A"spark bird"is the species that inspires someone to start bird watching, namely birding. For Trish Kane, that bird was the cardinal(红衣凤头鸟). Hearing cardinals' calls was an initial step toward over 1, 960 hours of birding, 33 field notebooks and a career change. In her book, Birding to Change the World, Kane charts her transformation from a journalist to an environmentalist
In 2005, a terrible hurricane hit Kane's hometown. After it, she had to cope with the loss of her home. In watching the cardinals and other birds, she found relief. Soon she started bringing her students along. "My students stared at me in disbelief when I told them I had never cared about birds before, "Kane writes. "I suddenly wondered how many creatures would die because of the way we lived. "She decided to pursue an environmentally-conscious career. In 2007, she took a course to study environmental science.
Most of the book focuses on Kane's efforts to preserve Warner Park, an ideal location satisfying birding requirements for her class. She successfully campaigned to stop the construction of a parking lot. Her activism snowballed into a local bird watching and protecting organization. It eventually became part of Kane's doctoral research, and launched a birding class that pairs middle school students with college-student advisors.
The book shows readers that a good knowledge of nature doesn't require a degree. Take Jeremy, a seemingly uninterested boy in Kane's birding class. When reporters joined an outing, the normally quiet Jeremy started talking excitedly about the bunting, a small blue bird. Kane soon learned that he had secretly taken to studying the field guide given to him by his advisor.
At its core, Birding to Change the World is about how people and birds today depend on one another. "For birds, that dependence is concrete. For thousands of years, our species has seen birds as a symbol of liberation, "Kane writes. In her case, it is liberation from the grief and depression that the hurricane brought. "Bird by bird, they carve a new pathway in my life, a joyful pathway. "
