Birds have always inspired and challenged our ideas about science, faith, art and philosophy. We have worshipped them as gods, hunted them, adorned ourselves in their feathers, studied their wings to engineer flight and, recently, attempted to protect them. The ornithologist takes us on an epic journey from the ibises mummified and deified by Ancient Egyptians to Victorian obsessions with egg collecting and the present fight to save endangered species. Birkhead, author of Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History, From Cave Art to Conservation, is a Fellow of the Royal Society and Emeritus Professor of Zoology in the School of Biosciences at the University of Sheffield.