To see every bird on earth: a father, a son and a lifelong obsession

Dan Koeppel
Penguin/Michael Joseph, £14-99, A5 hardcover, 278 pages.

Despite its alluring cover, this is not so much a bird book as the author's revelation of how his father's obsession with birds (or rather with ticking off species) affected his own life. It is an absorbing and fascinating read nevertheless, as it explores both his own family history and that of the 'big listers'. Big listers are individuals who have the resources (lots of money) and time to travel around the planet and be shown (by professional ornithologists and experienced guides) as many different species as possible. When seen in this light, the business of bird listing (as opposed to bird watching) is a rather ludicrous exercise but as the author states: "seeing every bird is a way of seeing everything, of attempting to know everything. Such attempts mark human history, in religion and art as well as science". This may be a grandiose claim, however, as the motives of the listers are typically caught up in more personal issues (in the case of Dan Koeppel's dad Richard, an over-bearing father, a frustrated career and a failed marriage). While trying to unmask his father's obsession, Koeppel looks at the history of listing (twitching to the Brits) and some of the colourful characters involved. With limited descriptions of the localities visited and birds seen by his widely travelled father, this was the most fascinating aspect of the book for me.

- Duncan Butchart -

Posted: Birds by CC Africa, Date: 22 November 2006