For nature lovers who are looking for good holiday reads or gifts, here is a list of suggested books about birds of prey and nature conservation.
For lovers of hawks, read about the exploits and adventures of Pale Male, the red-tailed hawk in New York City in Red-Tails in Love: Pale Male’s Story--A True Wildlife Drama in Central Park by Marie Winn. At the end of the book, there is a list of useful resources for those who want to go birding in Central Park.
For lovers of owls, there are several good books on the subject, but What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Bird by Jennifer Ackerman is comprehensive and talks about some of the latest findings in owl research.
For people interested in wildlife rehab stories, Keeping Them Wild: Four Decades of Wildlife Rehabilitation with Gila Wildlife Rescue by Dennis & Denise Miller. It is chock full of rescue stories about animals encountered over 37 years operating the Gila Wildlife Rescue located in Southwestern New Mexico. There is an abundance of QR code links to videos that enhance the text.
For people who love coffee table books with gorgeous photos, Finding Flaco: Our Year with New York City's Beloved Owl by Jacqueline Emery and David Lei. Flaco was a Eurasian Eagle Owl that escaped the Central Park Zoo and fended for himself in the Big City. Jacqueline and David are avid birders and photographers who tracked and chronicled Flaco’s behavior. You can watch them talk about their experiences in a Flaco panel discussion on YouTube sponsored by the International Owl Center.
For those of you who are more into exotic birds from distant lands, read A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey by Jonathan Meiburg, which is about the very curious and smart striated caracaras, a bird of prey found in the Falkland Islands in South America. Caracaras evolved in an environment with no natural predators so they do not exhibit fear of human beings, which make for interesting encounters.
For folks who want to learn more about how they can help with nature conservation in their own backyards, pick up How Can I Help?: Saving Nature with Your Yard by Douglas W. Tallamy. The book is in a question & answer format where the questions were sent to him over the years by readers of his previous books. Doug Tallamy has been the driving force behind the Homegrown National Park project, piecing together people’s backyards to collectively support wildlife and increase their habitat.
Last but not least, we would be remiss if we did not mention The Christmas Owl: Based on the True Story of a Little Owl Named Rockefeller by our very own Ellen Kalish and Gideon Sterer for children or adults of all ages. It is interesting to note that this book made the list of Katherine Schwarzenegger-Pratt’s six favorite books.
Happy reading!