Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs: How the Struggle for Survival Has Shaped Birds and Their Behavior

· Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Charles Constant
Audiobook
7 hr 22 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

When we see a bird flying from branch to branch happily chirping, it is easy to imagine they lead a simple life of freedom, flight, and feathers. What we don't see is the arduous, life-threatening challenges they face at every moment. Beaks, Bones, and Bird Songs guides the listener through the myriad, and often almost miraculous, things that birds do every day to merely stay alive. Like the goldfinch, which manages extreme weather changes by doubling the density of its plumage in winter. Or urban birds, which navigate traffic through a keen understanding of posted speed limits. In engaging and accessible prose, Roger Lederer shares how and why birds use their sensory abilities to see ultraviolet, find food without seeing it, fly thousands of miles without stopping, change their songs in noisy cities, navigate by smell, and much more.

About the author

Roger J. Lederer is a Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at California State University, Chico, whose academic specialty is the field of ornithology. The holder of a PhD from the University of Illinois, he has published over thirty scientific research papers and written more than six books.

Charles Constant is an actor whose professional storytelling career began at the age of thirteen, when he became an Actors' Equity Association apprentice. An accomplished audiobook narrator, Charles has recorded many popular titles, including How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban. He lives in Los Angeles.

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