Meiburg elevates himself to the top ranks of science writers with this enthralling debut . . . Meiburg’s evocative prose will bring armchair naturalists into the wild with him. Fans of literary nature narratives will be thrilled by his lyrical account, and eager to see where Meiburg goes next.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Meiburg’s enthusiasm [for the caracaras] matches Darwin’s, and readers will share it. . . Not only a fine writer, the author is clearly an adventurer, and he devotes entertaining chapters to treks into the high Andes and South American jungles in search of other caracara species. . . [A] wholly captivating natural history.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Utterly captivating and beautifully written, this book is a hugely entertaining and enlightening exploration of a bird so wickedly smart, curious, and social, it boggles the mind. Along the way, Meiburg takes us from the Falklands to the UK, from Guyana to the Antarctic and Florida, and from deep time to the present and back again, describing in brilliant language why these birds—and their planet—are the way they are. If you love birds, natural history, science, travel, adventure, or just great writing, you will be rapt.”—Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Bird Way
“A fascinating, entertaining, and totally engrossing story of these under-appreciated birds, deftly intertwining natural history and human history, and with insights and lessons that go far beyond the subject birds.”—David Sibley, author of What It's Like to Be a Bird
“This book is an evolutionary labyrinth, taking Meiburg to the end of the world following a single, curious predator. Vivid, beautiful, and scientifically rich, crawling with jungle ants, blasted by Antarctic winds, his tales will transport you from the page to wilder places.”—Craig Childs, author of Atlas of a Lost World
“A Most Remarkable Creature does what only the very best science and nature writing can. Jonathan Meiburg reminds us that our world is not fully known, that the prehistoric walk among us, and, most of all, how exciting and unnerving it feels to encounter an animal you’ve never seen before, and, even more, to find that animal staring right back.”—Steven Rinella, author of American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon
“A rich, sprawling romp through time and far-flung, fabulous spaces, in pursuit of one of Earth’s most enigmatic, engaging, and shrewdest creatures.”—Alan Weisman, author of Countdown
“I’m in love with this book. If you like great writing, strange historical twists, adventure, nature, music and/or birds this will quickly become one of your all-time favorite books.”—Laurie Anderson, artist
“Caracaras are not like other birds, or even other birds of prey. Curious, wide-ranging, gregarious, and intelligent, the ten species of caracara are a scientific puzzle that has intrigued biologists since the days of Darwin. And this book—as curious, wide-ranging, gregarious, and intelligent as its subject—is not like any other book that I have encountered. A Most Remarkable Creature is not only about a bird, but about the community of people that has formed, almost accidentally, around the bird, and beyond that about humankind itself.”—Charles C. Mann, author of 1491
“What a remarkable feat: taking a mysterious, oddly social, keenly intelligent bird of prey that most of the world has never heard of and animating the creature with such beauty that it comes fully alive in our imaginations. Jonathan Meiburg went on an equatorial search for the latter-day descendants of the age-old caracara and brought back—a little like Darwin himself—travel report, documentary, biography, social history, scientific treatise. And all of it so wonderfully readable.”—Paul Hendrickson, author of Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost
★ 2020-12-15
An entire book devoted to the odd caracara? Yes, and the narrative rarely lags.
Meiburg, a journalist and leader of the band Shearwater, begins with Darwin, whose 1831-1836 voyage around the world has provided evergreen material for natural historians since. During his trek, Darwin visited the Falkland Islands, which, along with the Galápagos, are the only New World lands that Europeans actually discovered because they were never inhabited. There he encountered a handsome, raven-sized bird of prey, the striated caracara, distantly related to the falcon, whose bizarre behavior persuaded him to devote “more ink to their antics in The Voyage of the Beagle than he gave any other bird.” Meiburg’s enthusiasm matches Darwin’s, and readers will share it. Unlike the fresh-meat diet of most birds of prey, caracara eat nearly everything, including insects, carrion, garbage, mucus, feces, and, according to Falkland lore, “cans of engine grease.” Possessing an insatiable curiosity and intelligence, they have no fear of man, a recipe for extinction, which may be their fate. After a vivid description of the bird, its life on the isolated islands, and a torrent of amusing anecdotes, Meiburg steps back to deliver the big picture. Since the 1990s, scientists agree that birds descended directly from dinosaurs and have flourished since the larger creatures went suddenly extinct 65 million years ago. From 700 species identified during the age of dinosaurs, more than 10,000 bird species live today, far outnumbering mammals. Not only a fine writer, the author is clearly an adventurer, and he devotes other entertaining chapters to treks into the high Andes and South American jungles in search of other caracara species. He also detours regularly into the life of William Henry Hudson (1841-1922), the British naturalist and ornithologist who was acclaimed during his lifetime but is now known mainly for Green Mansions, a romantic novel set in the Venezuelan jungle.
Wholly captivating natural history.
