Originally published: Consider the birds : who they are and what they do. London : Allen Lane, 2008.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [431]-433) and index.

A different way of being. What is means to be a flier ; How birds became -- Dramatis personae. Keeping track : the absolute need to classify ; All the birds in the world : an annotated cast list -- How birds live their lives. The eating machine ; The world as an oyster ; Idyll and mayhem : the sex lives of birds ; Families and friends ; The mind of birds -- Birds and us. Living with birds and learning from birds -- A matter of attitude.