The diversity of birds continues to amaze us. Their colorful plumages, fascinating ecologies, and complex behaviors enrich our lives and challenge our imaginations. In an entrancing collection, Birds (Abrams, November 2, 2021), photographer Tim Flach invites us to wonder anew at avian diversity—capturing with his camera awe-inspiring images of natural phenomena that I explore in the book’s accompanying text.
With their sensuous textures, striking color patterns, and whimsical highlights, birds’ beauty certainly delights us, but its real audience is birds themselves. Avian ornaments have evolved through their capacity to intrigue, entrance, inform, and attract mates. In this way, birds are agents in their own evolution.
Birds have complex, four-color visual systems and intricate social lives filled with rich opportunities for intimate individual interactions. As a result, they have evolved a tremendous diversity of plumage and facial ornaments that function in their social and sexual communication.
Below are just a handful of the stunning species we feature in the book:
From Birds by Tim Flach, copyright © 2021 Tim Flach. By permission of Abrams, an imprint of ABRAMS, New York, NY. All rights reserved.
