Birdscapes

Jeremy Mynott

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. 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.

List of illustrations vii Preface ix Chapter 1: Wondering about birds Shingle Street -- Witnesses and prophets -- Birds and ourselves 1 Chapter 2: Amusive birds: Attraction and association Horsey -- Favourites and fancies -- Meanings and masks -- Charisma and beyond 28 Chapter 3: Seeing a difference Isles of Scilly -- Distinctions and differences -- Species and individuals -- Observing and perceiving -- Illusion and self-deception -- Patterns, profiles, and all that jizz 54 Chapter 4: Rarity value Central Park -- The listing habit -- Collection and possession -- The hunting instinct -- Extreme pursuits -- Discovery and diversity 80 Chapter 5: Beauty and the beholder Volga Delta -- Signs of life -- Image and imagination -- Colour and form -- Art and nature 109 Chapter 6: The sense of sound Little Thurlow -- Sound and silence -- Sounds different -- Signs of sound -- "And the winner is ... " -- The sound of music 145 Chapter 7: A time and a place Flannan Isles -- The sense of a season -- Birds in a landscape 182 Chapter 8: Wild nature: The politics of preference Old Hall Marshes -- Disturbance and disorientation -- Intervention and conservation -- Belonging? 207 Chapter 9: Naming matters Kakadu -- What's in a name? -- Facts and fancies: Naming the birds -- Invention and discovery -- Regulation and resistance: The Esperanto illusion 229 Chapter 10: Birds are good to think with Delphi -- A bird told me -- Signs and symbols -- Eagles and emblems -- Why birds? -- Seeing what you believe -- Like a bird 262 Envoi: "Stirred for a bird" Shingle Street 297 Appendix 1: Some notable lists: The Sumerians, Thomas Jefferson, John Clare 303 Appendix 2: Birds and bonnets: A New York hat story 310 Appendix 3: Nightingale mysteries 312 Appendix 4: Some Australian bird names 318 Reference matter: Abbreviations -- Notes, sources, and further reading 323 Index of birds 347 General index 355 Acknowledgements and permissions 365