I didn’t want to read Silence of the Songbirds. I saw the book on the shelf; took a quick glance and saw the lengthy bibliography, and thought, “Here’s another heavy, technical book about an unhappy subject, and I already know all about songbird decline.” I passed on the book several times before finally convincing myself that it was my duty to read the book and report on my reactions.
I’m sure glad I did. This is a wonderful book, not just a relentless chronicle of “doom and gloom,” as I had feared. The sad news is here all right; songbird populations are declining precipitously, and the many causes of this decline are clearly described, documented by many relevant research studies. But Stutchbury weaves this crisis into a series of narrative chapters that also celebrates the wonders of migration and that also offers hope for the future. It’s a great read.
The usual villains are here. Habitat loss decimates wildlife all over the globe, and migratory songbirds populations can suffer from such losses in breeding, wintering, or stopover sites. Of course habitat is disappearing in all three areas. Yet Stutchbury points out efforts that are underway to identify and protect natural areas that are of greatest importance to migrants, and explains how shade-grown coffee plantations can provide suitable wintering habitat for many species. Barriers to migration are well described – it’s amazing to consider how many birds perish from collisions with buildings and communication towers. Stutchbury again doesn’t stop with the bad news; she describes the work of “FLAP,” the Fatal Light Awareness Program, in her home city of Toronto, which has resulted in that city being the first in the world to implement a migratory bird protection policy for building design and lighting.
I found the chapter on pesticides to be especially sobering. I had read about the huge losses of Swainson’s Hawks in Argentina in Scott Weidensaul’s excellent book, Living on the Wind – another story with a hopeful ending, as the chemical culprit was found and its use curtailed. But Stutchbury’s well-documented chapter on pesticides makes it clear that our agricultural system is still filling the world with poisons, both at home and abroad, and that wildlife is suffering in numbers that are hard to calculate. She urges readers to buy organic, and I must say that her case in convincing, not just for the sake of the birds but for one’s own health.
The book’s celebratory passages are wonderful. I enjoyed Stutchbury’s tales of taking students to Panama for their first experiences with tropical birding. I share her enthusiasm for the search for migrant songbirds in little neighborhood habitats, spots too small for breeding populations yet big enough, if only a single tree, to harbor a passing migrant for a day. She lovingly describes the Breeding Bird Surveys and other citizen science projects that provide the real numbers that we need to convince lawmakers to pay attention. This isn’t a book of doom and gloom at all. It’s a well-documented list of the problems facing migratory songbirds, concrete suggestions for ways to ameliorate these problems, and a compelling case for why we should care. Don’t be intimidated by the academic appearance of Silence of the Songbirds; cross that barrier and enjoy a well-crafted, timely, and beautiful book. And if that’s not good enough, buy the book knowing that Stutchbury is donating the proceeds from the book to a foundation that supports research on migratory songbirds. Now there’s a win-win.
Stutchbury, Bridget.. Silence of the Songbirds. New York, Walker & Company, 2007. 256 pages, $24.95 cloth. ISBN-10: 0-8027-1609-1; ISBN-13: 978-0-8027-1609-5.
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