?I loved this book. It?s the extraordinary story of an extraordinary bird. Walters has written a powerful and poignant ode to the jay itself and the scrub it depends on?a subtle but beguiling habitat that?s vanishing rapidly, stolen by development, mining, and citrus groves?and also to the remarkable human heroes attempting to rescue this unique and wondrous avian treasure.??Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Bird Way and The Genius of Birds ?This book begins with enchantment and ends with caution. At the root of both feelings is love, and Walters?s journey with the Florida Scrub-Jay reminds us that in every place of endangerment we can feel all this and more. I came away with increased admiration for those who do the hard work of maintaining species populations in a difficult and changing time.??Christopher Cokinos, author of Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds ?Walters threads a wonderful, feathery needle from the Scrub-Jay?s dinosaur ancestors up to current ecology and conservation efforts for the species, tying the bird to the geography of Florida and etching a compelling story that shows why individual species and their life histories matter more than ever.??Daniel Lewis, author of Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction, and Evolution in Hawai?i ?Required reading for anyone considering a career in conservation.

There?s no sermon here, just the field notes of an intrepid researcher tracking a threatened species? struggle against extinction. Let?s hope that as a result of this difficult narrative there?s a happy ending in store for the Florida scrub-jay.??John Seibert Farnsworth, author of Nature beyond Solitude: Notes from the Field ?Crisscrossing Florida for three years, talking with experts and hoping to find a bright future for one of our rarest birds, Walters reveals the truth of conservation in the Anthropocene: large losses, small gains, and the struggle of others to live among us.??John M. Marzluff, author of In Search of Meadowlarks: Birds, Farms, and Food in Harmony with the Land.