The Physics of Birds & Birding uses birds as examples to explain how fundamental principles of physics shape what we see and hear. The book covers a wide range of topics, including classical mechanics (forces and motions), cell physiology (protein pumps), electromagnetic fields, waves and sound, colour (including the molecular origins of pigments), vision (how birds’ visual systems differ from ours) and aerodynamics of flight. It then connects these ideas to birding equipment such as binoculars and cameras, explaining the optics behind magnification, brightness, and resolution. It also covers acoustic recorders, showing how sound is captured, processed, and interpreted. As a result, this book will appeal most to scientifically-minded readers, as the links to birds are often quite tangential. That said, the final two chapters – on thermoregulation and flight – are more explicitly about birds, and in a field as vast and intensively studied as avian flight, the level of detail is pitched about right.

 Less successfully, some of the information elsewhere in the book is now dated. For example, the account of how raptors locate and target prey relies on earlier studies that have since been superseded, including ideas about spiral flight paths and the use of ultraviolet cues from vole trails. This material would have benefited from a brief update – something that could easily have been achieved with a modest review of more recent literature. 

Overall, the book treats birding as a starting point for exploring physics, rather than as a practical guide to observing birds in the field, and in doing so it effectively reveals the deeper connections that underpin the natural world. If you are comfortable with physics driving the narrative, then you will find this book an engaging read – it’s full of insights that will deepen a birder’s understanding and sense of wonder about the world around them.

Reviewed by

Caroline Brighton