Naturalist Priyanka Kumar's luminous third book, The Grassland Queen, details her patient pursuit of the long-billed curlew, alongside which she shares musings about her own journey as a parent. Curlews, like many other shorebirds, are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, climate change, and the challenges of coexisting alongside humans. As Kumar (Conversations with Birds) and her family track the curlews across the Great Plains of North America, she takes notes on their habits and migration patterns, observes the dynamics of mated pairs raising chicks, and meditates on why she is drawn to these singular birds.
Kumar takes readers deep into the grassland habitat, detailing its landforms, plants, and animals, including prickly poppies, meadowlarks, turkey vultures, and prairie dogs. She recounts several road trips in the company of her husband and their two daughters, both of whom eventually become keen curlew spotters. Kumar gives names to several mated pairs of curlews and their chicks, who reappear throughout the narrative. She acknowledges that while anthropomorphizing animals can be limiting, it can also be helpful to draw parallels between the behavior of human and avian parents. Following one family in particular--a pair she names Numenius and Crescent, along with their chick Numi--allows Kumar to illustrate the curlew's life cycle and the challenges faced during a typical breeding and migration season.
Much of The Grassland Queen is concerned with climate change, which, Kumar acknowledges, "has introduced serious disruptions into our planetary story." She tracks the effects of rising temperatures, shifting vegetation, and increased human development on curlews, as well as other species that have evolved to feed on particular plants and insects and migrate at specific times. Although she is focused on the curlew, Kumar notes that these birds' lives are "inextricably entwined" with those of other grassland species, and the forces that endanger curlews are also dangerous to other creatures. The dedicated care and insightful attention of Kumar's observations, accompanied by her hand-drawn illustrations, make a compelling case for the curlew's distinct relevance: "When I am in the presence of curlews," she writes, "I am in the presence of the marvelous. I experience wonder." Kumar's attention expands to take in the curlew's entire fragile, beautiful grassland ecosystem, reminding readers that "what looks like emptiness can be rich with tessellated meaning." Along the way, she meets fellow birders, park rangers, and others who share her passion--and her earnest concern--for the fate of curlews and their land.
Keenly observed and shimmering with detail, The Grassland Queen highlights the quiet beauty and profound significance of a bird--and an ecosystem--too often overlooked by humans. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams
Shelf Talker: Naturalist Priyanka Kumar celebrates the wonder and significance of long-billed curlews and their grassland ecosystem in her luminous, keenly observed third book.