A Most Remarkable Creature

The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey

De: Jonathan Meiburg

Narrado por: Jonathan Meiburg

“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.” (Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Bird Way)

“A fascinating, entertaining, and totally engrossing story.” (David Sibley, author of What It's Like to Be a Bird)

An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.

“As curious, wide-ranging, gregarious, and intelligent as its subject.” (Charles C. Mann, author of 1491)

In 1833, Charles Darwin was astonished by an animal he met in the Falkland Islands: handsome, social, and oddly crow-like falcons that were "tame and inquisitive...quarrelsome and passionate", and so insatiably curious that they stole hats, compasses, and other valuables from the crew of the Beagle. Darwin wondered why these birds were confined to remote islands at the tip of South America, sensing a larger story, but he set this mystery aside and never returned to it.

Almost two hundred years later, Jonathan Meiburg takes up this chase. He takes us through South America, from the fog-bound coasts of Tierra del Fuego to the tropical forests of Guyana, in search of these birds: striated caracaras, which still exist, though they're very rare. He reveals the wild, fascinating story of their history, origins, and possible futures. And along the way, he draws us into the life and work of William Henry Hudson, the Victorian writer and naturalist who championed caracaras as an unsung wonder of the natural world, and to falconry parks in the English countryside, where captive caracaras perform incredible feats of memory and problem-solving. A Most Remarkable Creature is a hybrid of science writing, travelogue, and biography, as generous and accessible as it is sophisticated, and absolutely riveting.

©2021 Jonathan Meiburg (P)2021 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

One of NPR's Best Books of the Year

“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)

“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)

"If caracaras were able to read - and immersing myself in Mr. Meiburg’s vivid prose I sometimes fancied they just might be - this book would give them a lot of information about that exceptional creature named Jonathan Meiburg.” (Christoph Irmscher, Wall Street Journal)

Fascinating Story of a Bird Unknown to me

I picked up this book during an Audible 2 for one sale. I loved this book. It is so well written and translates well to Audio. I learned so much as well as got into the “zone” of the author’s love for Hudson and his writing. The places he visited were so remote and interesting. I felt so inspired hearing about the author’s travels. I also learned about the relationship of animals and birds, specifically the cara cara, a bird I had never heard of, with the formation of the continents. This is a spectacular book. It’s also an important book.

Words fail when trying to describe how fabulous this book is

I love natural histories, and even though I have read scores of this genre, Meiburg’s “Most Remarkable Creature” is absolutely enthralling. In fact, other than Bernd Heinrich’s “Year in the Maine Woods,” I cannot remember ever revisiting chapters time and time and time again to savor details. Wonderful, beautiful, enthralling, occasionally sad, overwhelmingly delightful - words fail to describe this charming book.

somewhat curious

an interesting book that should probably be renamed something down the line of, Reflections of a Nature Observer. It doesn't really live up to it's billing, but that doesn't make it a lesser book. It's just that it's a bit different than what I came for, but stayed for what it was.

Fascinating stories about fascinating birds

The author or publisher should have spent money to hire a professional narrator. However, the information about birds and the stories of specific types of birds are wonderful, BUT the narration by the author was so hard to listen to. His "style" of reading was less narration and more like reading a book report in high school with a staccato delivery. His cadence and vocal expression are lacking and I was tempted to send it back but I am glad I didn't because the birds and their stories are unique. Still, listening to the book was a major struggle. Eventually, I just went chapter by chapter in order to focus on the stories and tolerated the lackluster narration. It WAS WORTH the effort. Anyone who enjoys delving into the personalities of animals of any kind will appreciate and marvel at the unexpected revelations about the various birds detailed in this book.

A surprising nature book. Quote beautifully written

This is part of a story following William Henry Hudson who wrote green mansions and part following this very unusual bird and part the record of an amazing field adventure in the Guyanas.

Narrated by the author, Jonathan Meiberg

This audiobook was fascinating as it told the story of Caracaras, a bird well known in South America. The author also narrates, and a cannot imagine anyone doing a better job. He imitates the calls and sounds of this intelligent falcon, which acts more like a crow or raven than a falcon. The story gives hundreds of examples of the adaptability and curiosity of this bird, its social lifestyle, and its ability to solve problems. The story is enhanced by numerous tales of natural history, from the age of dinosaurs up to the present. The is a wealth of knowledge in this book, and entertains as well as it educates.

A Most Remarkable Book

…about an utterly remarkable creature, the striated Caracara. But this is also about so much more. It is a personal account, a journey story, a factual and cultural and social and ornithological history, an account of the life and work of William Henry Hudson. Beautifully written and performed, I was enthralled by the reading and will go back to listen again and again.

A Most Remarkable Book

This superb narration drew me in and engaged my attention as few other audiobooks have done. I did not expect the breadth and depth of this natural history. The author's love of the birds he describes with such eloquence permeates every chapter, yet the book is about so much more than birds - history and geology and the stories of people and places, from the Antarctic to Land's End and back again.

Part history, part biology, part memoir...

Meiburg narrating the book himself was the correct choice. The book is so personal that it would be strange to hear the words come from anyone else. Listeners will enjoy the story of the striated caracaras, Their curiosity is not only fascinating, but strangely endearing. We're not used to thinking about birds that way – especially birds of prey.

If you choose this for your library, and I would recommend that you do, do yourself a favor and do some image searches. Meiburg is descriptive, but it's not a substitute for seeing the bird. Download a map as well. You'll get a sense for the remoteness and distances involved. And if possible, see if your local raptor center (or zoo, depending on where you live) has any you can see in person.

Even better than I'd hoped

I listened to the sample before buying, as I always do, and was so intrigued by the subject - also not at all put off by the narrator-author, despite some negative reviews of his reading. Now I'm a third of the way into the book, and I'm enjoying it so much, including the narration. I don't judge those who commented negatively, but I don't share their opinions at all. I doubt whether anyone other than Jonathan Meiburg could have narrated this so effectively and sympathetically. Importantly, he voices the non-human characters as unselfconsciously and realistically as another narrator might do human accents, so appreciated! I'm a little sheepish to see, looking back through my occasional audible reviews, that nothing inspires me to review a book more than dislike for a narrator, so I'm fairly picky. I'm going on and on about the narration, when it's the fascinating subject, beautifully observed and written, that what pulled me in to begin with - a great listen!