---
product_id: 4196525
title: "Bird Sense: What It's Like to Be a Bird Paperback – May 21, 2013"
brand: "tim birkhead"
price: "฿1890"
currency: THB
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 7
url: https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/4196525-bird-sense-what-its-like-to-be-a-bird-paperback
store_origin: TH
region: Thailand
---

# Bird Sense: What It's Like to Be a Bird Paperback – May 21, 2013

**Brand:** tim birkhead
**Price:** ฿1890
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Bird Sense: What It's Like to Be a Bird Paperback – May 21, 2013 by tim birkhead
- **How much does it cost?** ฿1890 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.th](https://www.desertcart.co.th/products/4196525-bird-sense-what-its-like-to-be-a-bird-paperback)

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- tim birkhead enthusiasts

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    AN EXCELLENT INTRODUCTION TO A FASCINATING SUBJECT
  

*by D***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 13, 2012*

BIRKHEAD, Tim. Bird Sense: What It's Like to Be a Bird. Walker. 2012. 266 + xxii p, illus., bibliog., index. $25.MARZLUFF, John, and ANGELL, Tony.  Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans. Free Press. 2012. 289 + xiv p., illus., bibliog., index. $25.HERZOG, Hal. Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals. HarperCollins. 2010. 226 + viii p. $25.99.Good science writing is hard to beat. It's crisp, provides you with new insights into the physical world, and if the writer is good, opens up new worlds to you.Two of these three books -by Birkhead and Marzluff and Angell-- satisfy me on this level. The third -by Herzog-- does not.The two books on birds were part of a larger packet of books I bought from Amazon to satisfy my curiosity about these animals I can't ignore but know little about. I had read one book by Berndt Heinrich, a brilliant animal ethologist, on ravens so I bought three more (one on ravens, one -a classic--on bumblebees, and one autobiographical), which I have yet to read. These two books got caught up in the web of that buying spree.I[m just as interested in our attitudes toward animals -why are some okay to eat and others not? why do some repulse us and others not at all?--so I was looking for books on that topic too, and Herzog's popped up, along with a book by one of my favorite quirky historians, R. W. Bulliett, Hunters, Herders and Hamburgers (2005).This digression is simply to establish that I have a serious, though not scholarly, interest in the topics of animal capabilities and personalities and on how we perceive and relate to different kinds of animals.Birhkead's book on bird senses, and Marzluff's and Angell's on the capabilities and behavior of crows both satisfy me. The information is provides succinctly, the writing is crisp, both Birkhead and Marzluff (Angell is the illustrator) convey their passion about their subjects, and what they write about is fascinating. Both include a good deal of hard scientific information, not surprising given how much their field of studies has been enriched by the use of modern brain mapping techniques, but the hard stuff doesn't overwhelm the lay read (me). Rather, it gives what they write elsewhere credibility. The illustrations in both books are superb, and highly informative, a model of animal science illustrating. Birkhead especially is generous in detailing the contributions of past and other present day scientists in advancing knowledge in his field. Neither author claims too much for what is currently known.  And if I haven't said it before, the prose in both of these books is admirably crisp.I bought the book by Hal Herzog because (1) I found the topic fascinating and (2) both Stephen Pinker and Irene Pepperberg, scientists whose books I have enjoyed, praised it.  I'll be blunt. I didn't like the book. It's fuzzy where it should be hard, and it ends its stories just about the point I want to follow up on them.  In short, although the book contains a great deal of interesting though I am not sure conclusive information on its subject, it's too anecdotal and much too cutesy for my taste. I'm sure a good book could be written on the subject of human tastes for animals but when it's written, it needs to be crisp in style, skeptical in analyzing, and much more compact than this rambling and sporadically entertaining account is.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Winged Wonders:
  

*by L***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 7, 2016*

Birds have graced our world for over 170 million years.  During that time they have evolved to fit into a variety ecological niches; thriving on on every continent, from the tropics to the poles and everywhere in between. And they are equally at home in our oceans and fresh water environs, easily diving into deep water, snatching prey from the surface or navigating the trackless seas far from any land.  "Bird Sense", written by biologist Tim Birkhead, is a truly amazing book on avian biology.  Covering all the senses that you're familiar with as well as a couple you may not have thought of.  For most animals, birds included, vision and hearing are of primary importance for their day to day survival.  But how good is their vision?  Their hearing?  Do they perceive the world like we do?  And how about touch, smell and taste?  These too are a vital part of living.  For each of these senses Dr. Birkhead gives an in depth anatomy lesson on how the eyes work, where their ears are located and how the inner ear functions.  The discovery of nerve-endings for touch, taste and smell and how they work.  An owl can catch mice in near darkness and from some distance away.  How do they do that and are all birds just as gifted?  Then there's the mystery of migration and how birds can navigate over long distances to arrive at nesting grounds at just the right time.  Do they use the landscape or the stars or, maybe, they have some kind of magnetic sense unknown to us?  This well written book covers it all, and more, in a easy, conversational, way.  For hundreds of years now people have been observing and studying birds, their findings are not always right but they do lead to more research and there's no end in sight.  I noticed that some Amazon reviewers down graded the book due an "operation" preformed to remove a "live", and conscious,  bat's eyeballs to see if they could still get around their enclosure.  As distressing as that sounds keep in mind the author did not preform that operation. It was done back in the mid 18th century by an Italian professor of natural history, Lazzaro Spallanzani, and his findings are a matter of record.  I seriously doubt that any modern day biologist would need, or want, to preform such a procedure.  Be that as it may Professor Spallanzani's report is only a short segment out of very good book.  If your at all interested in birds or biology in general you'll find plenty of fascinating reading in "Bird Sense".  I had no downloading or technical problems with this Kindle edition.Last Ranger

### ⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Tedious
  

*by T***T on Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 14, 2021*

Having read other readers’ reviews, I was really looking forward to reading this book. Just to be clear, I have read many other bird books and consider myself an avid birdwatcher; my favourite authors are the likes of Stephen Moss and Dominic Couzens. In contrast, I found this book long-winded and rather dull, with countless references made to often inconsequential experiments from bygone centuries. The only redeeming feature of the book was that it did pick up a bit over the last quarter or so (the chapters on smell and migration were quite interesting) - or maybe I was just relieved that I was coming to the end of it!

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*Last updated: 2026-02-21*