Songs of Love and War : the Dark Heart of Bird Behaviour

A naturalist's journey to explore and understand the birds that fill the air with their music. The dawn chorus: a single voice cutting through the darkness heralds a breaking wave of sound at the very beginning of the day. It is an iconic natural phenomenon with many familiar performers, yet it is a mysterious event for which there is no complete explanation. A mass of starlings gathers at the end of the midwinter day. As the sun sets, wave upon wave of bodies rolls in and embarks upon another of nature's great attempts to show off. The murmuration is another much-admired spectacle, but again its purpose is obscure and defies our understanding. From dawn until dusk, birds do things that are surprising and mystifying. Songs of Love and War delves into bird behaviour and uncovers its purpose and meaning. More than just an inside look at bird behaviour, this book also represents a personal journey of discovery. What starts as a desire to learn more about the birds encountered on a regular father-and-son walk through the woods leads to a realisation that a bird's life is very far from the idyllic scene that can often be glimpsed by the casual birdwatcher. Actually a bird's life is often unusual and surprising, but above all it is brief and much darker than you might think. The dawn chorus: a single voice cutting through the morning mist soon develops into a symphony of different songs hailing the new day. Many of these songbirds are familiar and iconic features of British wildlife, and yet much about their lives remains mysterious, even to scientists. There is a simple pleasure in listening to birdsong, but curiosity on this enchanting phenomena will soon see you asking questions about every aspect of these birds lives from courting a potential mate and defending a territory, to mimicry and migration. 1 AWAKENINGS This describes a real Dawn Chorus. The way a dawn chorus starts as a single voice and develops into a jumble is a metaphor for the whole book. What might seem simple is not only complicated, but is actually still not fully understood by scientists, even now. 2 BIRD TABLE MANNERS How birds interact at a feeder including a discussion of conflict in garden songbirds. 3 SONGBIRD SURVIVAL The great Magpie debate and why it simply isnt black and white. 4 FAVOURITE SONGSTERS The trials and tribulations of learning bird songs (with a few favourites). This chapter will introduce the concept of territories. 5 PLAIN WEIRD The story of the Dunnock and its astonishingly complicated relationships. 6 ROBINS ARE RED What you might not know about Robins (they are mimics, migrants etc) 7 RECREATING THE PASTORAL SYMPHONY A chapter about trying to hear Nightingale, Quail and Cuckoo all at the same time. A story about what birds do at night. 8 VISIBLE MIGRATION An encounter with birds migrating, and then an explanation of migratory behaviour. 9 SONGBIRDS ABROAD How everything can be different abroad song, migration etc. This Is A Text About Experiencing Songbirds, In All Their Ways, As Singers, Migrants, Victims Of Predation And As Organisms With Complicated Natural Lives. It Is Also Of Personal Experience Where The Author Is On A Journey Of Discovery. Awakenings -- Take Your Partners -- The Breeding Circle -- Competitive Exclusion -- Death And Declines -- Repose -- Secrets And Robins -- On The Move -- Finding The Way -- Recreating The Pastoral Symphony -- A Thousand Cuts. Dominic Couzens. Edited And Illustrated By Marianne Taylor. (acknowledgements) Includes Bibliographical References (pages 246-250) And Index.