Corvus
A Life With Birds
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- £11.99
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- £11.99
Publisher Description
One spring, many years ago, Esther Woolfson's daughter rescued a fledgling rook. That rook, named Chicken, quickly established herself as part of the family, and other birds, including an irascible cockatiel and a depressive parrot, soon followed. But it was the corvids - members of the crow family - who amazed Woolfson with their personality and their capacity for affection. This classic blend of memoir and natural history combines the author's fascination with all things avian, from the mechanics of flight to the science of birdsong, with her funny, tender stories of life among the birds.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Shortly after settling with her husband and two daughters in a rambling Edwardian house in Aberdeen, Scotland, the gift of several pairs of doves inspired UK novelist and nature writer Woolfson to convert her new coal shed into a dovecote. The doves were followed by housebirds: a cockatiel for their daughter, a flightless rosella parrot the pet store couldn't get rid of, and a succession of unfledged birds rescued by neighbors. Woolfson learned how to care for everything from infant birds to elderly parrots with dysfunctional backgrounds; the menagerie eventually includes a swearing starling, a young rook named Chicken, and Spikey the magpie. Describing how her birds communicate (nearly all the house birds talk), she reveals distinct personalities and idiosyncrasies; she also discusses birds in the wild and natural history, and her neurologist husband is particularly keen on bird brains. The highly intelligent Corvus genus, including crows, magpies, rooks and ravens, fascinate Woolfson the most, and she transmits their appeal with startling clarity. Additionally, Helen Macdonald's beautiful illustrations add resonance to each chapter's subject. A satisfying read from a masterful stylist, this will appeal to any fan of nature writing or personal essays.
Customer Reviews
A fascinating insight
Esther Woolfson has a rook standing on her knee. Confusingly, it's called Chicken. In Corvus we are introduced to Chicken, and her many, varied, housemates, who share what must be a noisy, but fascinating, home in Aberdeen.
Woolfson teaches us what she learns from and about birds, from how to feed a fledgling magpie, through the etymology of bird names, the evolution of birds, the different types of flight, the physiology of song, the structure of feathers, and on to much more, all the while finding caches of rotten shrimp under the rug.
I loved this tale of Woolfon's journey into the world of birds (or of theirs into hers), and I will never look at birds (any of them) in the same way again.