Flyaway: How A Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings

by: Suzie Gilbert

Published by: Harper

Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

“Oh my God!” came the bellow from the kitchen. “There are maggots in the refrigerator!” While this quote does not open the book Flyaway, but it does come fairly early in it and pretty much sums up the things Gilbert’s family needed to get used to finding about the house.

Gilbert’s fascinating, if a bit unusual, life path started when she got a job in an animal hospital. That job quickly led to her adopting numerous unwanted parrots, which in turn led her to volunteer at a rehabilitation center for birds of prey. Before long, the inevitable happened and she had her own set of flight cages built. She had decided to run her facility for songbirds who were healed, but not yet ready to be released back into the wild. She would not accept birds of prey, waterfowl, injured, or baby birds. By the time readers are to this point in the book, we’ve seen enough of the author’s personality to snicker at the above pronouncement. Of course she is going to end up accepting all of the above, plus her desired songbirds.

While the author has written this book as a humorous account of her life with the birds, the book also offers excellent information for bird lovers into various aspects of birds. With each bird that comes into her care, Gilbert gives readers the general description of the bird as well as its typical behaviors. She explains what care the bird needs, including what its diet and nesting needs are. She also explains the relevant federal laws (of which there are many) and what readers should or should not attempt to do on their own.
Gilbert’s adventures with her birds makes for an extremely interesting book. Be prepared to laugh at the bird’s antics and cry at the touching and sometimes painful moments. I found myself rooting not only for her birds but for Gilbert as well.

This book would be the perfect gift for animal lovers, outdoorsy people and birders. But also readers who enjoy memoirs and family stories will find this to be an enjoyable read.

Armchair Interviews agrees.