A most remarkable creature : the hidden life and epic journey of the world's smartest birds of prey / Jonathan Meiburg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Meiburg, Jonathan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Caracara (Genus).

Physical Description:

x, 366 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.

Summary:

"An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet a rare and mysterious bird of prey--the caracara--that puzzled Darwin, fascinates modern-day falconers, and carries secrets of our planet's deep past in its family history. In 1833, Charles Darwin was astonished by an animal he met in the Falkland Islands: handsome, social, and oddly crow-like falcons that were "tame and inquisitive ... quarrelsome and passionate," and so insatiably curious that they stole hats, compasses, and other valuables from the crew of the Beagle. Darwin wondered why these birds were confined to remote islands at the tip of South America, sensing a larger story, but he set this mystery aside and never returned to it. Almost two hundred years later, Jonathan Meiburg takes up this chase. He takes us through South America, from the fog-bound coasts of Tierra del Fuego to the tropical forests of Guyana, in search of these birds: striated caracaras, which still exist, though they're very rare. He reveals the wild, fascinating story of their history, origins, and possible futures. And along the way, he draws us into the life and work of William Henry Hudson, the Victorian writer and naturalist who championed caracaras as an unsung wonder of the natural world, and to falconry parks in the English countryside, where captive caracaras perform incredible feats of memory and problem-solving. A Most Remarkable Creature is a hybrid of science writing, travelogue, and biography, as generous and accessible as it is sophisticated, and absolutely riveting."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I FLYING MONKEYS

1. An Unanswered Question

2. Johnny Rooks

3. A Half-Tamed Hawk

4. The Birth Of A Naturalist

5. The Most Intelligent Bird In The World

6. The Court Of The Penguin King

pt. II FAR AWAY AND LONG AGO

7. In The Wake Of The Dinosaurs

8. A Family Secret

9. The Curious Case Of The Missing Crows

10. The Island Of Giants

pt. III GREEN MANSIONS

11. Bush Auntie-Man

12. Hymenopteran Dreams

13. The Lost World

14. Sweet Fishes To Eat

15. Above The Falls

pt. IV BETWEEN THE SKY AND THE SEA

16. Last Days Of The Guadalupe Caracara

17. The Mysterious Falcon Of Manco Capac

18. A New Career In A New Town

19. Land's End.

Notes:

Includes extensive notes, bibliography, and index.

ISBN:

9781101875704

1101875704

OCLC:

1164099064

Publisher Number:

99987054768