Weidensaul addresses a range of questions, including the antiquity of the world's raptor species and their evolutionary history. (In this matter, his text is thoroughly up-to-date and includes the results of recent genetic research by which carrion-feeding New World vultures have been reclassified as relatives of the stork, and not of predatory hawks, eagles, and falcons.) He traces the fortunes of species such as the peregrine falcon, which had all but disappeared in North America by the 1960s owing to hunting, habitat destruction, and the use of deadly pesticides, but which has returned to the wild thanks to a vigorous program of reintroduction. Other success stories await, and Weidensaul offers helpful notes on building nest platforms and boxes, aiding injured birds, contributing to conservation groups, and otherwise seeing to it that raptors flourish. --Gregory McNamee

Product Description