January 2023: Our Feathered Friends

I returned to my book—Bewick’s History of British Birds: the letterpress thereof I cared little for, generally speaking; and yet there were certain introductory pages that, child as I was, I could not pass quite as a blank. They were those which treat of the haunts of sea-fowl; of “the solitary rocks and promontories” by them only inhabited; of the coast of Norway, studded with isles from its southern extremity, the Lindeness, or Naze, to the North Cape....

Each picture told a story; mysterious often to my undeveloped understanding and imperfect feelings, yet ever profoundly interesting....

With Bewick on my knee, I was then happy....

Jane Eyre ch.1.

You can find examples of Thomas Bewick's work on the website of the Bewick Society; you can find his self-authored memoir in eBook format on Gutenberg and elsewhere; and you can read Jenny Uglow's excellent biography of Bewick, titled Nature's Engraver.

Or, for an American naturalist, you could check out the Library of America's Audubon: Writings and Drawings.

I personally have a great interest in and affection for vultures, birds which are vital to the ecology yet sadly misunderstood. They eat dead things? Well, let me ask you, when was the last time you went to McDonald's and ate yourself a live chicken? Seriously, their scavenging helps prevent epidemics from disease-infected carcasses; and when vultures are wiped out by the side-effects of pesticides, the wild dogs which take their place in the carrion chain (as they did some years ago in India) can be spreaders of rabies. So I'm personally anxious to get around to Keith Bildstein's Vultures of the World: Essential Ecology and Conservation, a follow-up to his earlier and more generalized book Raptors: The Curious Nature of Diurnal Birds of Prey. Keith is the now-retired Director of Conservation Science at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, where he briefly served as interim president during a recruiting search for a permanent president.

And for another "vulture book," there's Katie Fallon's Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird.

The death of birds from pesticides is covered in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (which I haven't read but which, I'm told, relied in part on migration studies from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary).

For something perhaps a bit more "historical" in its content, you can check out the recently published The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird by Jack E. Davis.

In the area of fiction, there are numerous children's books about birds (beyond the owls of Harry Potter). One example is Henry Cole's A Nest of Celeste, focusing on a mouse but including an appearance by ornithologist John James Audubon himself.

Among adult fiction, a couple books in a TBR pile which seem to have bird-related content are The Echo Maker by Richard Powers and Mary McCarthy's Birds of America.

Further suggestions anyone?

The Verb "to Bird": Sightings of an Avid Birder by a long time online reading buddy Peter Cashwell. Lots of fun anecdotes his travels birding.

Mike, sorry to hear you have been ill, I do hope you are feeling better soon. Please keep us posted,

I liked Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird by Andrew D. Blechman.

I haven’t read but am considering What’s It Like to Be a Bird by David Allen Sibley, and for historical fiction, The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad.

I hope you feel better soon. Thank you for hosting.

Some books that have featured birds:

A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson - plenty of birds but the story is really a charming romance about birdwatchers - Fiction

A Kestral for a Knave by Barry Hines - a coming-of-age story about a boy who finds an escape from his troubled life in the raising of a Kestrel - Fiction

Snapper by Brian Kimberling - story about a bird researcher in Southern Indiana - Fiction

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald - a memoir about the relationship between the author and goshawk and how she dealt with the death of her father - Nonfiction

Anything by naturalist/author Gerald Durrell!

I am planning to read A Catalog of Birds by Laura Harrington. Set in 1970, it is about a Vietnam vet struggling to regain his life when he returns home badly wounded and suffering from survivor's guilt. Birds are featured as he and his sister spend much of their time watching and recording birds.

>4 DeltaQueen50: I would like to second the recommendation for H is for Hawk (written & narrated by Helen MacDonald):

A grief narrative and memoir that pulls the reader into the author's world of hawking/falconry. Helen MacDonald moves through her sorrow with a beautiful, mellifluous voice that recounts her time training a goshawk and through the layers of her psychic healing. Hypnotic, and truly interesting despite the seemingly esoteric nature of the subject matter.

The author's voice is mesmerizing, the cadence echoes the action and rhythm of wrapping a wound with gauze: The narrative is in layers around the original hurt. Sometime the hurt bleeds through. Sometimes the narrative obscures. You can sometimes peek through the layers... It is perhaps no coincidence that Helen Macdonald mentions the wound on her fathers arm...or the scars on her own hands at the books conclusion.

