Under Their Wing: How Birds Shape the Human Experience

A human history of birds—charting how our lives have been intimately connected with these winged creatures since we first evolved out of the trees

From the ancient Egyptian mummified ibises to Yankee Doodle’s famous feathered cap, to the more obscure Arm and Hammer Company bird cards tucked within boxes of baking soda, this book charts our ongoing fascination with birds for thousands of years.

Pete Dunne—one of the most celebrated and recognized birders in North America—doesn’t shy away from the ugly parts of this history, from the astonishing numbers of avian fatalities as they attempt to migrate through a host of dangerous manmade obstacles twice a year, to the section he’s called the “hall of shame” which covers the species we’ve made extinct in North America, to “Your Bird Neighbors” where he inventories the birds currently declining or facing extinction.

Throughout, Dunne reminds us that as we are the problem, we can and must be the solution to protecting our avian kin and continuing to celebrate them and partner with them as we have throughout human history. This book is for history lovers, as well as for birders who will enjoy coming across their favorite species in new and surprising places throughout our shared time on this planet.