Like his first book, A Parrot Without a Name, Birdsong is a compelling narrative that blends personality, adventure and science, and follows two of the worlds most celebrated experts in birdsong--Don Kroodsma of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Greg Budney of Cornell University's Library of Natural Sounds--through a season of studying and recording for posterity bridsong.

The first book completely dedicated to the subject, Birdsong is a revelation. As we follow the two scientists through Martha's Vineyard, Maine, Florida, the Sierra Nevadas, and on to Costa Rica, we find out that birds must learn their songs much like human babies learn speech from their parents. We also discover that although biologists and naturalists have written birdsong off as mere expressions of territory or attracting a mate, these simplistic rationales don't explain why the marsh wren sings over 200 songs and chipping sparrow only one. Nor do they explain why the chestnut-sided warbler sings one song one week during the spring breeding season and a different song the next week.

We also learn the incredible difficulty of capturing "aural specimens" with heavy, sensitive equipment in harsh circumstances; the evolution of song birds and their unusual anatomy; how much information birds transmit in a 2 to 3 second song; the biological function of songs and calls; song learning; geographic variation or "dialects" in the songs; a history of the obsession of birdsongs for humans; and the influence of birdsong on music.