The Search for the Rarest Bird in the World

This book combines poetic descriptive language, birding and science to tell the tale of four experienced birders on an expedition to a remote corner of Ethiopia where a nightjar’s wing had been found by a university expedition 20 years earlier. That wing was the only evidence of a species otherwise unknown to science.

The South African author understands Africa – people, landscape, and wildlife, intimately - and generously shares his love of the continent’s pristine places with us. His use of similes is prodigious, for example on arrival in Addis Ababa, “the Amharic language was rich and pulpy, like the juice of a foreign fruit plucked fresh from a tree in a wild place”. On their journey seeking the Nechisar Nightjar (named by the scientific community as Caprimulgus solala – solus meaning ‘only’, ala meaning ‘wing’) we learn how members of this multinational group first met on other birding trips, whose description augments the current tale.

A lengthy discussion of what might define the “Rarest Bird in the World” occupies a chapter in which many other claims on that title are covered, several illustrated from personal experience. The suspense of the quest is maintained, and we have to wait until the last pages to learn whether or not it was successful. A surprising omission from this edition is that there are no maps and photos, the pictures are painted entirely by the rich language.

I picked this book up to look at, out of curiosity – and couldn’t put it down. It is a most interesting and well-written account, which I would definitely recommend.

Book reviewed by Dorian Moss