I'm currently looking at Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey (by Kathleen Rooney), a fictionalized account of a homing pigeon and an American soldier set in WWI. I remember many, many years ago, seeing Cher Ami at The Museum of American History in Washington, DC. There was a whole floor devoted to the wars that the US had been committed to (up to and including 9/11); but only a small section about WWI.

My daughter had a fledgling (hah!) interest in hawking a few years ago and we have quite a few NF books around here on the topic-- but I think they're more reference books than straight reads so it's doubtful I'll "go there". I'll take a look around in her stacks though and see what's what :-)

There is the Annie Proulx memoir Bird Cloud. It is about building her home in Wyoming in the North Platte River Valley. I think this qualifies as historical because she moved from there about 10 years ago. It is about all the birds that she saw migrating through the river valley, while she was in the process of building her house, and in the years that she lived there. I read it years ago and thought it was very good writing and so descriptive.

I haven't decided what I will read, but I have Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey, Long Flight Home, Flaubert's Parrot, and Birds Without Wings all on my shelves, so there is plenty for me to pick from.

>6 Tanya-dogearedcopy: the other thing interesting about hawk is she compares her experience with TH White, one of my fav authors of the one and future king apparently he wrote a memoir of his own birding and was not very successful. put a bad taste in my mouth about him; still, love his books

>7 benitastrnad: Birds without Wings is a fantastic story, but its not about birds per se, its an analogy of how the christians and muslims in one small village in Anatolia live together, and the circumstances that pull them apart.

>8 cindydavid4: Yeah, the book is called The Goshawk (by T. H. White) and I totally get what you mean about being a bit put off about him after reading MacDonald's memoir. I never pursued it because I thought it was a technical book; though looking at a couple preview pages it also seems to be a memoir. I think I'll pass on it though... I would like to not start off the reading with a "bad taste in my mouth"! :-)

I think I'm leaning closer to Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey, combining the quarterly & monthly themes; but we'll see what strikes my mood the closer we get to 2023 :-)

>9 cindydavid4:
So these books HAVE to be about birds? All birds, and not just allegorical birds? What about a book like Good Lord Bird where the bird is a symbol thorughout the book, but the book isn't about that bird?

Personally, I think it's fun if we leave it up to each member to decide what fits according to how they interpret the theme.

>12 DeltaQueen50: thats fine. Just wanted to make sure they weren't expecting real birds. Fantastic book however

>11 benitastrnad: There's a major character in China Mieville's Perdido Street Station who's feathered, and I certainly wouldn't want to exclude scifi/fantasy (although IMO Perdido Street Station itself is one of the worst books I've ever read).

There are also feathered griffins in the second (especially) and the third books of Cornelia Funke's Dragon Rider series.

I certainly intended to agree with >12 DeltaQueen50: in leaving it to member choice!

OK. Thanks for the answers. I think I understand better how this works.

And - we got even more suggestions for titles to read or to add to our continuously growing TBR lists!

>14 CurrerBell: I quite enjoyed Perdido Street Station and so I gave it to both my brother and sister to read - I don't think either one has yet forgiven me! Different books for different folks!

hee can we include dragons? :)

>17 cindydavid4: Do they have feathers?

They have wings 😊

For fantasy, Mercedes Lackey
Her gryphon black/white/silver series
Her winds of fate/change/fury series
Her owl flight/sight/night series
(owl & winds series involve the bonded hawk brothers)

I'm going to read That Quail, Robert by Margaret Stanger.

a few other possibilities

one of my favs,was made into a movie The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

The Thing with Feathers: The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human think I might read this

I know why the caged bird sings loved this memoir of Maya Angelou

the birds Didn't realize this is the book the movie is basedon

>22 cindydavid4: As I recall, Du Maurier's "book" is actually a short story, as in The Birds and Other Stories. (ETA: It's been ten years since I read my Virago edition, so I don't have the greatest recollection of what's in there. I did give it 3½***.)

I just bought Die Vögel which is apparently a modern classic of Norwegian literature and according to the blurb, woodcocks play an important role.

>23 CurrerBell: ah, ok thanks for the clarification.

