Jennifer Ackerman has made a name for herself amongst the general public with her 2016 New York Times bestseller The Genius of Birds where she explored the many ways in which birds of all species use their intelligence to survive and thrive in the natural world. This year, she returned to this same avian world with a new book titled The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think (Penguin Press, 2020). “Clearly there is no one way to be a bird, just as there is no one way to be a human,” Ackerman writes, summing up the entirety of her new book in one, short sentence.
The Bird Way takes Ackerman’s topic of avian intelligence and expands on it to deliver a 355- page account of the various ways birds flourish and adapt. The book is divided into five sections – Talk, Work, Play, Love, and Parent – and each section gives an in depth look at the different approaches various birds take to each of these distinctive parts of life. This segmented approach makes the read surprisingly human as Ackerman’s exploration of the basics of avian survival are so often reflected in our own daily lives. Do we not also find ourselves talking, working, playing, loving and parenting throughout our lifetime? Ackerman knows we do, and she uses this obvious connection to help the reader draw parallels and relationships to an entirely separate group of the animal kingdom.
Ackerman also takes care to delve into new areas of research, often working to dispel long-held ornithological beliefs that have, in recent years, proven to be incorrect. Take for example her exploration of avian olfactory use. “Well into the middle of the twentieth century, people thought birds could barely smell at all, much less forage with their noses,” she writes, before going on to smash all our preconceived ideas of birds and smell. The turkey vulture is the most commonly thought of bird when the subject of smell comes up. It has been proven that these lanky carnivores use smell to seek out fresh meat, but what about other birds like albatrosses and pigeons and house finches? It turns out they all have a sense of smell that varies depending on the species. To some more seasoned birders, this may not be revelatory news, but the myth of avian anosmia is still prevalent enough that its debunking may come as a shock to some readers.
The book is not without its flaws. At times the information can seem repetitive and stale to those with even a basic working knowledge of the avian world. The chapter, “Birds of Play,” is an in depth look at the intelligence of corvids that felt fairly introductory even to someone who doesn’t consider herself to be an expert on avian issues. It seems almost common knowledge amongst bird enthusiasts that crows and ravens are some of the most intelligent species of birds, often indulging in complex tool making and bouts of play. In this way, the book may feel rudimentary to people with a more in-depth understanding of the avian world.
One thing I found odd was how rarely Ackerman chose to bring climate change into her conversation around birds. She mentions it only briefly throughout the book, choosing instead to focus on illuminating the often-secretive lives of the avian world. She gives depth and personality to everything from superb fairy-wrens to choughs to alpine-dwelling kea. This seeming dismissal of climate change feels purposeful though, in that by choosing to avoid making the book a plea to pay attention to environmental consequences, Ackerman allows the birds to take center stage. She invites readers to care about them solely for their complex, wonderous personalities and not just because they are disappearing at alarming rates. By the time Ackerman does get around to making her case for why bird conservation in response to climate change is critical, the reader has already become so enmeshed and enthralled by the avian lives she has laid out for us that her plea for action is all the more poignant.
Overall, The Bird Way is a stunning and varied collage of bird life that will dazzle and enchant bird enthusiasts everywhere. While it is probably more suited for those with a new interest in birds, there is still plenty of fresh and exciting information here for even the most seasoned bird lover.