Book Recs: Crimes of a Feather
As a librarian, its pretty safe to say that I like to read and over the years my tastes have changed, but I always find myself drawn to really weird nonfiction. The darker and more disturbing a book is the better and so my first choice for selecting a book comes from the true crime section. Nothing like a good dismemberment love story gone wrong. Once I started bird watching, I began reading more bird nonfiction and I stumbled across the best genre ever: bird crimes! And so here’s a few recommended titles involving feather stealing, egg smuggling, and mother nature committing crime herself.
The Feather Thief: Beauty Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century
by Kirk Wallace Johnson
I pick a lot of books based on their covers, especially if the subtitle includes phrases like “deception, obsession, murder, and more murder.” One cover that caught my eye was Kirk Wallace Johnson’s The Feather Thief which included the subtitle, “Beauty, obsession, and the natural history heist of the century.” And even though the word murder wasn’t on the cover, I was also taken in by the fact that there was a Wallace inception: author’s last name, A.R. Wallace, and my last name.
The book starts off about the history of evolution with A.R. Wallace and his rival Charles Darwin and their explorations involving the collection of feathers and bird skins. Some of these specimens were stored and cataloged at the British Natural History Museum. Wallace also discusses the Migratory Bird Treaty Act which stopped the mass hunting of birds like Florida egrets for the sole purpose of decorating hats with their feathers (a law that a certain person who will not be mentioned tried to end). But the strangest of obsessions of all came from Edwin Rist, an American flautist studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London, who also happen to have an obsession with feathers. As a young boy, Rist became enamored with the world of fly tying and discovered that really good ties (especially made with authentic feathers) could make a decent amount of money—enough to buy a golden flute. This almost reminds me of a fairy tale involving beans. But replicating and finding rare feathers were hard to come by. What results is the most surprising and mind boggling break-in of the British Natural History Museum. Mind boggling because of how casually the crime was committed.
The Falcon Thief: a True Tale of Adventure, Treachery and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird
by Joshua Hammer
The fortunate part of The Feather Thief was that no birds were harmed in the thievery — well, I guess birds were harmed in order for them to become specimens. After finishing this book, Goodreads suggested that I try The Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer who also wrote a book called The Bad-ass Librarians of Timbuktu. I have to say that The Falcon Thief elicited more of an emotional response from me because of my visits to the local State Line Hawk Watch where two world famous peregrine falcons have taken up residence. No joke, they are the world’s most photographed peregrines.
The Falcon Thief centers around Jeffrey Lendrum and the illegal trade of falcon eggs to billionaires racing birds in United Arab Emirates. The hired falconers felt that wild birds hatched from eggs and immediately raised by falcon trainers raced better than birds who were bred in captivity.
Lendrum, was taught to smuggle eggs from an early age by his father and stole eggs from raptor nests during Lendrum’s residence in Africa. Lendrum would eventually travel the world and the book includes scenes of Lendrum propelling from helicopters to steal gyrfalcon eggs and other species from cliff faces. Lendrum, would have been successful if it weren’t for a police officer in England —who also happened to be a birder — questioned Lendrum after he was stopped by British airline officials after they found eggs strapped to his body. Lendrum’s excuse was that the eggs were to help his back pain, but luckily the birding officer recognized that the eggs strapped to Lendrum’s body were peregrine falcon eggs.
For sure this is one of my favorite nonfiction titles.
Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
by Mary Roach
So two books about crimes against birds, but what about nature committing crime? There’s only one author who can write about bear break-ins, kamikaze deer, and stalker mountain lions that could make me laugh out loud and that is Mary Roach. Roach has written many entertaining books on scientific topics that have explored the strange and sometimes rediculous. My favorite of which are Stiff, Bonk, and Grunt.
While many animals and natural occurrences are explored in Fuzz, I of course was interested in the chapters involving albatross and gulls. Although by this point in the book the criminals become questionable and reader’s can decide to lean towards the guilty party. Is it the animal to blame? Or humans? Who represents the Moose who jaywalked across a busy road and hit a car? This book investigates the ways in which animals are only “breaking the law” because they don’t follow human law. And maybe its because we as humans have moved in on the territory of nature and with evidence of disrespect, nature has fought back.
Of course you can purchase these recommended books on Amazon, local independent book stores, and of course — borrow the book for free from your local library.
