The Secret Language of Birds: 08/03/24

The Secret Language of Birds by Lynne Kelly (2024) is a companion piece to Song for a Whale (2019). Nina opts to spend the summer with her aunt who runs a birding summer camp in rural Texas. Her interest in birding begins when she's left behind on a road trip because she was distracted by a heron.

Nina who hadn't planned on hanging with any of the campers is befriended by a cabin of three who call themselves the Oddballs. On a night when they're signing their names in the ruins of the old infirmary, they're scared by a giant bird.

Like Song for a Whale which starts with the protagonist's problem and pivots to an endangered animal, this one switches gears from Nina feeling like she doesn't fit in anywhere, to a pair of Whooping Cranes. Nina and the other Oddballs take it upon themselves to watch the birds and report their activities to the organization tracking them.

Whooping Cranes were common in Texas a hundred years ago, as evidenced by the century old doodles left in the infirmary. Now, though, they are rare, save for a recent, tiny over wintering population. This novel imagines the girls finding a breeding pair.

Endangered birds are banded and the migrating ones are fixed with trackers. The back half of this novel centers on discovering the identity of the female bird, one who has neither band nor tracker. Given how few birds there are, it's extremely unlikely that a bird would be unknown.

And that's where Iris comes in. It's a chance for Nina and her to make amends. It's a chance for her to expand her skills with audio files. It's a way for Nina and her camp friends to help a pair of birds and expand scientific knowledge.

Of course, like with the first one, there are consequences to working in secret away from the adults. But like the first book there's a happy ending for the birds and the girls.

Like Song for a Whale, The Secret Language of Birds sits on the Road Narrative Spectrum. Here the travelers are marginalized (66), namely the Oddballs. Their destination is the wildlands (99), namely the nesting area at camp. Their route their is the cornfield, or more specifically the tkaronto (FF) as represented by the swamp.

Five stars

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