Marzluff has hit a winner . . . This easily read but engrossing account offers something for everyone . . . Writing with the sure hand of an inveterate observer—a crack scientist with the soul of a nice guy next door—Marzluff takes readers into his life in Seattle, working with teams of his graduate students and some admirable neighbors. Readers visit ten cities around the world and marvel at the simplicity of the author's ten rules . . . Beautifully illustrated in black-and-white by Jack Delap, with accuracy and touches of humor. For scientists, bird lovers, philosophers—and everyone else. Highly recommended.”—Choice
I know of no other book that covers this topic. The synthesis is novel and powerful. . . . This is a unique, interesting, and important work.”—Steward Pickett, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Suburbs are increasingly an important factor affecting wildlife, especially birds—both negatively and positively. There is much that we can do for animals as ‘good neighbors’ that enriches their lives and ours. Nobody is more well-suited and qualified than John Marzluff to address this issue.”—Bernd Heinrich, author of The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration, Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death, and Mind of the Raven
John Marzluff writes with authority and insight about the lives and habits of birds around us and suggests steps we can take to protect them in an increasingly hostile world.”—Peter Doherty, Nobel Laureate and author of Their Fate is Our Fate: How Birds Foretell Threats to Our Health and Our World
Marzluff’s academic work and his lifelong passion for birds have merged in his beautiful and informative new book . . . His conclusions offer hope in an era of despair at what humans’ destructive habits are doing to wildlife.”—Seattle Times
John Marzluff has combined his experiences as an ornithologist, urban ecologist, and observer of nature into a very readable book about birds, humans, and our linked fates in a rapidly changing world.”—Stephen DeStefano, author of Coyote at the Kitchen Door: Living with Wildlife in Suburbia
What is a scientist to do when he discovers that he's seen more bird species in New York's Central Park than he did in Yellowstone? Study the phenomenon, of course. Marzluff's exploration of this seeming paradox leads him to "subirdia"—that edgy place between suburbs and wilderness. If you love nature, but feel guilty about owning a plot in the "burbs," or being a city denizen, take heart. Birds—and other wild creatures—are doing better there than most of us think, Marzluff reveals in this engaging and beautifully written book.
“You'll come away, too, with a bird's appreciation of your own backyard. That (unmowed) lawn is a savannah! Those parkway trees, a forest. The birdbath, a pond. We haven't lost the birds and animals; we've brought them to us. Marzluff's book shines with insights and revelations into a natural world many of us live in but fail to see: our own backyards.”—Virginia Morell, author of Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel
With enthusiasm, wit, and compelling scholarship, John Marzluff challenges us to reconsider a forgotten landscape. Welcome to Suburdia is more than entertaining—it will change the way you think about cities, nature, and your own backyard.”—Thor Hanson, author of Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle
A triumph! Everything you wanted to know about suburban birds—and more.”—Tim Birkhead, author of Bird Sense and Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin
★ 10/15/2014
This excellent book documents engagingly how wildlife has adapted to urban and suburban areas, often in surprising ways. Marzluff's (wildlife biology, Univ. of Washington, Seattle; Dog Days, Raven Nights) work is well referenced with an extensive bibliography (he is senior author of 16 of its items) and fully annotated, eminently readable chapter notes. The cute title should not obscure the scholarship and research that is so well presented here. Discussion topics include wildlife in golf courses, how bird song changes when challenged by traffic noise, yard plantings, gardens, city parks, the effects of artificial light, bird feeders, the benefits of dead trees, and dozens of other issues. Birds dominate the text. Marzluff has a special interest in the crow family: jays, ravens, and crows per se. Much of the academic yet readable narrative (this is not a reference book) draws upon phenomena in the Pacific Northwest but the focus is worldwide and increasingly important as urban areas continue to expand. VERDICT Most highly recommended for all interested in wildlife, city planning, and urban ecology.—Henry T. Armistead, formerly with Free Lib. of Philadelphia
