The Seabird’s Cry: the lives and loves of Puffins, Gannets and other ocean voyagers

Adam Nicolson William Collins, 2017, ISBN 978-0008165697; hbk, 400pp; black-and-white illustrations and photographs £16.99 – buy it from the BB Bookshop In my mind, any attempt to highlight the current plight of seabirds is a good thing. This book aims to do just that by exploring the beauty of seabirds and by combining knowledge revealed by traditional and modern science with extracts from mythology and poetry, in which seabirds have long captured the human imagination. The book is composed of ten main chapters, each focused on a different group of seabirds, which includes Gulls, Cormorant and Shags, Shearwaters, Gannets and Albatrosses. This is not organised in any traditional taxonomic way, with other chapters also covering the Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis, Puffin Fratercula arctica, Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, Common Guillemot Uria aalge and the Great Auk Pinguinus impennis together with the Razorbill Alca torda. Within each chapter, tales of these seabirds in mythology are intertwined with research revealing how perfectly adapted seabirds are to their marine environment. I was impressed with Nicolson’s ability to explain relatively complex details on seabird evolution, navigation, movement and personality in an easily understandable way. The people who carried out the research he discusses are introduced by name, which is another great way of engaging readers with the science, as is touching on the realities of fieldwork (lots of waiting and watching). The final chapter further emphasises the threats these and many other seabird species are currently facing from pollution, habitat destruction, invasive species and climate change, resulting in the decline of species to the point that many are classified as endangered. The Seabird’s Cry is elegantly written, with an engaging style that captures how majestic these species are. You can tell that this book has been written by someone who has spent a lot of time around seabirds. In general, the poetry and mythology complements the science, as do the sections highlighting the importance of seabirds to communities living in remote coastal and island locations. I had two main quibbles with this book. Firstly, although Nicolson is largely celebratory about the science that has informed our knowledge of seabirds, the way he conveys some of the studies can be quite biased, based on some inconsistent opinions on their ‘kindness’ to the birds. Secondly, and more frustratingly, is the extent of anthropomorphism, which in some cases is so excessive that the points he tries to make about the seabirds’ behaviour are lost. Overall, however, The Seabird’s Cry was an enjoyable read, despite a few minor errors and discrepancies. I would recommend it to anyone with a general interest in birds who would like to know more about seabirds in an accessible way, and even to those with a greater interest and knowledge of seabirds – if they can cope with the anthropomorphism. Nina O’Hanlon