I mean I know I was going to like this book because I love birds and I love that this book was broken down into ten different chapters about each bird, however, I enjoyed it more than I thought! I'm finding that I like science books that mix in other subjects like history or even people's personal life. This book had a good balance of history and science. I especially liked (although so very sad) the chapter on pigeons and how messenger pigeons literally saved people's lives. I can't believe they got little medals of honor...then there was the bald eagle chapter that really was more "woke" than I thought it would be. The fact that the author pointed out how Trump's eagle faces towards the war side and then continuing to point out how the eagle has been a symbol of tyranny. A lot of these chapters focused on how these birds either became extinct, currently face a threat to be extinct, or almost became extinct and was able to be brought back in healthy numbers. The fact that the sparrow was considered one of the four pests in China and were actively killed by the thousands was so heartbreaking. The best parts about these chapters was seeing the consequences of these birds being gone. For instance, in China, where the banged pots and pans all night so these birds would die of exhaustion, the crops would still suffer because the insects they had been keeping in population control had free reign to eat up! Then there are birds like the snowy egret that became sought after for their feathers. They were hunted and their population definitely suffered but then the first conservation groups were formed to protect these birds and animals experiencing the same fate. This book showed how these dark times eventually brought some good (even if much later on). Unfortunately, for the birds like the dodo some consequences are irreversible. This wasn't a very long read and was broken down into very digestible fragments. One of my favorite animal books now!
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