Bridget Stutchbury

(Nonfiction, Nature)

I’ve noticed in the last few years and especially in the spring and summer of last year that there are fewer songbirds trilling their calls around our country property.
Since reading Silence of the Songbirds, I have a good idea why this is – not that it makes me feel any better.

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is still a classic on this subject, but Stutchbury’s book is an up-to-date consideration of the whole of North America.

These are disturbing facts; I often see in my mind’s eye, even now three years after first reading of them, all those dead hawks falling from the sky over southern fields.

4 stars… (más)

3.5 stars

This is a nonfiction account of the author's study of birds. She looks at mating, migration, song, colour, and more for various species of bird.

It started off a little slow for me, but overall, this was good. It did pick up a bit, I thought. A lot of the species she was looking at were not ones I have seen, but it was still interesting to learn about their habits and how varied they are. She doesn't really talk much about climate change and how the environment is affecting them (she has another book for that), except in the epilogue and it was mentioned maybe once or twice otherwise. The focus of this one is simply the birds' behaviour.… (más)