"This excellent book documents engagingly how wildlife has adapted to urban and suburban areas, often in surprising ways. . . . Most highly recommended for all interested in wildlife, city planning, and urban ecology."—Library Journal (starred review)"Enjoy and bond with nature where you live and work. Marzluff has done this, and it has given him contagious joy that shows in the pages of this enjoyable and informative book."—New York Review of Books"Marzluff’s academic work and his lifelong passion for birds have merged in his beautiful and informative new book . . . His conclusions offer hope in an era of despair at what humans’ destructive habits are doing to wildlife."—Seattle Times
"Marzluff has hit a winner . . . This easily read but engrossing account offers something for everyone . . . Writing with the sure hand of an inveterate observer—a crack scientist with the soul of a nice guy next door—Marzluff takes readers into his life in Seattle, working with teams of his graduate students and some admirable neighbors. Readers visit ten cities around the world and marvel at the simplicity of the author's ten rules . . . Beautifully illustrated in black-and-white by Jack Delap, with accuracy and touches of humor. For scientists, bird lovers, philosophers—and everyone else. Highly recommended."—Choice
". . . Marzluff writes well, and with passion appropriate for motivating his target audience, the layman. He cites many convincing statistics . . . and he has timed his writing to take advantage of a growing awareness among suburbanites that the nature they knew as children has been replaced . . ."— Douglas W. Tallamy, University of DelawareListing"A triumph! Everything you wanted to know about suburban birds—and more."—Tim Birkhead, author of Bird Sense and Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin"With enthusiasm, wit, and compelling scholarship, John Marzluff challenges us to reconsider a forgotten landscape. Welcome to Suburdia is more than entertaining—it will change the way you think about cities, nature, and your own backyard."—Thor Hanson, author of Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle"What is a scientist to do when he discovers that he's seen more bird species in New York's Central Park than he did in Yellowstone? Study the phenomenon, of course. Marzluff's exploration of this seeming paradox leads him to 'subirdia'—that edgy place between suburbs and wilderness. If you love nature, but feel guilty about owning a plot in the 'burbs,' or being a city denizen, take heart. Birds—and other wild creatures—are doing better there than most of us think, Marzluff reveals in this engaging and beautifully written book. "You'll come away, too, with a bird's appreciation of your own backyard. That (unmowed) lawn is a savannah! Those parkway trees, a forest. The birdbath, a pond. We haven't lost the birds and animals; we've brought them to us. Marzluff's book shines with insights and revelations into a natural world many of us live in but fail to see: our own backyards."—Virginia Morell, author of Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel"John Marzluff has combined his experiences as an ornithologist, urban ecologist, and observer of nature into a very readable book about birds, humans, and our linked fates in a rapidly changing world."—Stephen DeStefano, author of Coyote at the Kitchen Door: Living with Wildlife in Suburbia"John Marzluff writes with authority and insight about the lives and habits of birds around us and suggests steps we can take to protect them in an increasingly hostile world."—Peter Doherty, Nobel Laureate and author of Their Fate is Our Fate: How Birds Foretell Threats to Our Health and Our World
"…this book is a terrific compilation of facts about suburban wildlife (much more than birds, and well beyond its US core). There are awful statistics —about cats especially, but also skyscraper collisions, poisons and habitat loss— and many happily more positive ones."—Rob Hume, Birdwatch
"As Marzluff shows in this rich account of fieldwork in ‘metropolitan wilds’ from New Zealand to Costa Rica, such annexed environments – which boast some 75 billion trees in the United States alone – can host an astounding diversity of birds. But, he argues passionately, intelligently and with scientific authority, any land-use change reweaves the ecological web, and may leave it threadbare."—Nature
"Enjoy and bond with nature where you live and work. Marzluff has done this, and it has given him contagious joy that shows in the pages of this enjoyable and informative book."—New York Review of Books
