都会の鳥の生態学 カラス、ツバメ、スズメ、水鳥、猛禽の栄枯盛衰 (中公新書 2759)

Birds living in cities coexist with human society thanks to their remarkable adaptability. *The Ecology of Urban Birds* (by Koichi Karasawa) introduces the ecology of wild birds unique to urban environments, such as peregrine falcons hunting for prey from the tops of skyscrapers, rock thrushes targeting beehives on the rooftops of Ginza buildings, and Japanese bush warblers feeding on midges emerging from manhole covers. The author’s passion for research is extraordinary; I was amazed by the anecdote in which he washed swallow droppings with a tea strainer to collect fragments of undigested insects in order to study their diet. Reading this book will surely make the harsh, stark urban landscape appear in a completely different light. In fact, while walking in Paris, I myself came across a flock of ring-necked parakeets chasing a squirrel running up a tree, and I truly felt the richness of the urban ecosystem that this book describes. For bird lovers, I also recommend *What Are Animals Saying?* (by Juichi Yamagiwa and Toshiki Suzuki).