The Thing with Feathers: The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human

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.

• Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World
• Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World
• The Genius of Birds
• The Wonder of Birds: What They Tell Us About Ourselves, the World, and a Better Future
• What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World
• Good Birders Don't Wear White: 50 Tips From North America's Top Birders
• Among Penguins: A Bird Man in Antarctica
• Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder
• A Season on the Wind: Inside the World of Spring Migration
• The Hidden Lives of Owls: The Science and Spirit of Nature's Most Elusive Birds