Ancient Egyptians believed that the Earth began as an egg laid by a giant goose. Ojibwa people of America’s northern plains tell of a Great Flood that swept away the world’s evils, and the bird that braved the deep waters to bring a bit of soil up from the bottom to bring land back to the surface. European scientists once believed that swans survived the winters by turning themselves into barnacles and adhering to the bottoms of ships, transforming back into swans in spring. 

These and many other tales in The Complete Language of Birds harken back to a time when birds seemed like magical beings with the answers for so many of the world’s questions.

Presenter Bio

Bestselling author Randi Minetor writes the Birdfinding and Best Easy Bird Guides series for Falcon Guides/Globe Pequot Press and is the author of Backyard Birding and Butterfly Gardening for Lyons Press. Her most recent book, The Complete Language of Birds, is an encyclopedia that unites classic illustrations, science, folklore, and mythology about more than 400 bird species around the world. She writes for Birding Magazine and North American Birds and serves as president of the Rochester Birding Association in upstate New York.