A MOST REMARKABLE CREATURE The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey

Combining personal stories, travelogue, science, and history, author/narrator Jonathan Meiburg introduces listeners to the striated caracara, a now-rare South American bird of prey that is so intelligent it understands spoken commands, can solve puzzles, and has a long memory. But more than having smarts, the bird is also playful and has almost endless curiosity. Naturalists and ornithologists from Darwin to today have been fascinated by the caracara's biology and behavior, and how the bird's different species have adapted to such diverse environments as remote islands, the high Andes, and tropical forests. Meiburg's performance is easy on the ears, holding listeners' attention as his musings take a variety of paths, including the extinction of dinosaurs and the awesome beauty--and danger--of Guyana's forests. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2021]