Product Details
Corvus: A Life with Birds

Corvus: A Life with Birds
By Esther Woolfson

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Product Description

Ever since her daughter rescued a fledgling rook years ago, Esther Woolfson has been fascinated with corvids, the bird group that includes crows, rooks, magpies, and ravens. Today, the rook, named Chicken, is a member of the Woolfson family, along with a talking magpie named Spike, a baby crow named Ziki, a starling, a parrot, and others. From their elaborate bathing rituals to their springtime broodiness and tendency to cache food in the most unlikely places, these corvids share a bond with humans that one might never have imagined before reading this book.

Letting her experience speak for itself, Woolfson likens the fears and foibles of corvids to those of humans, taking into account the science of bird intelligence, evolution, song, and flight. She highlights their big personalities and capacity for affection: Chicken hates computers and machines, while she loves evening neck scratches on Woolfson’s knee. It is through this intimate lens that Woolfson invites us to reconsider the kind of creature capable of being man’s best friend.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #802614 in Books
  • Published on: 2010-04-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 352 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. 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.

About the Author
Esther Woolfson was brought up in Glasgow and studied Chinese at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Edinburgh University. Her acclaimed short stories have appeared in many anthologies and have been read on Radio 4. She has won prizes both for them and for nature writing. She has been the recipient of a Scottish Arts Council Travel Grant and a Writer's Bursary. She lives in Aberdeen.

Customer Reviews

Excellent5
Absolutely brilliant. I got this after seeing Esther talk at the Edinburgh Book Festival and it's got to be one of the best non-fiction books this year. I have to admit, I have never been interested in birds, and knew absolutely nothing about them, but the book really opened up the subject of such a fascinating family of birds - the Corvids - being both informative and entertaining at the same time. Esther's own personal tales of a life shared with various birds - Chicken the rook, Spike the magpie and Ziki the crow - intertwine with histories of our perception of blackbirds to paint a hilariously interesting account of these birds' intelligence and personalities.
A must read for anyone interested in birds, nature, or just good story telling!

Perfect for any collection strong in accounts of pets and wildlife5
Esther Woolfson has long been fascinated with corvids, the bird family including crows, rooks, magpies and ravens. Her family includes several corvid pets. Here she discusses her pets and the corvid family in general, offering views of an unusual bonding process and different insights into the natural history of the corvid. Perfect for any collection strong in accounts of pets and wildlife.

Can't put it down!5
Just started Corvus: A Life With Birds and can't put it down! The writing is rich, as if Esther Woolfson is having a conversation with the reader or telling an engaging story at a garden party. Information about animals is secondary to her description of their personalities; both done very well.
Great read!