Ms. Darlington is most persuasive when she records her interactions with owls on a visceral, intimate level.

Darlington’s survey of the state of owls today is intimately staged, an account of her quest to see in situ the six species that live in her native England.

The scientific information comes through Darlington’s always lovely prose, meaning that instead of info dumps, we get pleasing passages intertwined with the narrative. Each chapter maintains its focus, but they develop a nice sequence of increasing strigiform knowledge as the reader feels more and more at home with these remarkable birds.

Midway between divesting owls of adorability and asserting their status as a marvel of nature, Darlington finds they have a role to play as her own personal gargoyles..

Vignettes of people she met on her quest, beautiful descriptions of owls and their habitats, and quotations from poems about owls make this a wonderfully informative and enjoyable book..

Invigorating.