Bird Brother: A Falconer's Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife

To escape the tough streets of Southeast Washington, D.C. in the late 1980s, young Rodney Stotts would ride the metro to the Smithsonian National Zoo. There, the bald eagles and other birds of prey captured his imagination for the first time. In Bird Brother, Rodney shares his unlikely journey to becoming a conservationist and one of America’s few Black master falconers.

Rodney grew up during the crack epidemic, with guns, drugs, and the threat of incarceration an accepted part of daily li...