How Birds Evolve

“A Birdwatcher’s Yearbook Best Bird Book of the Year”“Terrific… . Futuyma writes an accessible overview of bird evolution that lay readers, especially birders, will be able to understand.” * BirdWatching *”[Futuyma] skillfully weaves together salient themes of evolutionary biology from the living aviary, stressing the important role that birds played in advancing our understanding of evolution.”—Alan Feduccia, Science“This engaging and wide-ranging summary of virtually every aspect of avian evolution synthesizes the earliest insights from Darwin to those of modern phylogenetics, using birds to illustrate each concept. … [Futuyma] may be the ideal person to explain the marvels of bird evolution.”—Daniel S. Cooper, The Quarterly Review of Biology“How Birds Evolve is accessible, exhilarating science for everyone – amateur birder, professional naturalist or just the average man. It’s a great book and one to read over and over and I thoroughly recommend it to all. This is already my Bird Book of 2022 and I can’t see it being bettered.”—Phil Slade, Another Bird Blog“How Birds Evolve is a book full of accessible and exhilarating science for everyone and not just birders and professional naturalists. It’s simply a stunning book and one to read numerous times and an example of the amalgamation of science and nature writing at its finest and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone.”—Roy Stewart, British Naturalists Association“The delight is in the detail… . Futuyma unpacks the story of evolutionary science alongside the story of how birds evolved… . [How Birds Evolve] is entertaining and passionate.”—Simon Ings, New Scientist”[Futuyma’s] life-long passion and competence guide us across the pages of this book with a hint of humour.”—Gaia Bazz, Community Ecology ​​​​​​​

Douglas J. Futuyma is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, State University of New York. His books include Evolution and Science on Trial: The Case for Evolution. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.