Bandon Public Library

A biologist presents the natural history of feathers, applying the findings of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and art historians to answer questions about the origin of feathers, their evolution, and their uses throughout the ages

"Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. In fact, according to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. Like humans, many birds have enormous brains relative to their size. Although small, bird brains are packed with neurons that allow them to punch well above their weight. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores the newly discovered brilliance...

"When Sy Montgomery went to spend a day at falconer Nancy Cowan's farm, home to a dozen magnificent birds of prey, it was the start of a deep love affair. Nancy allowed her to work with Jazz, a feisty, four-year-old, female Harris's hawk with a wingspan of more than four feet. Not a pet, Jazz was a fierce predator with talons that could pierce skin and bone and yet, she was willing to work with a human to hunt. From the first moment Jazz swept down...

Mr. and Mrs. Bird search for a place to build a new nest only to discover their old one is better

After she falls headfirst into a bird's nest, a baby bat is raised like a bird until she is reunited with her mother.

Looks at the evidence of dinosaurs with skeletal structures and feathers so similar to birds and why that is convincing many scientists that birds evolved from dinosaurs