DUET

A select overview of the northern mockingbird in human history.

The book tries to make the case for a “duet” of mockingbird-human relationships throughout history: The mockingbird provides entertainment, while the human provides sustenance and a willing appreciation. However, Hoose doesn’t quite sell it. Arranged in short chapters with color photographs, snippets of human interactions with mockingbirds are presented loosely chronologically, beginning with Native American references to mockingbirds and ending with 21st-century studies on the birds’ being able to recognize specific humans. Along the way, readers learn a little bit about Thomas Jefferson’s fondness for mockingbirds, songs that reference mockingbirds, the effect of the Civil War on birds, the caged bird trade, women who advocated for bird protection, and Charles Darwin, who observed mockingbirds on the Galápagos Islands, among others. Unfortunately, the stories are either presented too superficially or are too limited in depth to begin with to have any great impact, and beyond their chronological order, there is no buildup to a conclusion other than that the mockingbird population (like all birds) is declining, although they are not officially endangered. The book has a decidedly anthropocentric feel to it—the overarching sentiment seems to be that the mockingbird’s primary value lies in its ability to entertain humans with its singing. While the source notes for each chapter give the author’s references, some of the stories nonetheless feel more romanticized than historical.

A mishmash of folklore and history lite that doesn’t quite get off the ground.