels like listening to this work. A lot of intriguing facts and observations are laid out in a manner that piques your curiosity. I really enjoyed going along.

One thing I found a little incongruous was the manner in which the narrater read it. While the author's words are passionate, the narrator's reading is rather on the dispassionate and objective tone. I would've enjoyed it even more if it was read in a more enthusiastic manner than the cool, dispassionate style. But still it doesn't change the fact that it's a great listen and time well spent luxuriating in bird trivia.

An Adventure In Nature

Heinrich is an excellent observer of the natural wild world around him. He is able to put daily observations into words with such keen detail and insight that he draws the listener into his thinking. Insightful, thoughtful and fascinating. A great introduction into the birds that surround our lives and often go unnoticed.

Heinrich is a superb educator and I am thrilled to have another of his books in my collection. This entry is not to be missed if you are interested in birds and expanding your understanding and connection with nature. A treat.

I Love this So Much

I bought this randomly as the daily deal a few months back and I've listened to it twice since. I really enjoy Bernd Heinrich's work as it makes biology highly palatable, without over stepping to anthropomorphize things too heavily. The narrator does an excellent job, unfortunately I tried to listen to Mind of the Raven since I find them to be super interesting, especially in regards to their interactions with wolves, but narration can be really important when delivering content like this. Rick Adamson does such a good job on this one!

Over all a very interesting observational study on some birds. Something very pleasant to fall asleep to. It definitely makes me want to visit the east coast.

Great introduction

Wondrous birds and wondrous tidbits and a wonderful narrator.
It all makes for a mini vacation you can pick up anytime.

Inspiring

I love this author. This book in particular inspired me to be more diligent in making and documenting my own observations.

Music for the Soul, More than Statistics

This book made me HAPPY just listening to it, like an escape into the forest, filled with birds and other wildlife. Having grown up near a river and the woods, it brought me back to my childhood, where I often made my escape to find solace among the dense foliage, filled with flitting birds and scurrying squirrels. Birds put on a performance, both mesmerizing and purposeful, and the author’s study of their behavior, song and habitat is a tale of beauty in itself. My love of birds and nature has been passed down to our children, one in particular, and her daughter (our granddaughter), and they spend countless hours in the woods finding fungus, examining all the treasures to be found, and particularly enjoying the wildlife and birds. I will be sure to introduce them to this book. It is seldom that a nonfiction book captures my attention and garners this kind of review from me. BRAVO!!! Well done indeed!

Numbers heavy, but still a lot of fun.

The authors passion for birds and his patience in watching and recording facts is impressing. Mostly it makes for a fun and educating listen, if a bit heavy in numbers and facts about temperatures, dates, number of bird calls and droppings etc. (The grouse scat weighed in at 1.2 grams...)

Me having had no interest in bird watching, this was a small revelation. Actually I enjoyed the authors evident passion for birds as much as I enjoyed the bird "stories" themselves.

Narration was good. Probably not a very taxing task, since there were no need for accents or emotions to be conveyed. Just a pleasant unobtrusive narration. I'm giving an extra star for the Barred Owl calls. Made me smile every time.

For All Birders

This was an easy listen; I had been a bit worried. Well written and edited. This is not a listing of birds, but pretty much a day-by-day chronicle of the birds in the author's life.

For Nature Lovers

This is about a 3.5 - 3.75 star rating. The book was well researched, informative and I enjoyed some of the tidbits I learned about bird behavior. The author must have a ton of patience, as the book has very minute details (i.e., how many times per day a bird fed its young, cleaned up its poop, etc). However, there were some parts where my attention wandered. I also wasn't comfortable with him touching the young birds in a nest in order to get the parents agitated so he can study their communication. I listened to this on audio, which I am glad I did; I am not sure I would have stayed with it in the printed format. Part of the problem also may be that I am not the type of person to sit in the woods for hours on end and observe the surroundings; perhaps more of a "nature" person would appreciate this more.