Birding to Change the World: A Memoir
Written by Trish O'Kane
Narrated by Cheryl Smith
5/5
()
About this audiobook
In this uplifting memoir, a professor and activist shares what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment.
Trish O’Kane is an accidental ornithologist. In her nearly two decades writing about justice as an investigative journalist, she'd never paid attention to nature. But then Hurricane Katrina destroyed her New Orleans home, sending her into an emotional tailspin.
Enter a scrappy cast of feathered characters—first a cardinal, urban parrots, and sparrows, then a catbird, owls, a bittern, and a woodcock—that cheered her up and showed her a new path. Inspired, O'Kane moved to Madison, Wisconsin, to pursue an environmental studies PhD. There she became a full-on bird obsessive—logging hours in a stunningly biodiverse urban park, filling field notebooks with bird doings and dramas, and teaching ornithology to college students and middle-school kids.
When Warner Park—her daily birdwatching haven—was threatened with development, O’Kane and her neighbors mustered a mighty murmuration of nature lovers, young and old, to save the birds' homes. Through their efforts, she learned that once you get outside and look around, you're likely to fall in love with a furred or feathered creature—and find a flock of your own.
In Birding to Change the World, O'Kane details the astonishing science of bird life, from migration and parenting to the territorial defense strategies that influenced her own activism. A warm and compelling weave of science and social engagement, this is the story of an improbably band of bird lovers who saved their park. And it is a blueprint for muscular citizenship, powered by joy.
Trish O'Kane
Trish O'Kane is a writer and a senior lecturer in environmental justice at the University of Vermont, where avians are her teaching assistants. A former human rights journalist in Central America and the Deep South, she has written for the New York Times, Time, and the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in Burlington, Vermont, with her writer-husband, their dog, and three chickens.
Related to Birding to Change the World
Related audiobooks
Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Soundings: Journeys in the Company of Whales: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Search of the Old Ones: An Odyssey among Ancient Trees Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Inland Island Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe (Big) Year That Flew By: Twelve Months, Six Continents, and the Ultimate Birding Record Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Featherhood: A Memoir of Two Fathers and a Magpie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Birdgirl: Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bird Brother: A Falconer's Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hawk's Way: Encounters with Fierce Beauty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Thing with Feathers: The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Backs of Tortoises: Darwin, the Galapagos, and the Fate of an Evolutionary Eden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fallen Stones: Chasing Butterflies, Discovering Mayan Secrets, and Looking for Hope Along the Way Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Northern Light: Power, Land, and the Memory of Water Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlong Came a Llama Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Butterflies: A Scientist's Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cacophony of Bone: The Circle of a Year Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fathoms: The World in the Whale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Never Met a Rattlesnake I Didn't Like Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTo See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifelong Obsession Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Nature For You
The Genius of Birds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Escaping from Eden: Does Genesis teach that the human race was created by God or engineered by ETs? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mind of Plants: Narratives of Vegetal Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Elephant Whisperer: My Life With the Herd in the African Wild Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Every Living Thing: The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the World's Most Beloved Animal Doctor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Underland: A Deep Time Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roxane Gay & Everand Originals: My Year of Psychedelics: Lessons on Better Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Coffee: A Sustainable Guide to Nootropics, Adaptogens, and Mushrooms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Uncertain Sea: Fear is everywhere. Embrace it. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When You Find My Body: The Disappearance of Geraldine Largay on the Appalachian Trail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fox & I: An Uncommon Friendship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Birding to Change the World
1 rating0 reviews