‘The Social Lives of Birds’

“The Social Lives of Birds” by Joan Strassmann was released September 2025. This is the second book by this author that writer has read, and Dr. Strassmann has a writing style all her own. As an evolutionary biologist, it was obvious this manuscript would touch all bases regarding the lives of the birds she chose to include in this fascinating work.

After becoming immersed in the beauty of Darwin’s Finches on Daphne Major Island, it created more questions than it answered. Evolutionary material is never cut and dry – one can easily read between the lines to glean more information in one respect, but it also prompts another set of life circumstances in other avenues.

Clearly birds answer to nobody, other than themselves and what life holds specifically for them. What one may feel is the unmistakable result of research, can turn into something entirely different by the time we have finished delving for answers, and it may not be what is our expectations.

Sociality is very complex, be it dynamics of flocks, communal roosting and its non-arbitrary secrets, mixed species foraging teams and why some can possibly behave in the manner they do.

DEB HIRT

Colonial living can change and shift at a moment’s notice, while a few members of other species may suddenly change outcomes after they have been the same over centuries to determine it is not longer correct in the given circumstances.

Seabirds, the greatest mystery time had almost forgotten, has stymied the birding world with nesting locations, some of which have been recently discovered after hundreds of years of secrecy.

Leks have given us confusing behaviors that may not always be championed by what is believed they should be interested in, because it doesn’t come to life in all sets of specific circumstances.

The competitive nature of familial living due to mate choice and parental care can change at any given time, especially if solid circumstances are not what we thought we were observing.

The usage of helpers is more common than we thought, and researchers can always learn more from rarely repeated behaviors that take us for a mind-boggling journey, and it is up to us to decipher the meaning.

Communal nesting is another peculiar aspect of some bird lives, as there are always questionable actions not all members of the community will agree with, especially the self-centered young ones, who only come around when they become introduced to adulthood.

Supersocial and supercharged birds that are always together, can uncover reasons for their mortality taking years in which to learn the specific dynamics.

From time-to-time, we will occasionally encounter those that have an intelligence beyond the normal, and they will teach us new mechanics to rewrite the history of genetics and new behavior to unravel.

Join Dr. Strassmann for a journey that will take readers into new heights as she weaves tales of encounters that seem beyond normal for the present.

Keep your eyes on the ground and your head in the clouds. Happy birding!

Deb Hirt is a wild bird rehabilitator and photographer living in Stillwater.

Cape sparrows, red-billed queleas and red-headed finches at Nossob Riverbed, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa.

BY BERNARD DUPONT FROM FRANCE - BIRDS AT WATERHOLE, CC BY-SA 2.0, HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/W/INDEX.PHP?CURID=40780538