I just finished The Last Windwitch by Jennifer Adam 4½****, a really top notch and recently published middle-grade fantasy. I started it not realizing the significance of birds in it – not major characters, but still at least as significant (probably more so) as, say, the Eagles in Lord of the Rings.

I'm not going to claim this as one of my January reads since I've read it so far in advance, but anyone looking for a really top notch fantasy might be interested.

I have been meaning to read The Birdman's Wife since it was published - perfect opportunity!

There are the children's books: Henny Penny, The Little Red Hen and Are You My Mother. Adults: The Thorn Birds, The Bird Box, The Feather Thief, and Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl, The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America, which are all good. I have a dozen or so that will fit, but think I will go with Antarctic penguins; A Study of Their Social Habits, which was a free e-book from Kindle.

I'm curious about something... I thought that "Reading Through Time" was a history challenge where you could read historical fiction or historical non-fiction; but I'm starting to see recommendations for books that are definitely well, not that. Are these monthly prompts more like random or general prompts than historical? (I'm not being judgmental or passive-aggressive. I just feel like I might have missed an important note somewhere along the way) :-)

>29 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I agree with you and try to read something that's historically oriented. For example, I'm likely to go with Silent Spring or The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird, both of which I reference in >1 CurrerBell:. But I leave the door open because I don't want to push something on anyone else.

>28 Tess_W: Its interesting, you are right I think thats the way it was meant to be, but this group is more inclusive than that. However in Reading Globally, its more strict as terms of what books fit the theme. Its all good

>29 Tanya-dogearedcopy:
Since I found this group I have wondered the same thing. I soon realized that the people in this group cast a wide net around "historical." That works for me, but I have chosen to keep my reading to historical fiction and nonfiction because I happen to like that genre. And - I have lots of historical fiction to read.

The group was originally set up to be for "historical" reading but as we have all noticed, it's much wider in scope now. I try to stick to "historical" but am happy to allow everyone to make their own decision as to what fits.

I think I may read One Came Home by Amy Timberlake, a historical novel that takes place in the American West in 1871.

I plan to read The White Peacock by D.H. Lawrence.

Regarding the discussion above, my understanding when I joined the group was that one could read historical fiction, nonfiction on a topic with a historical aspect, or classics written in the past. But I am a new member of course - I am just relating what I understood when I read the description of the group.

>35 MissBrangwen: That is exactly what it was originally set up to be, Mirjam. I think as our themes get more varied, people are sometimes stretched to find historical books to fit, so they use whatever they have. I would rather see this than that someone feels that they can't participate at all.

I usually try to read historical fiction or history non-fiction, but since I wish to read off my shelf, sometimes I have to go another route! After further consideration, I will be reading That Quail, Robert which is a non-fiction.

One of my 2022 favorites was Haven, Emma Donoghue’s latest. It’s her fictional account of what the founding of Skellig Michael, a rocky and steep island off the coast of Ireland, might have been like. Three Benedictine monks, searching for a place of solitude isolated from the evils of the world, set off from their overly worldly monastery in a small boat; they eventually discover a rugged island in the Atlantic and set about making it their refuge. Birds are almost the only other living beings on the island, and they play a very important role in the story of how the monks fared in their new cloister. This novel was a keeper that I plan on rereading and may decide on doing that in January.

>38 dianelouise100: This one has a firm place on my wish list, so I am glad to know that you liked it so much!

oh good, didnt realize it would fit here, planning to start it this weekend

>38 dianelouise100: I also did not think of this one for this category, even though it is a much anticipated read for me. Happy to hear it is a keeper!

>23 CurrerBell: Re: Daphne DuMaurier's "The Birds", I listened to the BBC dramatization on audio a few years back and I think I gave it 5 stars!

>29 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I really try to keep mine to historical, personally. I usually try for nonfiction, in fact, but sometimes have trouble finding something (I also try to find something on the tbr, but it doesn't always happen), so I will try for historical fiction instead.

And I really hope my library has this one, because it's what I'd like to read for this theme:
The Silent Sky: The Incredible Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon / Allen W. Eckert

ETA: Shoot - my library doesn't have it. It would have been perfect! Will have to find something else.

I found two really cool books for this-The Penguin Lesson by Tom Michell, and Wesley The Owl by Stacey O'Brien. They both sound so good. I don't know which one to pick.

