Slow Birding
The Art and Science of
Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard
Professor Joan Strassmann began a blog in 2010 to share her enjoyment with Slow Birding and to encourage others to take the time to watch birds in their immediate surroundings. More than a decade later, she published Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard, a book to introduce readers to the pastime and the joys that accompany the knowledge of bird species commonly found in our back yards.
While introducing popular readers to sixteen separate bird species, Strassmann recounts entertaining stories relating to each of them, describing their behaviours, and providing expert guidance on different facets of their lives. Slow Birding recommends many specific activities for readers to enjoy when outside among the birds, beginning with a basic counting of the number of birds found within a defined area. Maintaining a home bird list can form a helpful record of slow birding activities.
Another fruitful recommendation is to follow a single bird in order to find out what it does in its regular routine, and along the way discovering its flight patterns, food sources, feather designs, and daily roosting habits. Migratory birds can be particularly interesting as their behaviour patterns change depending upon the season. It is also fun to identify birds through their melodic bird song, to distinguish them from other species, to attract mates, and to signal food sources discovered within their hearing range.
Slow Birding is distinct from "bird watching" with its focus on following bird species that are found in our own surroundings, rather than traveling long distances in response to a particular sighting. As a result, readers become more aware of the rich diversity of nature in which they live. Joan Strassmann treats us to a deep understanding of the most common species by sharing knowledge garnered by eminent ornithologists and the amazing stories they have to tell.
Professor Joan Strassmann studies the evolution of life from its most basic cellular forms to advanced biological ecosystems. As Charles Rebstock Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Strassmann publishes widely on the topics of single-cell organisms and the implications of sociobiology interactions in entomological populations. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Strassmann and her husband Professor David Queller have collaborated on many studies relating to complex social systems of insects. Together, they lead the Queller/Strassmann (Research) Lab at Washington University.
