Peregrine Falcon by Patrick Stirling-Aird | Bloomsbury 2015 | 128 Pages | 80 Colour Photos | Paperback | ISBN: 9781472918666
What the Publisher says: Reaching speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour, the Peregrine Falcon is famous as the world’s fastest bird. However, its penchant for choosing inaccessible places to breed, feed and roost mean that few people are well acquainted with its habits and behaviour. ‘Peregrine Falcon’ offers a window into that rarely seen world, thanks to a combination of high quality images and beautifully written text, with chapters on subjects such as hunting, raising young and how populations around the world have rallied against the threat of extinction and are now prospering once again. The birds are further brought to life through a series of personal anecdotes from the author and photographers, which are woven into the text. ‘Peregrine Falcon’ is part of a series that also includes the titles ‘Barn Owl’ and ‘Kingfisher’.
About the Author: Patrick Stirling-Aird has studied Peregrine Falcons for more than 25 years. He is Secretary of the Scottish Raptor Study Groups and is an advisor to the British and Scottish governments on the conservation of the species. He lives in Dunblane, Perthshire.
Fatbirder View: This will be brief as I do not usually read monographs. Most I have read have been rather dry and detailed and, although one can learn a great deal, I often find myself overloaded rather than informed. This is somewhat different in that it is a more personal account. Because of this, perhaps, it reads more smoothly and what it has to say slips underneath one’s anti-pedagogy fire and slips knowledge more easily into a reluctant brain. It is also relatively brief and full of very good photographs leading me to recommend it… that and, of course, the fact that Peregrines are so iconic!
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