I have ordered two books by British nature writer John Lewis-Sempel, The Secret Life of the Owl and The Soaring Life of the Lark. I have a book of his on my shelves that I think will suit the quarterly thread, and was happy that a check on recent works brought up these titles about birds.

>38 dianelouise100: I just picked up Haven yesterday at B&N's "all hardbacks 50% off" in-store post-Christmas sale. I'll get to it for this theme once I've finished The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird. Thanks for mentioning this one. I liked her Room but I just have so much TBR now that I don't know I'd have bought Haven if you hadn't alerted me to the birds.

ETA: And I'd have been a good little boy and not bought anything if it weren't "50% off all hardbacks"! I actually came back with quite a haul.

>47 CurrerBell: Don’t you just love a good bargain! Thanks for the tip—I’m off to BN soon. I hope you enjoy Haven, and all your other finds.

Just started Haven, already see shes in her usual excellent form

>48 dianelouise100: Hope I didn't give you false expectations. That 50%-off sale was only for the two days after Christmas.

Ooh I will also read Haven for this!

I don't have a book that would fit unless Dear Mrs. Bird would work.

How integral do birds have to be to the plot or narrative of the novel, if we chose a fictional option?

>53 john257hopper: Actually, Perdido Street Station (which I hate >14 CurrerBell: and DQ loves >16 DeltaQueen50:) doesn't really involve birds, but it does have a very important feathered character. We're pretty open to whatever folks want in this group. Anything in particular you're thinking of?

>54 CurrerBell: Thanks I am proposing to read a novel set on an isolated and abandoned island where birds were key to the local economy but the novel is set in later years so the birds are not integral to the plot.

at our local indie's annual New Year book sale I picked up vesper flights which I realized I can read for this group (think some others are reading it as well) might make for an interesting discussion!

>55 john257hopper: I would just use your own best judgment. We're a pretty informal bunch!

I'm not sure that Dear Mrs. Bird has anything feathered in it besides her name. I'll check my personal library again to see if there is anything else there but if not Dear Mrs. Bird it will be.

>57 CurrerBell: okay thanks!

I have picked two books for this month. Fiction will be Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey by Kathleen Rooney and the nonfiction will be Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird by Joshua Hammer. Both have been on my TBR list and my TBR shelves for too long. Time to move them off.

Happy New Year Everyone!

I chose A Catalog of Birds by Laura Harrington for my first read of the year - and it was a good one! A story of family love and loss, the main characters are an injured Vietnam vet and his younger sister. They grew up with a love of nature, and spent a lot of time in the upstate New York countryside identifying and drawing birds. Billy, the vet, also has the ability to identify birds by their songs and used to assist an ornithologist with her studies.

Well, vesper flights is about the envirnmental damage to birds and their homes and migration. Writing is excellent, but is it ok if I don't finish it? Its not that I don't believe her, but in my case she is preaching to the choir and its getting old. Between this book and the Atwood essay collection I think I have an environmental overload. Im not discounting it and continue to support people who are doing their part. But at the present time I think I need to read something else. I think I'll go back to reading Haven for this thread.

Happy National Bird Day to all!

Hello all! I am new to the group, but am excited to get to know everyone. My reading choice for the month is "H is for Hawk" due to the recommendations of folks here.

I chose to read The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford. I have for a long time been fascinated by St Kilda, a tiny group of islands far off the coast of Scotland, the furthest flung inhabited part of the British Isles until the final small population of 36 souls were evacuated in 1930. Their survival had become increasingly precarious due to their economy of bird products and tweed being unable to keep up with the changing world in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the population having diminished as young people and whole families left the island to seek a future elsewhere.

This story concerns the visit of two eager young Cambridge archaeology students - Archie Macleod, son of the island's owner, and his friend Fred Lawson - to the island in summer 1927 and how they interact with the locals, particularly with young Chrissie Gillies. We are also presented with Fred Lawson being a prisoner of war in France in 1941 and through jumps between time zones, the novel traces the course of events between 1927 and 1941, and the happy ending that results for our leading characters. For once in a novel set partly in the Second World War, the War is not the main focus, the islands of St Kilda are the real hero of the story - a beautiful and terrifying set of rocks essentially in the open Atlantic and subject to that ocean's raw power and fury.

