OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "BIRDS OF A FEATHER AND THEIR MAN-MADE NAMESAKES" by Alexander Viduetsky.]

Man has always had a fascination with flying. It could be for the love of adventure, or the control of the sky. Whatever the case, man has always wanted to grow wings and fly like the birds. Birds of a Feather and Their Man-made Namesakes, by Alexander V. Viduetsky, is a non-fiction resource that compares the Namesakes of aircrafts to their bird counterparts.

Birds of a Feather and Their Man-made Namesakes include over fifty different bird names, from the Albatrosses to the Wren. Each chapter takes a bird and talks about the bird, where it is found, what it eats, special adaptations of the bird, just to name a few. Then, the chapter talks about the aircraft, what country it is from, it's maximum speed, different operations it is used for. Along with stunning pictures, this resource has wonderful information in it.

A couple of my favorite comparisons include the Cormorant, the Dove (Pigeon), and the Hummingbird. According to this book, Cormorants are seabirds in North America. They are expert divers for food. Not only are they birds, but the name also belongs to an Italian helicopter. This helicopter's job is search and rescue missions in the seas. Doves have been used as messengers across the world. The Spotted Dove is native to Asia, but was introduced to Los Angeles and Hawaii. The aircraft, Curtiss Carrier Pigeon, carries 1,000 pounds of mail up to 725 miles. Finally, the Hummingbird is capable of flying in all directions, even backwards. It can also hover in midair. The hummingbird is also the world's smallest avian species. There are a couple aircraft counterparts, including the Nano Hummingbird. It is the newest and smallest spy drone. It weighs only 19 grams and looks just like a Hummingbird.

Birds of a Feather and Their Man-made Namesakes, written by Alexander V. Viduetsky, is a very interesting and informative work of non-fiction. I give it 3 out of 4 stars. If you are into birds and/or aviation, this is the book for you. I love how detailed the information is and the photographs are beautiful. The one thing that I thought was missing on some of the chapters was how the two compared. The information was given, but there was no comparison.

This is a wonderfully written and researched book. If you love aircrafts, then you need to read this book. It would be perfect for projects or papers pertaining to aircrafts or even birds. Man has always wanted to fly like the birds,maybe we have gotten there.

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I never realized how many aircraft were named after actual birds! Sounds like an interesting nature and history piece.

Feathers have always been part of human self-adornment, betokening status, wealth, vitality, ardour and defiance (Diamond 1986). Across the world, tribal peoples had used the most colourful and extravagant plumes of the birds they hunted to decorate themselves. Zulus once wore turaco feathers as headdresses. The King of Swaziland and traditional Masai men still do. In West Africa, a porcupine quill and red flight feather from Bannerman’s Turaco Tauraco bannermani in a man’s black hat indicate his position as a traditional council member. In the Palas valley in northern Pakistan, people wear the colourful plumes of the near-endemic Western Tragopan Tragopan melanocephalus in their caps. In Borneo the tail-feathers of the largest hornbills are used in ceremonial dances and rituals. In New Guinea the birds of paradise were (and again still are) the chief targets, and dried skins were used in trade as far east as mainland South-East Asia and as long ago as 3000 BC; but cassowaries are used more completely—their feathers used in ceremonial headdresses, their bare quills carved into nose-pins and ear-rings, their leg-bones fashioned into implements and their sharp claws fitted to arrow-tips (on top of all this, they furnish a spectacular amount of food).

Smitha Nayak wrote:Feathers have always been part of human self-adornment, betokening status, wealth, vitality, ardour and defiance (Diamond 1986). Across the world, tribal peoples had used the most colourful and extravagant plumes of the birds they hunted to decorate themselves. Zulus once wore turaco feathers as headdresses. The King of Swaziland and traditional Masai men still do. In West Africa, a porcupine quill and red flight feather from Bannerman’s Turaco Tauraco bannermani in a man’s black hat indicate his position as a traditional council member. In the Palas valley in northern Pakistan, people wear the colourful plumes of the near-endemic Western Tragopan Tragopan melanocephalus in their caps. In Borneo the tail-feathers of the largest hornbills are used in ceremonial dances and rituals. In New Guinea the birds of paradise were (and again still are) the chief targets, and dried skins were used in trade as far east as mainland South-East Asia and as long ago as 3000 BC; but cassowaries are used more completely—their feathers used in ceremonial headdresses, their bare quills carved into nose-pins and ear-rings, their leg-bones fashioned into implements and their sharp claws fitted to arrow-tips (on top of all this, they furnish a spectacular amount of food).

If you spend a day at Ascot or anyother major social occasion you will see women who are still adorned with feathers - colourful feathers still form a central part of all millinery. I think I read somewhere that the use of feathers in millinery since the 1700s has resulted in some bird species being hunted to extinction.

Amazing how many bird names are incorporated into the names of aircrafts. Sounds like a great deal of thorough research went into this book.