The Story of Birds A New History, from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present

Ever watched a gull wheel over Perkins Cove and wondered just how something so dazzling came to be? Steve Brusatte, the bestselling paleontologist behind The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, has the answer — and it’s far more thrilling than you might imagine.

The Story of Birds takes us on a 150-million-year journey, from feathered dinosaurs prowling ancient forests to the chickadees at your backyard feeder. Drawing on cutting-edge fossil discoveries (many made by Brusatte and his colleagues themselves), this sweeping natural history reveals how a small group of dinosaurs survived the asteroid that wiped out their cousins and went on to become the most diverse group of vertebrates on Earth.

Brusatte writes with the warmth of a friend telling you a great story over coffee. He has a rare gift: making deep science feel like an adventure. You’ll meet toothed seabirds, giant flightless terror birds, and the scrappy survivors whose descendants now sing outside your window.

Praised by critics as “a marvel” and “vivid, urgent, and unputdownable,” this is popular science at its finest — rigorous, lyrical, and endlessly curious.

What’s inside:

• A definitive new history of bird evolution by a world-renowned paleontologist
• The latest discoveries on feathers, flight, and the dinosaur-bird connection
• Beautifully illustrated and meticulously researched
• A hardcover edition that feels wonderful in the hand

Perfect for the birder on your list, the dinosaur-obsessed kid (of any age), or anyone who’s ever paused on the Marginal Way to watch a cormorant skim the waves.

Settle in. The story of birds is the story of survival itself.

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