Birds were the very essence of the islanders' lives, the source of protein and one of the main economic strengths of the islanders: "the sky is alive with bird wings.. The black-tipped bent spikes of the great gannets’ wings, the flutter of scissorbeaked kittiwakes, fulmars, skewars, puffins, petrels – the same birds that supply most of the islander’s primitive diet." Even now, when St Kilda is a World Heritage site, it is "home to a tenth of the British Isles’ seabird population". Its inhabitants understandably saw it as the centre of their universe and its way of life against the encroachment of the outside world. As Chrissie says, "I believed in my heart that there was no better place or family that a child might have than this island, this jewel that had fallen from the pocket of God and where all men feel Him near and find the blessed solace of being welcome at every hearth along the strand of lighted bothies, be it even in the greatest and the darkest of storms."

>64 TammyPatrick: Although we have exchanged messages elsewhere, welcome to Reading Through Time!

>65 john257hopper: Even the cover of The Lost Lights of St. Kilda is teeming with birds! A great choice for this month's theme. :)

>65 john257hopper: ok youve got me sold!

>66 DeltaQueen50: >67 cindydavid4: thanks very much

I've found The Evening Chorus among my stacks and will read that for this month.

I have finished Die Vögel and while it is a fabulous book, it doesn't really have much about birds in it. It is counted as a modern classic in Norway, and it is written beautifully. Everything is told from the viewpoint of Mattis, who doesn't think as most people do. One night he watches a mating flight of woodcocks pass directly over his house and he takes it to mean that there will be change in his life. And yes, there is, and not all for the best. This was a sad and yet richly rewarding read.

February's thread is up:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/347710

I am deep into listening/reading Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird by Joshua Hammer for this category. This book is about the capture of a British citizen smuggling live Peregrine falcon eggs from Wales to the UAE. So far I am learning about the financial incentives for smuggling bird eggs to the Middle East (and that is the market for these eggs). It is a very interesting true crime story with lots of information about endangered raptors, the market for them, the conservation laws, and of course the investigation of this particular theft. I am still thinking that I will also get to Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey this month as well. I want to try to do one fiction and one nonfiction for each category this year, but that may not work out and will prove to be too ambitious.

>72 benitastrnad: I started out the year with the idea of a fiction/non-fiction pairing too! But then my brain got hooked on some non-fiction… Honestly, some of the things I’ve been reading? Stranger (and more fantastic) than fiction!

started back up with haven

>70 MissWatson: Oh, interesting! This one was recommended in my local bookshop‘s newsletter.

I’ve finished The Soaring Life of the Lark by John Lewis-Stempel.
Lewis-Stempel is a fourth-generation farmer in the western part of England, who is also, according to The Times, “Britain’s finest living nature writer.” This book about the lark is a little gem. It combines information about the lark’s physical appearance, habitat, behavior, flight patterns, and song, with a fine discussion of the skylark’s significance to British culture and its need for conservation. Samples of poetry about the lark are abundant throughout, and the illustrations are lovely. One chapter of particular interest to me was a discussion of the lark on the battlefields of World War I, where it continued its “soaring song” even in the height of the worse battles. At 90 pages, this book could be read in one sitting, but in my opinion it would be foolish to do so.

>75 MissBrangwen: I really enjoyed this.

>76 dianelouise100: Beautiful review, I'm adding this one to my WL!

>77 MissWatson: I'm glad to hear it, I'm adding it to the ever-growing WL, too!

I was looking at the library's catalog for something that fits here and Avian Illuminations: A Cultural History of Birds caught my eye. Turned out to be a perfect fit for the topic - a trip through history exploring the relationship between humans and birds, looking at myths, religion, history and art (and a restaurant menu or 3). Review on the work page.

Just finished haven will post review tomorrow in the meantime this is her best work ever!!

review of Haven here https://www.librarything.com/topic/347243#n8039455

I'm starting Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey (by Kathleen Rooney) this evening. Cher Ami was a carrier pigeon who was in service during WWI and; Major Whittlesey was an American Amy officer who was her caretaker (?) handler(?) during the Muese-Argonne Offensive. A quick glance through the pages shows me that the story is told in alternating POVs, the bird's and the soldier's-- so yes, historical fiction based on a real bird, man and, battle.

