What an Owl Knows

• Nature / Animals / Birds 
• Science / Life Sciences / Zoology / Ornithology
• Science / Life Sciences / Zoology / Ethology (Animal Behavior)

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way, a brilliant scientific investigation into owls—the most elusive of birds—and why they exert such a hold on human imagination

For millennia, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented more than thirty thousand years ago in the Chauvet Cave paintings in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Though our fascination goes back centuries, scientists have only recently begun to understand in deep detail the complex nature of these extraordinary birds. Some two hundred sixty species of owls exist today, and they reside on every continent except Antarctica, but they are far more difficult to find and study than other birds because they are cryptic, camouflaged, and mostly active in the dark of night.

Jennifer Ackerman illuminates the rich biology and natural history of these birds and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior. She joins scientists in the field and explores how researchers are using modern technology and tools to learn how owls communicate, hunt, court, mate, raise their young, and move about from season to season. We now know that the hoots, squawks, and chitters of owls follow sophisticated and complex rules, allowing them to express not just their needs and desires but their individuality and identity. Owls duet. They migrate. They hoard their prey. Some live in underground burrows; some roost in large groups; some dine on black widows and scorpions.

Ackerman brings this research alive with her own personal field observations about owls and dives deep into why these birds beguile us. What an Owl Knows is an awe-inspiring exploration of owls across the globe and through human history, and a spellbinding account of their astonishing hunting skills, communication, and sensory prowess. By providing extraordinary new insights into the science of owls, What an Owl Knows pulls back the curtain on the nature of the world’s most enigmatic group of birds.Praise for THE BIRD WAY:

"A brilliant synthesis of bird behavior research . . .What makes Ackerman’s book a joy to read is not just the stories she tells, but her vivid writing style . . . If there’s one thing Ackerman’s illuminating book makes clear, it’s that there is no single way to be a bird. Her opus is a celebration of the sheer diversity of avian behaviors, practices, predilections and the birds she writes about are 'iconoclasts and rule breakers' and remain 'layered in mystery.' It is this decision to focus on birds’ idiosyncrasies, to resist generalizations and categorizations, to break down assumptions about bird behavior, and to show how 'individual birds are every bit as distinctive as we humans are' that make this book so remarkable." —Birding Magazine

“From tales of dazzling plumage to anecdotes about almost unfathomable mimicry, Jennifer Ackerman’s The Bird Way is a walk through the mysteries, wonders, and peculiarities of the avian world . . . Ackerman’s excitement and love for it are evident in her writing. Her superb storytelling paints a rich picture that engages the reader’s imagination, making sometimes-hard-to-grasp research accessible.” —Science Magazine
 
 “[Ackerman’s] exhilarating book will leave you as awestruck by the complexities and contradictions of bird life as she is.” —San Francisco Chronicle

"After reading Ackerman ('The Genius of Birds'), you may listen harder to the various chirps, cheeps and coos coming from your backyard. Her new book reminds us that we have a lot in common with birds — like us, they are capable of deception and manipulation, not to mention cooperation, culture and communication." —The Washington Post

“In The Bird Way, Jennifer Ackerman digs deeper and ranges farther into bird behavior, pulling tasty stories out of rich ground as she hops across the continents [ . . . ] Like a bowerbird, Ms. Ackerman gathers and displays treasures to amaze and delight—then lets the scientists’ stories take center stage [. . .] Refreshingly, Ackerman spotlights a number of female researchers.” —Wall Street Journal.