The Ascent of Birds

This is perhaps the most exciting book on bird evolution I have ever read. Far from a chronological follow-up of the main fossils of dinosaurs to date, the author has chosen to present 27 species or groups of species, chosen for their spectacular or very particular adaptations, and to show where they come from, how they have evolved and spread, diversified, or sometimes contracted, and therefore how complex specializations or astonishing distributions can be explained today. Some may use recent or unusual evolutions (sympatric speciation of two Azorean petrels) or may not be the result of as long a history as was thought (Hoatzin's claw), but all show to what point evolution takes various paths to achieve the extraordinary biodiversity of today. There are practically no illustrations (except for a central notebook of photos of the protagonists) and references are relegated to the end, but the style is so captivating that we do not notice it. For such a low price, it is an opportunity to learn to what extent the evolution of our birds over the ages is not simply a succession of morphological changes, but that ecology, biogeography, plate tectonics or sometimes chance may have played an important role.

-- Jean Marc Thiollay * Ornithos *

We expect to find well‐read copies of this book in libraries near famous birding locations across the globe, from Pipeline Road to Kinabalu National Park.

* Journal of Field Ornithology *

The Ascent of Birds is a fascinating story of bird history, a collection of exciting and readable essays on the development of different bird types from ancient times to the present and the future.

-- Pertti Koskimies * Linnut *

While this book is a little daunting at first, covering as it does the entire evolutionary history of birds, the author does an excellent job of breaking the latest science down into understandable chunks, and I highly recommend it as an excellent synthesis of this amazing field of research. You won’t look at birds the same again.

-- Cyndi M. Smith * Canadian Field Naturalist *

Birds draw you in with flashy characteristics – dazzling colors, melodious songs, the power of flight. By the time you start to get inured to these you discover there is so much more. What’s the deal with all their diversity? Where did they come from? And just how in the world did we ever get such creatures as the birds-of-paradise? But such answers have not always been easy to come by, unless you happened to be an evolutionary biologist. That is, until John Reilly’s The Ascent of Birds: How Modern Science Is Revealing Their Story.

You would be forgiven for prejudging a book dealing with “the evolution of modern birds from their origins in Gondwana, over 100 million years ago, to the present day” would be a slog to read. But nothing could be further from the truth. The key is the final word in this book’s subtitle: story. This isn’t a textbook, it’s the story of birds.

-- Grant McCreary * The Birder's Library *

....we finally have a good volume presenting the vast amount of modern work done on bird evolution to those interested. This is a notable achievement and has been well executed.

-- Darren Naish * Tetrapod Zoology *

A readable overview of avian evolution.

-- Ian Paulsen * Birdbooker *

I highly recommend it to more experienced birders and to all interested in birds and avian evolution as an entertaining and instructive resource.

-- Clifford Frith * Australian Field Ornithology *

...one of those publications that makes you realise how much you didn't know you didn't know. It is also tremendous fun to read, and would be a valuable addition to any keen birder's library.

-- Martin Collinson * British Birds *

I don’t normally start reading a book and post a review before I’ve finished (or in the case of a few abandoned) reading it. I’m making an exception for this as it's not just an important contribution to ornithology it really is a shining example of how a technical subject can be presented in an easily digestible way to the lay readership. This is very well written and makes the evolutionary process in birds easy to understand and compelling. The author’s own passions get shared and you quickly go along for the ride and lap up the facts presented to you. This one’s a keeper!

-- Fatbirder

Every once in a while you stumble on a new natural history book that seems destined to be a classic. Is that a bold enough opening to convey how much I enjoyed The Ascent of Birds by John Reilly, new this spring from Pelagic Publishing?

-- Carrie Laben * http://www.10000birds.com *

...this ranks among the best popular science books and provides a great guide to our current understanding of where, and how, birds evolved.

-- Rob Robinson * BTO Ne