Books Exploring Our Relationship with Birds

Books Exploring Our Relationship with Birds

This article relates to Joy Is the Justice We Give Ourselves

Throughout his collection of poems Joy Is the Justice We Give Ourselves, J. Drew Lanham explores the restorative effect of immersing himself in nature. His particular passion, however, is birds. Humans have long been fascinated by the freedom, grace, and beauty of our feathered friends, ingraining them in mythology and symbolism for generations. As such, Lanham is not the first writer to explore our powerful relationship with birds, nor will he be the last. Each of the following books tackles the same topic, albeit from its own unique and fascinating angle.

Better Living Through Birding
by Christian Cooper

A lifelong lover of birds, Christian Cooper went viral in 2020 when footage of a white woman threatening to call the police on him while he was birdwatching in Central Park gained traction across the internet. This book, part memoir, part travelogue, part introduction to birding, chronicles the many lessons Cooper learned by immersing himself in nature and observing birds in the wild, and how these lessons prepared him, as a gay Black man in America, to handle encounters like the one that made him famous.

H Is for Hawk
by Helen Macdonald

Helen Macdonald grew up fascinated by birds and dreaming of becoming a falconer. As an adult, blindsided by the death of her father, she decided to finally pursue that dream, purchasing a goshawk named Mabel. Her experience bonding with and training Mabel runs in tandem with her attempts to navigate grief, exploring the deep and powerful ties between humans and nature.

Crow Country
by Mark Cocker

After being captivated by a flock of crows passing over his home one night, Mark Cocker began to follow the birds across the UK. Throughout his travels, he observes the complexities of the flocks' lives and gains a deeper understanding of the need for humans to share space with the many species that also call our planet home.

Conversations with Birds
by Priyanka Kumar

Having spent her childhood by the Himalayas in northern India, Priyanka Kumar was used to being surrounded by the wonder of the natural world. After moving to the US and pursuing a career in filmmaking, however, she felt disconnected and disheartened by man's destruction of the planet. This collection of essays documents Kumar's travels across the American West and the enchanting, life-affirming encounters she has with birds along the way, highlighting the importance of habitat and species protection.

The Wonder of Birds
by Jim Robbins

From ancient spiritual beliefs to modern-day scientific research, Jim Robbins draws on a rich array of sources to explore how important birds are to our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Robbins argues that birds, having taught us lessons on everything from language to engineering, and utilized for everything from sustenance to rehabilitation, are a vital aspect of our planet and culture.

Birds and Us
by Tim Birkhead

Subtitled "A 12,000 Year History from Cave Art to Conservation," this is a thorough examination of our long-standing fascination with birds; a bond which has spanned continents, eras, and religions. From humans revering birds as gods, to studying their wings in order to achieve flight, ornithologist Tim Birkhead aims to show how our intrinsic link with birds has repeatedly shaped us as a species.

Filed under Reading Lists

This article relates to Joy Is the Justice We Give Ourselves. It first ran in the May 1, 2024 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.