Customer Reviews

The Singing Life of Birds: The Art and Science of Listening to Birdsong

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just listened to an interview with the author on NPR which included a number of selections from the accompanying CD, all I can think of is 'how awesome!' The author has spent many years studying and documenting birdsong and makes me realize that what I thought I knew from growing up in the country surrounded by birdsong is a tiny fragment of what I actually was hearing. The CD includes birdsongs at normal speeds and slowed to 1/2 and 1/4 speed, which allows the listener to hear the discreet sounds. The accompanying text includes graphic description of the sounds for a clearer understanding. If you love birds, you will love this!

I was predisposed to like this book, since I love birdsong and have long been drawn to research about it. But this book far exceeded my high expectations. Don Kroodsma takes us through the entire process of listening to a song, thinking up questions about how the species acquired it, and step by step through the process of learning the answer, setting up the sections like little mysteries. He's recognized by the American Ornithologists' Union as an authority on acquisition of birdsong, and although the book is authoritative and scientific, he somehow manages to infuse every paragraph with his own sense of wonder and joy in his subject. This book may look like a textbook, but it reads like a cross between a mystery novel and lovely poetry. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I just got a book out of the library. The author is a nut about recording songs and analyzing the sonograms (frequency intensity over time), and in his mind, when he hears a song, he identifies it by how it "looks" in his mental sonogram.

This whole idea is amazing, and I think I'll never listen to birds the same way again - just after reading the first few pages!

The writing style pulls you into the author's world as he tracks birds and ponders the meaning of their song. If you love birding, you will wish you had been there on every walk, and you'll want to wake up two hours before dawn the next day to discover the amazingly different pre-dawn songs of common birds.

The book comes with as CD with 98 tracks of songs, and some of the tracks are slowed down, which really changes your perception and shows you the depth and richness of some of those "blurt" sounds birds make. The Woodthrush at 1/10 speed reminds me of a howling wolf. I know I'll never listed to this song the same way again!

A masterpiece of avian bioacoustics (Sorry, I just had to use those words).

I have a bird outside my window just now singing a song of some kind. I've long thought it was pretty, but thought no more acout it. Now this book has come along and my casual listening has become much more interesting. I found the bird outside my window in the book and sure enough here is a sonogram, a voice print if you will of what the bird sounds like. Further, there is a track on the CD that comes with the book that has this bird's song recorded. It's not exactly like the bird outside the window, but birds (I've learned) are individuals too.

Birding is one of the more popular pastimes in this country, and growing quire rapidly. This book would be a supurb gift to any birder, even if you have to give it to yourself.

I found myself in complete agreement with the preceding 5-star reviews by Laura Allender, John Matlock and Laura L. Erickson. I only wish there was a way to rank the book higher than 5-stars.

Reading the book took me on a journey into an amazing, beautiful, and complex world that I previously had no idea existed. I kept finding myself saying "wow!" at the wonderful and startling discovers I came across. I especially liked the fact that the author is completely honest about what he doesn't know, explaining the many mysteries about bird singing that still remain to be solved. Rarely does one see the humanities so beautifully merged with science. The book is one of the best I have ever read, barring none.

My only regret is that there is as yet no edition of this book that uses color images of the birds and sonograms (the stunning cover jacket is in color). I would be willing to pay a little extra for such a version of this fantastic book.

You need not know much of anything about birds or how to listen to them to enjoy this book. It is well written, informative, and an easy read. The accompanying CD of birds songs is very helpful in understanding the sonograms of various bird songs given in the book. The sonograms themselves, I found, to be wonderful visual guides for 'seeing' what one is hearing, particularly for those rapid-singing bird species.

I highly recommend this book to any one intersted in birds and their songs.

What a transforming book and CD! I'm a casual birdwatcher, but not very good at listening to their songs. I learned how to really listen to birds and read sonograms, but I learned so much more. The passion Kroodsma conveys for his field of studying birdsong is contagious. He describes each set of experiments almost in memoir form, describing the scene and his feelings and posing the questions that pop into his mind even as his first questions are answered. For a scientist to still have such a sense of wonder and poetry about his field after 30+ years of study is truly a gift. We get a glimpse into how the scientific method works as well as what the method has shown us about birdsong over the years.

I had only two problems with the book, but it was otherwise so overwhelmingly wonderful that I didn't dock it any stars. I found the CD a little cumbersome to listen to as I read, so I read the book first and then listened, which was not ideal. Also, he flubbed some easily-checked facts about the northern cardinal. He left out my home state of Indiana and also Missouri (at least) when he listed the states that have the cardinal as their state bird. And I'm quite sure that the Cardinals football team had already moved to Arizona by the time he wrote the statement that St. Louis' sports teams were named for the bird. But then again, when you spend every morning (and sometimes all night) listening to birds, maybe you don't have time to check such trivia.

I wish I had more time to listen to the CD over and over and review the stories and experiments that go with each recording, but my book queue is long, and they all have due dates at the library. This may just be one of those books I break down and buy.

With over 1,000 "Bird Books" in my collection;it takes something real special to excite me. This book is such a special book. There are many books,records,tapes CD's and DVD'd that do an excellent job of teaching and describing bird songs so that with some practice you can recognize a large number of birds in the field.
Howerever,much more than showing a few ,typical songs of birds,so that you can recognize them when they call or sing;this book goes far deeper in showing you how to understand and appreciate bird song. There is much more to the song of a Chestnut-sided Warbler than the common "Pleased-pleased-pleased-to-MEETCHA." or the "whip-poor-Will" of the Whip-poor-will than one could ever imagine.In the case of the American Robin the author has found out how to tell one robin from another right in your own backyard. Obviously,it would take many years to learn and understand in detail all the songs of a large number of species as the author has done;but then he has studied birdsong for over 30 years and was recognized as "the reigning authority on the biology of avian vocal behavior"by the American Ornithologist's Union in 2003.
In this book,Kroodsma gives us the benefit of his vast knowledge,and it will certainly become "the book to have" for anyone who wants to give bird song serious study.His writing style is such that a very complicated subject can be understood and helpful;be the reader one who is a relative amateur or an extremely experienced birder.
One could almost start reading at any point in the book;but I would suggest,after the first chapter,turn to page 366,"Bird Sounds on the Compact Disc" and play the CD and follow the description for each track.You might even want to do do this a couple of times.
Another suggestion, once you have purused the book, would be to pick one of the birds the author has gone into detail with,and that are abundant near your home ,such as the American Robin,and really study the songs as the author explains.This can be done simply,as long as you don't try to get into advanced recording.A notepad,pen,seat and a cool drink will suffice.
At first glance this book might overwhelm you ;but don't let it.
I have two wonderful friends,sisters Joan and Gail,who I meet each spring at Point Pelee in Ontario. Joan was given this book by a friend,thought it was "too deep" for her;so she gave it to me. Thanks Joan,I love it.

One can only think the amount of knowledge Don has on bird sounds is in a different scale to the rest. But then he finds the way to transmit a good portion of it with simple and very easy to read stories and that becomes even more incredible. A very beautiful book in all senses.

This book is more than I expected. The author has a technical approach that provides precise sonograms. From these one can see and hear the intricies of bird's songs which are much more detailed than I ever imagined!!