Birdology

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Discover a flock of smart, affectionate chickens who visit neighbors, cleverly evade foxes, and greet the author like a celebrity. You’ll also meet Maya and Zuni, two orphaned hummingbirds, whose fragile lives depend on human care for a chance to soar. Snowball, a viral cockatoo, now teaches dance to schoolchildren, while Harris’s hawks, Fire and Smoke, showcase the diversity of avian life. Each bird reveals surprising truths about their nature, illustrating that they are far stranger and more relatable than we often realize. Through her adventures with seven distinct birds—wild, tame, exotic, and common—Montgomery offers new scientific insights and narratives that uncover essential truths about these creatures. The first lesson emphasizes that Birds Are Individuals, as shown by her unique Ladies. Encounter a cassowary in Queensland, a flightless bird that embodies the fact that Birds Are Dinosaurs. Learn from hawks about their fierceness, from pigeons about navigation, and from parrots about communication. The presence of 50,000 crows in a city highlights that Birds Are Everywhere. Birds possess unique traits—hearts like crocodiles, feathers as modified scales, hollow bones, and extensive air sacs. Despite evolutionary differences, humans and birds share emotional and intellectual capacities, enabling deep connections. Understanding birds enhances our ability to appreciate and love these complex creatures, ultimately rest