This book straddles an interesting gap - books about birds and books about research. Given that I love both, it's not hard to imagine that I would love and love this book. I took it up and put it down numerous times - it requires thinking, so it was not what I first thought of as a casual read, and I had to be ready to give it more time (I often have fiction and non-fiction books going at the same time). So I have been buried in it for some time, but only recently have I devoted the attention that I feel it requires.

The author covers a lot of ground here, personally, her chapter on how birds learn/know how to migrate could be a standalone piece of work, and stands out, but so do parts of much of this. Read this if you love birds, but be ready to give of it your full attention, you won't be disappointed.