For the birds
Exploration of the relationship between humans and birds, from hummingbirds, to storks in WWII, to the reverence for birds in early cultures.
Welcome to my weekly collection of links from literary and cultural magazines. Each week, I’ll cover a different topic and provide interesting perspectives on it through essays and reviews. I invite you to explore these articles, gain new insights and learn something new. Be sure to check back each week for a new set of articles to read and discuss!
A Route of Evanescence, (1489)
A Route of Evanescence, With a revolving Wheel – A Resonance of Emerald A Rush of Cochineal – And every Blossom on the Bush Adjusts it’s tumbled Head – The Mail from Tunis – probably, An easy Morning’s Ride –
A Searing Bolt of Turquoise (NYRB, 2021)
Hummingbirds, whose psychedelic feathers cover even more remarkable physiological adaptations, are dying out at alarming rates owing to climate change, but humans have long had a deadly fascination with these startling creatures.
Hummingbird Salamander (book)
Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment (exhibit catalog)
On Edward Hicks (book)
Consider the Hummingbird (LRB, 2022)
At the Great Exhibition of 1851, Queen Victoria was captivated by the beauty of John Gould's display of 1500 hummingbirds, representing 320 different species. The smallest of these birds, the male bee hummingbird, is only as heavy as half a teaspoon of sugar and possesses iridescent feathers that change colour with the light. This beauty caused a craze in London and Paris, with the birds being pinned to turbans and arranged in groups on summer bonnets, leading to overhunting and the founding of the Society for the Protection of Birds in 1904.
Consider the Stork (LRB, 2021)
Storks are thought to bring luck to their roosts and are admired for their intelligence, heroism, and size. They have been hunted for food and are now endangered, but recently reintroduced to the UK as part of a rewilding project.
Diary: Gaby Wood Draws an Albatross (LRB, 2020)
When she met the albatross, she was amazed by its majestic beauty and melancholic spirit. With a wingspan of up to 3.5 meters, the wandering albatross is the largest of its species and is capable of dynamic soaring.
Old World Warblers (LRB, 2022)
Songbirds, which are the most widespread vertebrates on land, consist of 4500 species, all of which share the same structure of vocal organ and ability to learn new noises. It is believed that the first songbirds evolved in the southern hemisphere and eventually spread around the world, with populations becoming established in Asia, Europe, and North and South America. This dispersal of songbirds is thought to have been aided by climate fluctuations and the development of unique calls. The songbird radiation even reached the Galápagos Islands, which were the inspiration for the first working theory of evolution.
Birders of a feather (TLS, 2022)
Bustards, dodos, ibises and other sources of an enduring obsession
