Katie Fallon

About a year ago or so, I discovered the Safari Live channel on YouTube; for three hours at sunrise and again at sunset, three guides (two on vehicle, one on foot) take viewers through the Djuma Private Game Reserve of Kruger National Park, the South African bush country. While the guides naturally tend to focus on the wildlife that people want to see (the big cats, elephants, hippos, antelope, etc.), there will be the occasional views of vultures at a carcass: "the clean-up crew," more than one guide has said, "nothing goes to waste here in the bush."
Being the custodian is apparently as low-prestige in the wild as it in among us "civilized" humans in cities and towns. It is truly sad that such a vital and necessary function of life and death is so derided and ignored. Katie Fallon, co-founder of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, feels the same way; hence her book, "Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird." Her small book (a little over 200 pages) introduces the reader to the individuals and groups who have dedicated their professional lives and resources to the preservation, protection, and defense of the various species of vultures (more familiarly known as buzzards in parts of the US).
Ms. Fallon writes with a quiet passion. She imparts much information about the various vulture species, but in a down-to-earth fashion, no overloading the reader with professional jargon. In relating her own research, for example, Ms. Fallon parallels her pregnancy with that of the recently-hatched vultures she's studying (and attempting to tag). Her love of these funky birds is not only apparent, but also infectious. Read this book, and you will have a new appreciation (if not affection) for these indispensable birds.… (más)

I enjoyed almost every aspect of this treatise on vultures. Personally, I never understood the animosity shown by many to these birds. They are a major player in keeping down all the things which which people associate these birds (disease, pestilence, etc). Fallon does a good job of describing the biology of the birds, their personalities, and their role in society. While it doesn't quite rise to a "Ravens in Winter" quality, it is a solid book for anyone wanting to know about this undeservedly unloved bird. The only part I found a bit hokey was the prefaces to each chapter. They didn't fit the book to me and felt like someone who couldn't get a novella published found a way to sneak one in to another book.… (más)