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  • What an Owl Knows

  • The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
  • Written by: Jennifer Ackerman
  • Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
  • Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (5 ratings)

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What an Owl Knows

Written by: Jennifer Ackerman
Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
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Publisher's Summary

An instant New York Times bestseller!

A New York Times Notable Book of 2023

Named a Best Book of 2023 by Publishers Weekly

From the author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way, a brilliant scientific investigation into owls—the most elusive of birds—and why they exert such a hold on human imagination

With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Some two hundred sixty species of owls exist today, and they reside on every continent except Antarctica, but they are far more difficult to find and study than other birds because they are cryptic, camouflaged, and mostly active at night. Though human fascination with owls goes back centuries, scientists have only recently begun to understand the complex nature of these extraordinary birds.

In What an Owl Knows, Jennifer Ackerman joins scientists in the field and explores how researchers are using modern technology and tools to learn how owls communicate, hunt, court, mate, raise their young, and move about from season to season. Ackerman brings this research alive with her own personal field observations; the result is an awe-inspiring exploration of owls across the globe and through human history, and a spellbinding account of the world’s most enigmatic group of birds.

©2023 Jennifer Ackerman (P)2023 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

“Few books can pull together academic summaries with the joy of seeing owls . . . Ackerman has been able to bring together the expertise of everyone interested in owls, from hobbyist, rehabilitators, veterinarians, photographers, owl-alcoholics, and researchers. She weaves together an enormous amount of information from an enormous number of people, to give us perhaps the best popular and fact-filled informational book on owls to date.”—Denver Holt, founder, Owl Research Institute

“Ackerman is a warm and companionable guide, so enthusiastic about her subject that I suspect even the avian-indifferent will be charmed by her encounters with owls and the dedicated people who study them.”The New York Times

“A must-read for all bird lovers, Ackerman’s latest engaging work contains a feast of revelations about creatures that have fascinated us throughout human history. We learn that owlets begin making vocal sounds in the egg and that adult owls use sophisticated communication calls conveying their weight, sex, size and state of mind. Ackerman describes the strong maternal instincts owls display and outlines the environmental threats to these entrancing birds.”—The Guardian

What listeners say about What an Owl Knows

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I love Owls

Very interesting
A lot I didn’t know about Owls
I love seeing owls in my backyard

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