White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows

by Bernd Heinrich Narrated by Rick Adamson

Overview

The surprising, rich life of tree swallows in nesting season-with Heinrich's beautiful illustrations and photographs-by the acclaimed naturalist.

Heinrich is sparked one early spring day by a question: Why does a pair of swallows in a nest-box close to his Maine cabin show an unvarying preference for white feathers-not easily available nearby-as nest lining? He notices, too, the extreme aggressiveness of “his” swallows toward some other swallows of their own kind. And he wonders, given swallows' reputation for feistiness, at the extraordinary tameness and close contact he experiences with his nesting birds.

From the author of the beloved books Ravens in Winter and A Naturalist at Large, this richly engaging view of the lives of wild birds, as always with Heinrich, yields “marvelous, mind-altering” insight and discoveries. -Los Angeles Times

Narrator Rick Adamson is proud to have presented several titles from author Bernd Heinrich. He is an Audie Award winner for his voicing of IN A HEARTBEAT, from the authors of the true story that became the film THE BLIND SIDE. Around NYC and his home studio in New Jersey, he has worked in commercials, corporate and medical media, as well as educational content worldwide, for more than thirty years.

Editorial Reviews

APRIL 2020 - AudioFile

Backyard bird-watchers can rejoice that Rick Adamson was tapped to perform this collection of observations about the tree swallow, a species that nests in the New England woods. Adamson, no stranger to narrating author Bernd Heinrich’s work, takes listeners along on his quest to discover the swallows’ mating, nest-building, and parenting behavior, with a particular focus on the birds’ preference for lining their nests with white feathers. Adamson’s excellent pacing and engaged delivery nicely balance the scientific time and date stamps with the author’s joy at hearing the male’s mating song and at seeing the season’s chicks take their first tentative flight. Listeners will be inspired to pay closer attention to the birds common to their own locales. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2019-10-23
A search for the answer to a seemingly trivial question—why do tree swallows line their nests with white feathers?—reveals much about the nesting behavior of these wild birds but even more about the lifestyle of a dedicated scientist.

Heinrich (Emeritus, Biology/Univ. of Vermont; The Naturalist's Notebook: Tracking Changes in the Natural World Around You, 2017, etc.), a prolific author and naturalist, is no casual observer of nature. Each spring from 2010 to 2018, the now-retired professor sat quietly for hours watching tree swallows, counting, measuring, recording, and conducting experiments. He focused on a single pair of tree swallows, first in Vermont and then from his cabin in Maine. Rising sometimes before dawn, he recorded to the minute the birds' behaviors: "Finally, at 6:46 a.m., he landed on the box, peeked in, and flew back up to perch quietly on the locust tree until 7:12 a.m." Heinrich kept precise tabs on when the migrating birds returned, mated, built a nest, and laid eggs as well as when the eggs hatched, how often the chicks were fed, and when they fledged. The affinity of tree swallows for white feathers puzzled him, and he conducted experiments with feathers of various sizes and colors, even with strips of toilet paper when no feathers were available. The answer to the white feather puzzle he offers here is appealing but one that he admits needs further testing. As he writes, "eight years observing ‘my' swallows' behaviors related to white feathers yielded both fascination and frustration." The author provides more information about the nesting behavior of tree swallows than most general readers will want to know, but the picture that emerges of a naturalist at work is impressive. Illustrations include eight pages of his own black-and-white close-up photographs and a scattering of delightful drawings of trees, nests, birds, feathers, and eggs.

Definitely one for dyed-in-the-wool bird lovers.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175962469
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/18/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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