If nominative determinism is a thing, then perhaps someone with the surname ‘Robin’ was always destined to write a book related to birds. The title and cover are quirky, and I expected the book’s contents to continue in a similar vein. It didn’t. This is a detailed history of ornithology in Australia. The term, ‘birdo’ is listed as an Australian version of the British ‘birder’ and coined in the 1950s. To qualify as a birdo, one must be an enthusiastic observer of birds and their behaviour.

Australia’s first dedicated bird follower was John Gould in the mid-1800s. His work established the platform for future birdos. Gould’s work was embellished by H L White, Dom Serventy and Pauline Reilly, and others.

The book details the changing face of collecting, where previously eggs were stolen from nests and shooting birds was done with a rifle, rather than a camera. This is exemplified by the ‘Marlo incident’ in 1935, in which a scarlet robin was shot in full view of birdo campers, causing a rift in the community.

Bird names have been subsumed by colonial attitudes, and environmental science both relies on – and assists the survival of – certain species. The noisy scrub-bird is now given its Noongar name, Tjimiluk, and is thankfully listed as ‘vulnerable’, rather than ‘extinct’. Chapters covering birds themselves are more entertaining, such as when the author recounts her childhood and the local lyrebird, ‘Spotty’.

What Birdo is That? is a well-researched, if niche, read.

Reviewed by Bob Moore