The Gift of Birds: True Encounters with Avian Spirits

by Larry Habegger (Editor), Amy Greimann Carlson (Editor)

Overview

Whether it roots us in our own backyard or takes us across continents, watching birds calls us to stillness and demands our keen attention to the details that flicker around us. This collection of stories will appeal to bird lovers everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781885211415
Publisher:	Travelers' Tales Guides, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/12/1999
Series:	Travelers' Tales Guides
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

	Introduction: Mockingbird Summer	XIII
Part I	Vivid Encounters
	Gift of Seed	3
	Stripped Naked	6
	A Pelican Frenzy	10
	Hardwired	13
	What the Raven Said	27
	Laughing Loon	40
	Without a Ripple	49
	Stop the Car	55
	Short-tailed Albatrosses	59
Part II	Kindred Spirits
	Crazy Courage	81
	Sweet Hope Waiting	84
	Bird-Watching as a Blood Sport	94
	The Balinese Chicken	120
	The Parrots of Telegraph Hill	124
	Honey Guide	138
	Wild Owls	141
Part III	Odd Ducks
	The Legend of Jesse Mew	163
	How the Pimpernel Saved His Pigeons	174
	Nothing Tastes Like Roadkill	179
	Close to the End	185
	After the Fires	199
	The Ramble of Central Park	204
Part IV	Brushes with Divinity
	Actual Field Conditions	227
	The Setting of Wings	241
	Whimbrels	246
	Redbird	268
	The Last Cranes of Siberia	275
	Invisibility	287
	With No Direction Home	293
	Epiphany	296
Part V	Ascending Song
	Sky Lark	305
	Recommended Reading	313
	Index	315
	Acknowledgements	318

Editorial Reviews

This anthology of 28 essays (five are original but most are excerpted from books) by 26 authors deals with how birds have affected people, primarily in a spiritual manner. The writers are for the most part naturalists but include such well-known disparate personalities as Peter Matthiessen and Alice Walker, as well as top birding gurus Kenn Kaufman and Pete Dunne. These thoughtful, entertaining essays range from Central Park to Australia, from the Himalayas, Bali, and Africa to Utah. Dunne writes about how watching a birdfeeder brought joy to his ill father, Walker about how she was inspired by the maternal devotions of a hen in Bali. Others tell of encounters with birds of prey, rare cranes, and albatrosses; a person who gathers roadkills to feed vultures; or watching the antics of loons and pelicans. A stimulating collection of nature writing from an unusual perspective; for most collections.--Henry T. Armistead, Free Lib. of Philadelphia Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

An anthology of essays and short stories exploring the ways that birds enrich our lives. Contributors include top naturalists Kenn Kaufman and Pete Dunne, as well as well-known authors Alice Walker, Louise Erdrich, and Peter Matthiessen. They tell of the lengths birders go to catch a glimpse of their favorite bird, and of lessons birds teach about human relationships, taking readers to locations from Central Park to Bali. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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