The Social Lives of Birds

'A tour-de-force survey of how birds live their lives - with all the drama, surprise, humour, sadness and amazement of any human soap-opera' - Stephen Moss, author of Ten Birds That Changed the World

'Utterly fascinating . . . Strassmann is the perfect guide to this world: an author as much fascinated by the science and research as she is motivated by the sheer joy and wonder of the birds themselves' - James Macdonald Lockhart, author of Raptor

In The Social Lives of Birds, evolutionary biologist Joan Strassmann examines what it means for birds of a feather to flock together. Some birds sleep together. Some join the foraging groups of other species. Some are only social during the breeding season, forming nesting colonies in trees, cliffs, and sandbanks. Some are altruistic, helping to rear young that are not their own. Some males perform mating dances together.

Strassmann explains how flocks provide safety in numbers, roosts offer warmth and shelter, and colonies allow for protected breeding. But group behavior is not without its costs-including increased competition, infidelities, tick infestations, and more. Strassmann exposes the conflicts birds face and the many ways in which they resolve these conflicts.

With stories of birds from around the world-from broad-winged hawks that migrate south together in the fall, tree swallows that roost together in the thousands, and tropical anis that nest in communes-The Social Lives of Birds explores the different kinds of bird groups and what to look for when watching them. Above all, it reveals that solitary life, it seems, is not for the birds.

'Delightful and informative' - Lee Dugatkin, author of How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog)

About the Author

Joan E. Strassmann is a professor of biology and award-winning teacher of animal behaviour. She is the author of Slow Birding: the Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard, published in 2022 by TarcherPerigee, PRH. She has been a slow birder for decades and is on the board of the St. Louis Audubon Society. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the Animal Behavior Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has held a Guggenheim fellowship. She lives with her husband in St. Louis, Missouri.