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Why Birds Sing: A Journey Through the Mystery of Bird Song | 
| Author: David Rothenberg
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $6.59
You Save: $19.41 (75%)
New (5) Used (17) from $4.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 750317
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 258
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.1
ASIN: B000EMSNZI
Publication Date: April 13, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The astonishing variety and richness of bird song is both an aesthetic and a scientific mystery. Biologists have never been able to understand why bird song displays are often so inventive and why so many species devote so many hours to singing. The standard explanations, which generally have to do with territoriality and sexual display, don’t begin to account for the astonishing variety and energy that the commonest birds exhibit. Is it possible that birds sing because they like to? This seemingly naive explanation is starting to look more and more like the truth.In the tradition of classic works by Bernd Heinrich, Edward Abbey, and Terry Tempest Williams, Why Birds Sing is a lyric exploration of bird song that blends the latest scientific research with a deep understanding of musical beauty and form. Based on conversations with neuroscientists, ecologists, and composers, it is the first book to investigate why birds sing and how, and what effect their music has on other animals—particularly humans. Whether playing the clarinet with the white-crested laughing thrush in Pittsburgh, or jamming in the Australian winter breeding grounds of the Albert’s lyrebird, Rothenberg journeys to the heart and soul of bird song. Why Birds Sing offers an intimate look at the most lovely of natural phenomena—with surprising insights about the origin of music.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 This book was awesome! May 13, 2008
I loved this book. D.R. treated his complex subject in a thorough manner and it was a pleasure to read. Sometimes I think that people like to simplify things so that they feel they have an answer but this fellow is okay with ambiguity and is humble enough to acknowledge that we know a lot less than we think we do about "Why Birds Sing". The breadth of sources he consults and clearly understands and appreciates is amazing. He mentions, "Over the last five years I have read far too much." Thank you! :)
P.S. The CD is alone is worth the price of the book - and then some. It's a treat.
 The solace of song August 21, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
David Rothenberg's lovely book, WHY BIRDS SING: A Journey Through
The Mystery of Bird Song, is an impressive achievement. The subject is fully researched, totally accessible, often fascinating, and always moving. I have long found that the wonder of bird song can bring profound solace to a troubled
spirit. Mr. Rothenberg's study completely validates my belief.
 Uninspiring July 28, 2006
5 out of 11 found this review helpful
With such an inspiring subject this should have been great book, but it's not. Reading this book was like watching a lava lamp - moving (turning pages) but going nowhere. I only read 40 pages before I couldn't bring myself to pick it up again. Good writing grabs you and compels you to continue - this doesn't. Singing birds are inspiring - this book isn't. The CD that came with it closed the lid on the coffin for me. The birds aren't allowed to star here but the author himself. He fails to communicate with the birds who provide great motifs for improvisation - only recall one time on the CD where the author generated a musical idea based on the bird songs. The book and CD are pretentious.
Tuneful, if not an aria. July 16, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
In this slightly meandering but sincere book, musician and philosopher Rothenberg shows us that there are qualities to birdsong that transcend what science can tell us. Part of that transcendence is their emotional involvement with their songs, and Rothenberg can be counted among earlier authorities--including Len Howard, Charles Hartshorne, and Alexander Skutch--who believe that birds enjoy singing. His enthusiasm is most apparent when the discussion turns to music, and as an amateur musician I also enjoyed perusing the musical scores and sonograms of various feathered songsters.
Rothenberg hits the mark with his observation that "bird songs are a genuine challenge to the conceit that humanity is needed to find beauty in the natural world." Another conceit is the disturbing laboratory experiments he describes, in which singing birds have their brains pierced by wire electrodes and are later killed for dissection.
Readers get a bonus CD of the author's music with birdsong and other nature sounds.
It's all about him December 12, 2005
9 out of 20 found this review helpful
Steer clear of this pretentious unscientific book. It is an exercise in self-promotion for a mediocre musician who is using the subject of birdsong to effuse about the "wonders of nature" (and himself). There are much better books on this subject -- get "The Singing Life of Birds" by Donald Kroodsma instead.
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