Corvus: A Life with Birds. Esther Woolfson

I thought this book was really well written. It's chock full of great information about the corvids and has plenty of humor too!Very well done! Deb.

The author captured me from word one. She weaves animal anecdotes and bird facts into interesting and touching stories of her family and their daily life in Scotland. Her love for birds and nature in general is evident in every sentence. This is a delightful book. She describes the birds she cares for in anthropomorphic terms, but that doesn't bother me - I do the same when asked to describe our resident household birds and the birds I've cared for temporarily with animal rescue and rehabilitation. The book is easy to read and very uplifting.

Just started Corvus: A Life With Birds and can't put it down! The writing is rich, as if Esther Woolfson is having a conversation with the reader or telling an engaging story at a garden party. Information about animals is secondary to her description of their personalities; both done very well. Great read!

Esther Woolfson has long been fascinated with corvids, the bird family including crows, rooks, magpies and ravens. Her family includes several corvid pets. Here she discusses her pets and the corvid family in general, offering views of an unusual bonding process and different insights into the natural history of the corvid. Perfect for any collection strong in accounts of pets and wildlife.

Absolutely brilliant. I got this after seeing Esther talk at the Edinburgh Book Festival and it's got to be one of the best non-fiction books this year. I have to admit, I have never been interested in birds, and knew absolutely nothing about them, but the book really opened up the subject of such a fascinating family of birds - the Corvids - being both informative and entertaining at the same time. Esther's own personal tales of a life shared with various birds - Chicken the rook, Spike the magpie and Ziki the crow - intertwine with histories of our perception of blackbirds to paint a hilariously interesting account of these birds' intelligence and personalities. A must read for anyone interested in birds, nature, or just good story telling!