Conversations with an Eagle: The Story of a Remarkable Relationship

by Brenda Cox

Brenda Cox recounts her remarkable relationship with Ichabod, a female bald eagle. Cox meets Ichabod for the first time when the ten-week-old bird, blown from her nest tree, is brought to stay at the wildlife rehabilitation centre where Cox is a supervisor. Cox has been drawn to raptors since she was a child, and she watches Ichabod with fascination. One day, crab-walking into Ichabod's cage to deliver a dead quail for dinner, Cox hears a noise behind her and turns to find herself "looking into eyes that could see a fish from a mile in the sky." Ichabod's eyes are bright and curious and the colour of brown sugar-and Cox is hooked.
Conversations with an Eagle is full of lore about the bald eagle, North America's most dramatic raptor. Many of us have admired eagles as they soar high overhead, their wingspans regularly stretching seven feet or more. But few people come within breathing distance of these magnificent birds. In its depiction of how two very different creatures managed to form an enduring bond, this book is the next best thing to being there yourself.

262 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[DeB · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good friend offered this to me, as a piece of her heart, and I quickly understood her deep bond with the memoir, the eagle Ichabod who seemed beyond redemption and the incredible efforts on the part of Brenda Cox, who put so much of herself into the rehabilitation of injured birds of prey. Today, we are eager to see ourselves as rescuers of the difficult, those animals who need to be “rehomed”, but Cox was ahead of her time, and certainly poetic in describing her almost magical relationship with animals and the natural world.

A beautiful, almost heartbreaking book... and immensely satisfying.

[Rhonda Fransoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful story! I really enjoyed learning more about the behavior of eagles and the undeniable bond that exists between people and all living creatures.

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this heartwarming true story Conversations with an Eagle by Brenda Cox, Brenda volunteered at O.W.L. (Orphaned Wild Life) Recovery Centre to earn a semesters worth of student loans while attending university. She ends up falling in love with an eagle that has come to the centre and has been deemed unreleasable. The eagle is very dangerous and unpredictable, but that doesn’t turn her away from the challenge of trying to glove train this eagle known as Ichabod. By glove training the eagle, it will give it a chance to stay at O.W.L., if her attempt doesn’t work than the eagle will have to be euthanized because no one else will enter her enclosure. This put a lot of pressure on Brenda knowing that the decision on whether the eagle lived or died was on her shoulders.

Conversations with an Eagle was not a very suspenseful book, and was not a page turner. I actually found it fairly boring at times and it took me a while to finish reading it. I did like the overall story though, but it’s probably a book that I won’t read again.

The writing within the book was good quality, there was a lot of detail, description, and emotion. There is not much that the author could’ve done better because it was a true story so she was just telling it as it was, and I respect that.

I think that a potential audience for this book would be other wildlife rehabilitators. They could probably all connect and relate to this story and it may give them some helpful tips if they are going through a similar situation at their centre. Another group that I would recommend this to would be falconers or people looking to pursue falconry.

Overall the book was good but like I said I probably wouldn’t pick it up again. I would not recommend it to everyone unless they had an interest in falconry or wildlife rehabilitation. Brenda’s determination and all of the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears she put into helping the eagle was very inspiring.