Coming Soon
By: Russell McGregor(Author)
320 pages, 16 plates with colour illustrations; 22 b/w illustrations
![Enchantment by Birds]( "Enchantment by Birds")
Click to have a closer look
About this book
Customer reviews
Biography
Related titles
About this book
A fresh appreciation of the magic of birds and how watching them fulfills a human need to connect with nature.
Enchantment by birds is commonplace. Birdwatchers merely go a step further than others and actively seek to be enchanted. This book tells why they take that extra step. It takes the reader on a series of excursions into birdwatching's past, venturing forward to the present. With an intriguing cast of characters, avian as well as human, its lively narratives explore the emotional and aesthetic impulses behind the pastime as well as its scientific and conservationist components.
Its stories of 22 Australian birds range widely: from wordy squabbles over bird names to the artistic finessing of field guides; from the Paradise Parrot's tragic fall into extinction to the everyday enjoyment of a Magpie's carol; from the evolution of citizen science to the boom in birding tourism. Interlacing them all is the insight that birdwatching is a means by which modern, urban people reach out to touch the wild. A primal desire to connect with nature lies at the heart of the pastime.
Enchantment by Birds not only offers a compelling exposition of what makes birders tick; it also tells us, imaginatively and informatively, why birds have a special place in our hearts.
Customer Reviews
Biography
Russell McGregor has been a birdwatcher since childhood and an historian for over 40 years. Formerly a professor of history at James Cook University, he has written numerous articles on birds and birdwatching, and is also the author of six previous books, including Indifferent Inclusion: Aboriginal people and the Australian Nation (winner of the 2012 New South Wales Premier’s Australian History Prize), and Idling in Green Places: a Life of Alec Chisholm (shortlisted for the 2020 National Biography Award).
Coming Soon
By: Russell McGregor(Author)
320 pages, 16 plates with colour illustrations; 22 b/w illustrations
"Birdwatching is booming at the moment. If you like birds, this book will astonish and delight you. If you don't know what the fuss is all about, this brilliant book explains why so many people from all walks of life have picked up their binoculars and are heading out the door."
– Darryl Jones, urban ecologist and author of Curlews on Vulture Street
"Russell McGregor has delved into the archives to bring us a beautifully written account of our relationship with birds. There is some fascinating stuff here, and a timely reminder of the intrinsic importance of birds for nature's sake, and for ours."
– Sarah Pizzey, scientific editor of The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia
"It's been said that if you had to name someone to bat for your life, choose Steve Waugh. Or your mother. Well, if I needed someone to bird for my life, Russell would be second pick. After my father."
– Raoul Slater, nature photographer and co-author of The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds
"Russell McGregor's Enchantment by Birds is for all types of readers and birders – it's a history of science, culture and the birdwatching community, a love letter to the Australian landscape, an education for the uninitiated and a delight for any appreciator of eloquent and enthusiastic writing [...] McGregor summons a dizzying flock of quotations, and historical and personal anecdotes, resulting in an ornithological anthology – a collection of some of the best and most evocative language from the last 120+ years, mapping out changing attitudes and approaches to the art, science and methods of birdwatching. Enchantment by Birds is not just a history of birds, but a history of Australia – our changing relationship with our environment, race, culture, and class through our engagement with nature."
– Tamuz Ellazam, Readings
"It takes the reader on a series of excursions into birdwatching's past, venturing forward to the present. With an intriguing cast of characters, avian as well as human, its lively narratives explore the emotional and aesthetic impulses behind the pastime as well as its scientific and conservationist components."
– Lucy Ness, Readings
