The Thing with Feathers - by Noah Strycker (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"[Strycker] thinks like a biologist but writes like a poet." -- Wall Street Journal

An entertaining and profound look at the lives of birds, illuminating their surprising world--and deep connection with humanity.

Birds are highly intelligent animals, yet their intelligence is dramatically different from our own and has been little understood. As we learn more about the secrets of bird life, we are unlocking fascinating insights into memory, relationships, game theory, and the nature of intelligence itself.

The Thing with Feathers explores the astonishing homing abilities of pigeons, the good deeds of fairy-wrens, the influential flocking abilities of starlings, the deft artistry of bowerbirds, the extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, the lifelong loves of albatrosses, and other mysteries--revealing why birds do what they do, and offering a glimpse into our own nature.

Drawing deep from personal experience, cutting-edge science, and colorful history, Noah Strycker spins captivating stories about the birds in our midst and shares the startlingly intimate coexistence of birds and humans. With humor, style, and grace, he shows how our view of the world is often, and remarkably, through the experience of birds. You've never read a book about birds like this one.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Thing with Feathers

"Mr. Strycker has the ability to write about the worlds of man and fowl without simplifying either.... He thinks like a biologist but writes like a poet, and one of the small pleasures of The Thing With Feathers is watching him distill empirical research into lyrical imagery.... Part the palm fronds behind his sentences, and you can almost see the British naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough standing there in a pith helmet, smiling with amused approval at Mr. Strycker's off-center sensibility." - Wall Street Journal

"The Thing With Feathers turns a shrewd, comparative eye on a succession of bird families to explore what [Strycker] calls their 'human' characteristics...This is an engaging work which illuminates something profound about all life, including our own." - The Economist

"Lovely, provocative..." - Robert Krulwich, NPR

"Fascinating" - Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"One of the best bird books you'll read this decade. Guaranteed." -- BirdWatching

"The Things With Feathers will encourage you to take a closer look at the natural world around you, and perhaps learn more not only about what you see but who you are." - Seattle Times

"[Strycker] combines the latest in ornithological science with snippets of history and his own vast experience in the field to hatch a thoroughly entertaining examination of bird behavior... In Strycker's absorbing survey, we find out how much fun it is simply to watch them." - Booklist, STARRED

"[Strycker's] prose is difficult to stop reading." - Publishers Weekly

"A delightful book with broad appeal." - Kirkus Reviews

"A dazzling variety of avian subjects, including connections between birds and humans." - Library Journal

"There's bird watching, then there is obsessing over why nearly 2,500 different species do the things they do. That's Noah Strycker, and this lovely book is compelling to those that chart the different birds they see on walks, and the rest of us who just gaze longingly at them as they fly through the air." - Flavorwire

"Noah Strycker explores the increasing likelihood that birds enjoy a vastly richer intellectual, emotional and even artistic life than we smug humans have ever suspected. Read this book." - Scott Weidensaul, author of Living on the Wind and The First Frontier

"As the 'owner' of a dancing Green-cheeked Conure, as a life-long pigeon-lover, seabird researcher, and falcon enthusiast, I can tell you that not only is this book full of solid information--I expected that--but as a writer I am astonished at how loose and easy Noah Strycker has made the reading for us. This is an insightful and wonderfully companionable book. I can't wait to read more from Strycker; meanwhile we have this gem." - Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean and The View From Lazy Point.

"A thoughtful, engaging book, encompassing pigeon races, physics, vulture baiting, the Backstreet Boys, and a mathematical model applicable to both tennis rankings and chicken hierarchies--a work of dazzling range, nimbly written." - Brian Kimberling, author of Snapper

"I've read books about birds all of my life and this is the one I've been waiting for. Birds have a great deal to teach us. Strycker loves birds, understands their magic and mystery, and can extrapolate from their behavior wisdom for us all. At last we have a book worthy of this subject." - Mary Pipher, author of The Green Boat

About the Author

Noah Strycker has studied birds in some of the world's most extreme environments, from the high Arctic to the Amazon jungle and Australian bush, and is an associate editor of the American Birding Association's magazine, Birding. His previous book, Among Penguins, describes a summer in an isolated Antarctic field camp. Noah writes, lectures, and lives near Eugene, Oregon, between field seasons.