I just finished The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird by Jack E. Davis (Pulitzer-winner for The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea). 4½****, but I have a bit of a bias here because of the book's attention to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, of which I'm a member. A history of the Bald Eagle (with some references also to Golden Eagles and other raptors) from indigenous peoples through the twenty-first century, including Rachel Carson's use of Hawk Mountain migration statistics in writing Silent Spring.

ETA: And on to Haven.... Seems like this one's attracting a lot of attention for this month's theme! I hadn't even realized it includes birds until I saw the discussions here on this thread. I've only read Donoghue's Room, and I did like it; but Haven wasn't a high priority for me since I've been trying to cut back on new-book purchases in the past several months.

I will be late to the party and probably not finish both books until February, but in my stack is H is for Hawk and Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey. I will also be reading the second quarter of my 2 volume Birds of North America (1950) compendium. Last year I made it through the crows & blackbirds. This section I believe is on larks.

I finished listening to Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird by Joshua Hammer. This book was not meant to be a historical look at wildlife smuggling. It was meant to be a "true crime" kind of book. However, there was tons of history in it. There was a short history of egg collecting in the British Isles, a short history of falconry in the Middle East, paying particular attention to the current history of Falcon racing as practiced in the United Arab Emirates, and other rich Middle Eastern countries, and the history of the formation of anti-wildlife smuggling law enforcement agencies in the UK, Canada, and Brazil. There was even a short history of the formation of bird conservation groups in former British colonies such as Canada, Rhodesia, and South Africa. This book packed lots of historical information in its pages as well as contemporary conservation and law enforcement practices. It was a really swashbuckling story about stealing rare bird eggs and the smuggling of eggs and live baby birds with the bulk of the story being concentrated on the capture of rare raptors that could be used in the sport of falconry. Almost all of the birds are destined to end up in the Middle East, with a few going to shady breeders in England, Scotland, and Wales.

I was interested in this book because it seems to me that falconry has become quite popular as a sport and I wondered why. I get it that there is appeal in many archaic practices but driving species to the brink of extinction just to satisfy the lust of people with more money than cents really angers me. I learned much from this book about what is driving the black market for these birds, but I really didn't get a sense of why the "sport," if it can be called that, is so popular in the Middle East. The only explanation the author offered is that the farther away from the desert Bedouin lifestyle that oil rich Middle Eastern countries get, the more money they spend on pretending that they are still Bedouin tribesman. That part of the book reminded me of watching American car commercials that show people driving SUV's though mud and snow, when the truth is that these vehicles never get off of paved roads. It is all about selling a lifestyle image, rather than being a real lifestyle. Few residents of the oil rich Middle Eastern countries life the Bedouin lifestyle, but they want to think that they do, and are willing to pay big money to maintain the appearance of that lifestyle. That includes smuggling rare raptors from all over the world to race and hunt in environments for which those birds are not suited.

I just finished Emma Donoghue's Haven 4½****, and thanks to >38 dianelouise100: who first suggested it. I didn't realize it has all the "bird content" that it does.

I have finished The Sea-Hawk which has a bird only in the title. But it's a fabulous yarn about love and revenge in the times of Queen Bess among the Barbary pirates.

I found a book on my shelves to tick the boxes for this month. The Evening Chorus began in WWII with a young RAF officer who was shot down and imprisoned on his first mission. He got through incarceration by watching some redstarts beyond the fence. The tale was also told from the point of view of his young bride left at home in England. It was both a sad and uplifting story with birds and bird watching woven throughout.

And I have also finished Sommergäste, a lucky find in the bargain bins. The gorgeous cover caught my eye, the blurb promised birds and delivered in spades.
The names of all characters have been changed, but it's the story of Willa Cather and her vacations on a small Canadian island. She writes, and her life partner gets acquainted with a local ornithologist who teaches her taxidermy. It's about birds becoming extinct, establishing a nature reserve on the island, and going on an expedition to the Belgian Congo to find a rare bird. Also a wonderful and well-written novel about a remarkable relationship.

I've recently read Spix's Macaw: The Race to Find the World's Rarest Bird, the rather sad story of the decline of the Blue Macaw species. The Spix's itself is probably extinct in the wild; only about 70 are left in the world, in captive breeding programs in Spain and the Gulf States.
The parrot is a victim of its own success as a species, sadly. Almost as bad as man choosing to make an enemy of an animal seems to be him making a friend of it.