Birdscapes: Birds in Our Imagination and Experience

Editorial Reviews
Review
Who watches the bird-watchers? This inventive disquisition is alert to both the dawn chorus of birds and the great choir of poets, travellers, and naturalists who have rhapsodized them. . . . For Mynott, much of the appeal of birds stems from the inexhaustible variety of our response to them: he celebrates the fact that, contra Keats, the nightingale's song might not have the same meanings for the modern birder as it has for Ruth among the alien corn.
(New Yorker )

An absolutely fascinating book, exhaustively researched, beautifully written, both learned and humorous, and endlessly stimulating. . . . A book which informs and delights at first reading and will continue to be relished on subsequent re-readings.
(Birding World )

Why do we expend so much effort to observe, catalog, describe, listen to and study birds? Citing a broad range of sources (Romantic poets, Japanese haiku masters, the Song of Solomon, Monty Python, Thoreau), Mynott ponders our perceptions of worth, our emotional responses to landscapes, and the process of vision itself. . . . Though Mynott provides ample references for further reading, this leisurely, thoughtful, generous book provides ample information and amusement.
(Publishers Weekly )

Ranging from thoughtful discussions about listing and obsession, to art, nature, birdsong and music, [Birdscapes] seems to cover in one volume almost everything most of us have, at some point in our 'birding careers', wondered about why we bird and why we like birds so much. But where most of us would stop, happy to paddle in the shallows and perhaps leave the questions not fully answered, Jeremy Mynott dives into the deep end and stays there until he's figured everything out. . . . Ultimately a rewarding and very interesting read.
(10,000 Birds )

Well written. . . . Birders will find this book both informative and entertaining!
(Ian Paulsen The Birdbooker Report )

The subtitle of his book, 'Birds in Our Imagination and Experience', hints at the wide sweep of his interests but not, perhaps, at the liveliness and originality of his writing. . . . Mynott is as interested in human specimens as in the feathered kind. . . . Those who appear in this book range from Icarus to Bill Oddie, which gives an idea of the breadth of the author's interests and reading. He has distilled it all into an original and enjoyable compendium.
(J.W.M. Thompson Standpoint Magazine )

The finest book ever written about why we watch birds. . . . Mynott's lightness of touch, combined with his depth of knowledge, experience and above all perception, create a thought-provoking and compulsively readable book.
(Stephen Moss The Guardian )

Fascinating. . . . An illuminating, light-hearted philosophical tour of what it is that fascinates us about birds. . . . Jeremy Mynott's Birdscapes is a journey across uncharted ornithological terrain. He is the ultimate guide: knowledgeable, entertaining and gentle. The result is a wonderful rumination on birds and birders through space and time for anyone interested in our relationship with nature.
(Tim Birkhead Times Higher Education )

At once authoritative and personal, expansive and intimate, expertly detailed. [Mynott] examines birds broadly, in scientific and cultural contexts, as animals and as symbols.
(Zocalo )

Review
An astonishing compendium brimming over with bird lore and theory, pertinent quotations and avian miscellany, all of it well-written and much of it amusing--a classic birder's bedside book if ever there was one.
(Peter Matthiessen, author and naturalist )
Product Description

What draws us to the beauty of a peacock, the flight of an eagle, or the song of a nightingale? Why are birds so significant in our lives and our sense of the world? And what do our ways of thinking about and experiencing birds tell us about ourselves? Birdscapes is a unique meditation on the variety of human responses to birds, from antiquity to today, and from casual observers to the globe-trotting "twitchers" who sometimes risk life, limb, and marriages simply to add new species to their "life lists."

Drawing extensively on literature, history, philosophy, and science, Jeremy Mynott puts his own experiences as a birdwatcher in a rich cultural context. His sources range from the familiar--Thoreau, Keats, Darwin, and Audubon--to the unexpected--Benjamin Franklin, Giacomo Puccini, Oscar Wilde, and Monty Python. Just as unusual are the extensive illustrations, which explore our perceptions and representations of birds through images such as national emblems, women's hats, professional sports logos, and a Christmas biscuit tin, as well as classics of bird art. Each chapter takes up a new theme--from rarity, beauty, and sound to conservation, naming, and symbolism--and is set in a new place, as Mynott travels from his "home patch" in Suffolk, England, to his "away patch" in New York City's Central Park, as well as to Russia, Australia, and Greece.

Conversational, playful, and witty, Birdscapes gently leads us to reflect on large questions about our relation to birds and the natural world. It encourages birders to see their pursuits in a broader human context--and it shows nonbirders what they may be missing.


From the Inside Flap

"An astonishing compendium brimming over with bird lore and theory, pertinent quotations and avian miscellany, all of it well-written and much of it amusing--a classic birder's bedside book if ever there was one."--Peter Matthiessen, author and naturalist

"Reading Jeremy Mynott's Birdscapes is like having a leisurely conversation about a favorite subject with a close, widely read, and highly articulate friend. He manages to show us--rather than simply tell us--that becoming intimate with the natural world, and especially with birds, touches many aspects of our common humanity--from our passion for making lists to our heartfelt responses to color and music. I kept being reminded of that ecstatic space described by Vladimir Nabokov 'into which rushes all the things that I love.' A new classic in a rare genre."--Christopher Leahy, author of The Birdwatcher's Companion

"No stone is left unturned in this fascinating journey through the world of birds, birders, and bird lore. Much like the flight of a migrating swallow, it dips and soars--moving across space, time, and species from the Flannans to Kakadu, Jefferson to Churchill, and Red-eyed Vireo to Cushie Doo. Beautifully written and painstakingly researched, Birdscapes is a joy to read."--Nicolas Day, bird artist and ornithologist


About the Author
Jeremy Mynott has been watching, listening to, and thinking about birds--and birders--for much of his life. He is the former chief executive of Cambridge University Press.