First Copy Wondervogels presented to Poet and Classicist Piet Gerbrandy
On Wednesday, poet and classicist Piet Gerbrandy gladly accepted the first copy of Wondervogels, presented to him by author Jantien de Boer and scientific inspiration Theunis Piersma. The festive book launch took place in Leeuwarden, at the literary café of Tresoar – the treasure chamber of Fryslân. Gerbrandy drew beautiful parallels between passages from Wondervogels and classical writings about storks and cranes by Pliny the Elder and Claudius Aelianus. He also emphasised the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, rooted in the awareness that everything is interconnected. “What we now need is an academic ecosystem in which the boundaries between different disciplines are dissolved, without discarding long-standing research traditions. Biologists, anthropologists, philosophers and economists need each other’s expertise. And I would gladly add poetry to the mix. Within this symbiosis of disciplines, there must be space—not only hidden, but also explicit—for intuition, imagination and physical experience.”
Sharpened Senses
Wondervogels is an inspiring chain of stories about the emotional lives of birds and their ability to communicate. Running through it is the author’s gentle transformation, as she gradually lets go of her scepticism and opens herself up to what animals have to tell her. “More than ever, I feel that our being is shared. Now that I’m aware of it, I treat my surroundings more carefully. I see movement all around me when I step outside. My eyes and ears are more finely tuned.”
A Sense of Wonder
For the people Jantien de Boer interviewed, it’s crystal clear: animals observe us just as much as we observe them. They communicate with us. Jantien tells the touching story of Frieda from Marsum, who is met outside the bakery by a group of jackdaws. One of their kind is sick and lies in her garden. They know she looks after animals, and so they call upon her help. Wondervogels is not only a passionate journey of discovery based on science, but also an invitation to reflect on our relationship with animals. What does it say about us if we find it hard to believe that animals can communicate? That they have emotional lives? How long will we continue to uphold the heavily guarded boundary between humans and animals? Jantien hopes that after reading Wondervogels, people will look at the many living beings around them with more reverence and emotion—or at the very least, briefly sense that they are being watched.
Individual Differences
The idea for Wondervogels emerged from conversations between Monique Grooten of the Wereld Natuur Fonds and Jaime Moreno of Vogelbescherming Nederland. For ten years, these organisations helped support Piersma’s professorship at the University of Groningen. With the founding of BirdEyes, Theunis Piersma has become one of the driving forces behind a shift in the field of biology. Only recently has scientific research begun to explore the significance of individual differences for personal dynamics within animal groups. BirdEyes is currently studying, for example, the various calls of black-tailed godwits and the many nuances in the oeken sounds of spoonbills. Theunis hopes Wondervogels will stimulate this development. “Jantien has described the communicative abilities of birds and the scientific research on this subject in a truly brilliant way.”
