Bird watching gets people outside and enriches their lives as they see birds doing what they do. This book, by Dominic Couzens has written, what he calls, "A celebration of bird behaviour around the world."

This is no way a book meant to cover all birds, but he has selected a number of the most interesting birds, as far as behavior, breeding, feeding, and looks. In these 224 pages, with 120 beautiful stock photographs, Couzens writes of 40 different birds, or groups of birds, with dramatic, interesting, and unusual behavior.

Take, for instance, the stunning cover photograph of the colorful head of a Cassowary, the only bird in modern times that has been known to take human lives. Looking at its fierce crest and killer feet, it's no wonder that they are quite capable of defending themselves, and have. 

There are birds from all seven continents, and the book is arranged that way: from Australian male fairy wrens, which brings his mate flowers in the morning as a gift, to the long-tailed widowbirds of South Africa. It's a fascinating read, to say the least.

For instance, the rockhopper penguin always lays two eggs, large and small, though the smaller egg rarely hatches. It's called the "unloved egg." And, when the albatross divorces, what happens? You'll have to read the book.

And does the Toucan's bill have a function? Yes, it's to intimidate other birds whose nests they're raiding.

You'll find that birds you thought you knew exhibited behavior that you couldn't dream of. There are warblers and ostriches and shrikes and crows; tanagers and hummingbirds and swallows and oystercatchers. There are a few typos and missing words, which lead to some confusing reading, but perhaps those will be caught in the 2nd edition. What is truly remarkable, is this book. ISBN-