The Nesting Season

Book cover of The Nesting Season: Cuckoos, Cuckolds, and the Invention of Monogamy

Book description

Why are the eggs of the marsh wren deep brown, the winter wren's nearly white, and the gray catbird's a brilliant blue? And what in the DNA of a penduline tit makes the male weave a domed nest of fibers and the female line it with feathers, while the bird-of-paradise…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Nesting Season as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jack Gedney

Author

The thing I love about the subject of this book is that it is visible all around me. The great yearly drama of the nesting season is the most exciting part of watching birds. This is where the good stuff happens: song and courtship, battles over territory, the miracle of nest construction, the cuteness of babies, and the development of monogamy.

Heinrich’s book opened my eyes to this story. He merges his deep scientific knowledge with personal observation, making that broader understanding applicable to what I can observe myself. He explores the different ways birds have of living their lives,…

From Jack's list on watching birds with pleasure and understanding.