There are currently more than 10,000 bird species – or ways of being – and Ackerman takes an up-close but pan-continental view of the latest research into how they mate, perceive and survive. Jennifer Ackerman's well-realised task in this book is to relay just how different and advanced ‘the bird way' truly is. The last five years have seen what could be described as a revolution in studying bird behaviour, with one scientist suggesting that there are two ways to evolve intelligence: "the mammal way and the bird way". Ornithologists get to dedicate their working lives to such observations and the more they observe avian behaviour, the more complex and clever it is revealed to be. The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman (Corsair, London, 2020).ĭespite the accent often being on identification, perhaps the real joy of birding is the time it gives for reflection, observing the creatures' behaviour and activities as days and seasons pass.
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