For the last 20 years, Alan Powers, who lives near Cape Cod, has experimented with birdcalls--mimicking and answering the calls he hears around his country home, in cities, and abroad in France and Italy. In BirdTalk, he celebrates this connection with entertaining allusions to history, literature, travel, linguistics, and other fields. The result is a charming and erudite stroll through an area of interest sometimes lost in the urban din. Powers reveals "birdtalk" by mapping the history of ornithological studies, quoting such bird fanciers as Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson and discussing specific techniques. In one of the most amusing chapters, he describes his attempts to teach the birds new symphonic riffs on their own calls. This illustrated literary inquiry into birdcalls is a nature book with a gift-book look.
An exploration of communicating with birds and the lessons they can teach us • Discusses specific birdtalk techniques and offers insights into many species • Looks at the long-standing tradition of “avitherapy” throughout history and in literature and the arts • Explains how song-talk with birds restores peace, calms anxiety, and enhances health For decades Alan Powers has studied bird vocalizations, developing the remarkable ability to imitate birds’ songs and get them to respond and even change tunes. Through his years of study, he has discovered that birds can teach us important lessons about the world and about ourselves. As Powers explains, by communing cross-species we reach out to the timeless interconnected web of all life past and present--what Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno called in Latin the Uni-versus, the “Whole turned into One.” Sharing his journey to learn birdtalk and his profound observations about the poetic, spiritual, and healing influences of birdsong, Powers explores the ancient language of birds and the depth of meaning birds convey. He explains how bird speech sounds like song to us, but birdtalk is urgent and nuanced, whether about predators or the weather. He details how he began learning birdtalk, listening to one bird each summer, learning their many vocalizations and variations. Discussing specific techniques, he shares insights into the birdtalk of many species, including the complex and intelligent speech of Crows, the emotional depths of Loons, the mimicry of Blue Jays, and the beautiful song of the Wood Thrush. Exploring the intertwined metaphysics of bird and human languages, Powers looks at the long-standing tradition of “avitherapy” throughout history, literature, and the arts. He shares insights into birds from Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson, reveals how birds appear in love songs throughout the world, and examines how famous writers such as Keats, Catullus, St. Francis of Assisi, and the French historian Jules Michelet found that talking to birds improved their state of mind. He also explores how song-talk with birds restores peace, calms anxiety, and enhances health.
“An eloquent depiction of how birding engenders a deep love of our ecosystems and a more profound understanding of ourselves.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Growing up at the feet of the Himalayas in northern India, acclaimed filmmaker and novelist Priyanka Kumar took for granted her immersion in a lush natural world. After moving to North America as a teenager, she found herself increasingly distanced from nature and discouraged by the civilization she saw contributing to its destruction. It was only in her twenties, living in Los Angeles and working on films, that she began to rediscover her place in the landscape—and in the cosmos—by way of watching birds. Tracing her movements across the American West, this stirring collection of essays brings the avian world richly to life. Kumar’s perspective is not that of a list keeper, counting and cataloguing species. Rather, from the mango-colored western tanager that rescues her from a bout of altitude sickness in Sequoia National Park to ancient sandhill cranes in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, and from the snowy plovers building shallow nests with bits of shell and grass to the white-breasted nuthatch that regularly visits the apricot tree behind her family’s casita in Santa Fe, for Kumar, birds “become a portal to a more vivid, enchanted world.” Kumar’s reflections on these messengers from our distant past and harbingers of our future offer luminous evidence of her suggestion that “seeds of transformation lie dormant in all of our hearts. Sometimes it just takes the right bird to awaken us.”
"How Animals Talk explores the phenomenon of vocal, silent, and even motionless communication among animals. From crow talk to instant herd communication, author William J. Long theorizes that animals are much more intelligent, emotional, and moral than we have traditionally thought and that their ability to sense the presence of other living beings is an innate ability shared by humans as well. Based on many years of field observations, this classic text contains numerous examples of animal behavior that defy conventional explanation"--Simon & Schuster website, viewed September 14, 2022.
From the author of How Are You Feeling Today? and Will You Be My Friend? comes a picture book all about the birds and the bees (sex education). It's natural for young children to have questions about their bodies and where they came from, but it can seem a daunting task to answer honestly so that they understand the subtleties of puberty, sex, reproduction and relationships, and are comfortable with their bodies. This book uses clear, easy to understand language to answer complex questions about sex and relationships, and covers all manner of tricky subjects from puberty to consent with delicate accuracy and honesty. Filled with bright, fun illustrations and helpful advice for parents and carers, Let's Talk About the Birds and the Bees is the perfect book for explaining the facts of life to small children. Let's Talk books help you start meaningful conversations with your child. Written by an expert and covering topics like feelings, relationships, diversity and mental health, these comforting picture books support healthy discussion right from the start.
When children get their hands on this book, they are sure "to really read it, to really really read it." Or so says the magnolia warbler.And the magnolia warbler is not the only one with an opinion. There are sixty-three bird species talking their way through this funny backyard story.
?Nothing in the world prepares you for an eagle leaping to your arm,” says the author of this moving memoir. When Brenda Cox found Ichabod, a ten-week-old female bald eagle blown out of her nest, a profound relationship began. Cox experienced many exhilarating moments and more than a few close calls during the time she trained the bird for falconry and forged a deep bond with one of the most beautiful and elusive creatures. This story recalls that unusual relationship which spanned eight years.
A luminous account of largely unrecognised experiences in the aftermath of war. This is not a war story about heroism or healing trauma, but an attempt to fill the gaps in a family story in the wake of the Vietnam War and re-animate a father never really known. Life with Birds invests in the small scale, the domestic and the ordinary as an overlooked part of Australian military history. Bronwyn Rennex has used whatever materials she could find in order to attempt to retrieve her father - family stories, love letters, legal documents, birds - and the gaps between these documents form perhaps the most important part of this story: a failure that describes a loss. Rather than describing her mother's grief at her father's death, Rennex uses love letters and her mother's written claim for a war widow's pension to map the shape of her mother's love and loss. Told in fragments and mixing speculation, imagination and guesswork, the narrative is personal, angry, political and also funny, balancing a desire for some form of testimony with a commitment to questioning how we talk about war. This is a poignant and compelling account of largely unrecognised experiences in the aftermath of war.
In this beautifully illustrated book, Master Ching Hai lovingly writes about each one of Her feathered friend's unique biography, complemented by life-like photographs and captions filled with amusing telepathic exchanges between Master and bird. As one views these colorful vibrant beings among the trees and flowers, singing their love for God, one feels a soulful retreat from the daily grind of the urban jungle. Simply opening this book of Master Ching Hai, instantly brings forth a magical forest animated with birds and flowers. Twenty-three beautiful feathered beings, frequently seen nestling in the Master's arms, brings Her endless joy. She is often moved by their words and actions and is greatly inspired by them as well. Master Ching Hai pleasantly surprises the reader by revealing that inside these God's creations are very highly developed souls whose love know no boundaries.
