"Indeed, nearly all the animals we regard as intelligent—baboons, crows,
raccoons, caracaras, humans—are big-brained social generalists that thrive
in unpredictable environments." -- A Most Remarkable Creature (p.
108).
Books on natural history and evolution sometimes seem to me to be incredibly
wonderful. Jonathan Meiburg's
A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's
Smartest Birds of Prey
is one of the most enjoyable that I've read. I loved the way the author
combined his personal experiences exploring many areas in South America with
descriptions of the behavior and evolution of the various caracaras that he
saw; the question of what makes a bird intelligent; portrayals of people he
traveled with; and biographical details of earlier observers of South American
wildlife. The unifying theme of this book is the character and intelligence of
caracaras (Polyborinae), which are a subfamily of the falcons (order
Falconiformes).
Rather than write a review of this great book, I would like to share my
memories of seeing the birds and landscapes that Meiburg described. I found it
really delightful to read about birds that I've seen on several trips to South
America and elsewhere. On these trips, I have seen a number of caracaras of
several different species -- as well as many other birds and animals, which
made the book all the more interesting. I loved all the new things I learned
from his book as well as the recollection of what I learned from the guides on
these trips. Here are some of our photos of several types of caracaras, which
we have enjoyed seeing in a number of places.
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A striated caracara with a sea lion. October, 2017, Staten Island,
Argentina.
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Three Striated Caracaras, Staten Island, Argentina, October, 2017.
This
species is one of the author's favorites. We couldn't tell
what
they were doing, and it might have been simply playing!
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Southern Crested Caracara, Torres del Paine Park, Chile, October, 2017.
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| Yellow-Headed Caracara, Maranon River, Peru, February, 2017. |
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Black Caracara, Maranon River, Peru, February, 2017.
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Crested Caracaras, Aransas Bay, Texas, October, 2016.
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Crested Caracara, Costa Rica, December, 2019.
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Striated Caracara, Staten Island, Argentina, October, 2017.
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14 comments:
How truly amazing you have actually seen all these birds of prey. I'm in awe of all the places you have traveled and how birds play such an important role in your travels, too. Great photos, Mae.
Love the ictures! The first and especially the fourth one- so inspiring!
Wow, the photographs are amazing! Especially of the birds in flight.
This book sounds fantastic. I added it to my wish list.
These are terrific. Cheers to you and Len for capturing such wonderful images.
Birds in flight phptos are great. I have a few from our trip but they are of more ordinary birds such as Blue jays and Hawks.
Hello.
Interesting post. Wonderful photos.
Have a nice weekend.
Hello Mae,
I will have to check on this book, it sounds interesting. I loved all your photos of the Caracaras and the cute Sea Lion. Great post. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend. PS, thank you for the comment and visit.
It really is a wonderful feat to actually get to see these raptors in person. I saw a Kestrel this week and it was small and beautiful. Love that book. I think I need it!
Those are some beautiful photos, especially the Crested Caracaras!
Interesting post.
Wow! So fortunate to have taken trips abroad and viewed so much wildlife that is different from home. Interesting photos.
Mae, I loved this post! And made a note of the book for my TBR stack (virtual)..... But your "review" and the pictures of the birds you've seen were just wonderful. It was fun knowing you saw caracaras near Port Aransas -- a place we loved when we spent a couple of winters there; we first saw many birds we then considered exotic while we stayed there. Not to mention alligators ... Lovely memories and I enjoyed sharing yours. Thank you so much for linking to this post in your comment.
I'd like to look for this book. It might make a good book for our naturalist group book club. I see that you have seen many caracaras. I knew you traveled a lot, but I did not realize you had traveled to South America.
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