Avian Illuminations examines the many roles birds have played in human society, from food, messengers, deities and pets, to omens, muses, timekeepers, custodians, hunting companions, decorative motifs and, most importantly, embodiments of our aspirations. It narrates the history of our relationships with a host of birds including crows, owls, parrots, falcons, eagles, nightingales, hummingbirds, and many more. Along the way the book describes how birds’ nesting has symbolised human romance, how their flight has inspired inventors throughout history, and concludes by showing that the interconnections between birds and humans are so manifold that a world without birds would effectively mean an end to human culture itself. Beautifully illustrated, this is a superb overview of our long and rich association with our feathered friends.
...MoreReview T. R. Birkhead (2022) Review of "Avian Illuminations: A Cultural History of Birds". Archives of Natural History (pp. 429-429).
Similar Citations
Book
Owen T. Nevin;
Ian Convery;
Peter Davis;
(2019)
The Bear: Culture, Nature, Heritage
(/isis/citation/CBB329554815/)
Book
Antoine Traisnel;
(2020)
Capture: American Pursuits and the Making of a New Animal Condition
(/isis/citation/CBB660480379/)
Book
Richard Jones;
(2019)
Wasp
(/isis/citation/CBB703057217/)
Article
Soll, David;
(2012)
Resurrecting the Story of the Passenger Pigeon in Pennsylvania
(/isis/citation/CBB001200338/)
Article
Alvise Sforza Tarabochia;
(2021)
The staff of madness: the visualization of insanity and the othering of the insane
(/isis/citation/CBB672317709/)
Article
Benjamin Bothereau;
(October 2020)
Illuminated Publics: Representations of Street Lamps in Revolutionary France
(/isis/citation/CBB396842436/)
Book
Jan E. Dizard;
Mary Zeiss Stange;
(2022)
Hunting: A Cultural History
(/isis/citation/CBB921239382/)
Thesis
Elizabeth A. McNeill;
(2022)
Speaking of Animals: Animal Psychology between Experimental Science and Imagination (1840-1920)
(/isis/citation/CBB890315766/)
Article
Jonathan Birch;
(2019)
Altruistic deception
(/isis/citation/CBB810923820/)
Article
Wilson, Robert M.;
(2002)
Directing the Flow: Migratory Waterfowl, Scale, and Mobility in Western North America
(/isis/citation/CBB000200425/)
Book
Thoreau, Henry David;
Allen, Francis H.;
(2001)
Thoreau on Birds: Notes on New England Birds from the Journals of Henry David Thoreau
(/isis/citation/CBB000101611/)
Book
Karl Schulze-Hagen;
Gabriele Kaiser;
(2020)
Die Vogel-WG: Die Heinroths, ihre 1000 Vögel und die Anfänge der Verhaltensforschung
(/isis/citation/CBB274277432/)
Article
Ann Datta;
(2021)
The courtship dance of a lesser bird of paradise figured in J. E. Gray's Illustrations of Indian zoology (1830–1835)
(/isis/citation/CBB497413685/)
Article
Lawrence, Natalie;
(2014)
Plumed Wonders and Ornithological Passions
(/isis/citation/CBB001421082/)
Article
JANETTE-SUSAN BAILEY;
(2016)
'Dust Bowls', TVAs and Snowy River Waters: John Heyer, "The Valley is Ours" and an Early Post-War 'Image of Australia'
(/isis/citation/CBB374050385/)
Article
Lewis, Andrew J.;
(2005)
A Democracy of Facts, An Empire of Reason: Swallow Submersion and Natural History in the Early American Republic
(/isis/citation/CBB000660308/)
Article
Borrello, Mark E.;
(2003)
Synthesis and Selection: Wynne-Edwards' Challenge to David Lack
(/isis/citation/CBB000340708/)
Article
Lawler, Ellen M.;
Rubin, Sarah A.;
(2014)
“A Dissertation on Swallows” with Comments on Their Migration by the Eighteenth-Century Maryland Naturalist, Henry Callister
(/isis/citation/CBB001202221/)
Article
Sealy, Spencer G.;
(2009)
Cuckoos and Their Fosterers: Uncovering Details of Edward Blyth's Field Experiments
(/isis/citation/CBB000931235/)
Book
Samiparna Samanta;
(2021)
Meat, Mercy, Morality: Animals and Humanitarianism in Colonial Bengal, 1850-1920
(/isis/citation/CBB235772490/)
Be the first to comment!