Last of the Curlews

by Fred Bodsworth

The Eskimo curlew, which once made its migration from Patagonia to the Arctic in flocks so dense that they darkened the sky, was brought to the verge of extinction by the wanton slaughter of game-hunters.

Following the doomed search of a solitary curlew for a female of its kind, Fred Bodsworthâ s novel is a haunting indictment of manâ s destruction of the natural world.

Genres: Nature, Birds, Fiction, Canada, Natural History, 20th Century, Ecology

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Fred Bodsworth was born in Port Burwell, Ontario. He has worked in tobacco fields and on tow tugs. He now lives in Toronto. He was a reporter for the St. Thomas Times-Journal from 1940-43; reporter and editor for The Toronto Star from 1943-47; staff writer for Maclean's from 1947-55, and a freelance magazine writer, nature writer, and novelist since then. He was president of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists from 1964-67. He was also an organizer and leader of numerous worldwide ornithology tours and has contributed to numerous anthologies.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depressing, heart-breaking, and an infuriating (but oh so very much important, necessary and for 1963 impressively modern) massive indictment of us, of humans, and especially and in particular of those of us who hunt not for sustenance (for food) and survival but who for sport, for willful destruction and whatever else indiscriminately and callously slaughter (or have slaughtered in the past) thousands upon thousands of in this case Eskimo Curlews (but the very same same could and should be said with regard to the Great Auk, the Labrador Duck, the Passenger Pigeon, the Carolina Parakeet and so on and so on) until the species is either completely extinct or in such dire straits that long-term survival is likely impossible, I cannot really say that I have all that much personally enjoyed reading Fred Bodswoth's Last of the Curlews but that I am indeed very much glad to have read the book (even if it did continuously and repeatedly bring both tears of passionate sadness and intense raging anger to my eyes).

For while the Eskimo Curlew might yet not be totally extinct, even with sporadic supposed sightings over the past decades, it is still considered by most scientists and ornithologists so critically endangered that it might as well be extinct (and indeed, my own supplemental research online post my perusal of Last of the Curlews does in fact and very sadly show rather stridently that even recent reputed sightings of Eskimo Curlews need to be taken with a rather massive grain of salt, as for one, the birds might actually have been Whimbrels, which are very closely related to Eskimo Curlews, and for two, there most probably does not exist a sufficient number of the latter for the species to be viable, in other words, for the Eskimo Curlew to successfully mate and reproduce enough living and thriving offspring).

Highly recommended (but with the necessary caveat that Last of the Curlews is most definitely not in any manner and way pleasurable and comforting and that yes indeed, if kids are to be reading Last of the Curlews, parents and caregivers really should, really must make sure that the children reading or perhaps having Last of the Curlews read to them will actually be able to adequately cope and handle the depressing reality of the story, namely that the solitary male Eskimo Curlew featured by Fred Bodsworth as the main protagonist in Last of the Curlews indeed seemingly does end up as very probably being amongst the last of his species and that the mate he had found was callously shot and killed by an ignorant farmer and in my opinion for no reason whatsoever, as the farmer just seems to shoot at the birds out of what I for one really can only consider pure nasty random spite and hatred of and for the wild, of and for any bird that is not of the domesticated type).

[Alessia | Talee Letterarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

piccolo chiurlo mi manchi e ti voglio bene

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5-5/5

Questo libretto è un gioiello. Una prosa poetica meravigliosa, ma altrettanto straziante – mi ha profondamente commosso e toccato (sicuramente perché sfiora temi e valori a me cari).

Il libro alterna capitoli narrativi ad aggiornamenti scientifici che documentano come questo uccello, un tempo così diffuso, sia stato massacrato dai cacciatori fino a rischiare l’estinzione nella seconda metà del XIX secolo.

Sebbene il chiurlo eschimese potrebbe non essere ancora del tutto estinto, nonostante presunti avvistamenti sporadici negli ultimi decenni, è considerato tale dalla maggior parte degli scienziati e degli ornitologi, in quanto i presunti esemplari sono troppo pochi per garantire la sopravvivenza della specie.

Il protagonista è proprio quello che ufficialmente potrebbe essere stato l’ultimo esemplare di chiurlo eschimese, e narra un pezzetto importante di questa vita, la sua migrazione in terre più calde all’arrivare dell’inverno, il suo volo, spesso ai limiti delle forze, la sua solitudine.

Il testo si può considerare tanto un’elegia del chiurlo, ma allo stesso modo di tutti gli animali sterminati dall’uomo, quanto un’accusa nei nostri confronti, nei confronti degli esseri umani, e in particolare di coloro che cacciano non per sostentamento e sopravvivenza, ma per diletto a uccidere, per godere di morte e distruzione, massacrando indiscriminatamente e spietatamente migliaia e migliaia di esemplari, in questo caso di chiurli eschimesi.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5) A brief, austere account of an Eskimo curlew’s migration alongside other species, including golden plovers – a 55-hour nonstop flight from Labrador to Venezuela; three thousand miles traversed, only to turn back. Bodsworth emphasizes that the bird’s behavior is driven by instinct, not decisions. “A tenuous hope, part instinctive reason and part a shadowy form of reasoning, formed nebulously in the curlew’s brain. Was this the end of his lifelong quest for companions of his own kind?” The curlew briefly finds a female, but the title is a heads-up that the extinction theme is going to win out. This doesn’t really work as a novel. Though Bodsworth avoids the pitfall of anthropomorphism and writes with careful attention to geographical and ornithological detail, there’s only so much excitement one can wring out of the journey. Even in such a short work, I found the content repetitive and feel I would, perversely, have engaged more with nonfiction about the plight of the curlew.

[Rosemarie]

As I was reading this book about an extremely endangered species, the Eskimo curlew, I asked myself why those who slaughtered these birds by the thousands every year did not realize that their destructive acts could lead to the death of a species.
The story is told in a matter-of-fact way, with excellent illustrations and facts about the decline of this species.
The subject of the book is incredibly sad, and should serve as warning to help prevent the destruction of more species.

[SERENA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prosa meravigliosa. Ho apprezzato molto la scelta di non umanizzare gli animali, ma di raccontarli per quelli che sono i loro istinti innati e primordiali.
L'autore è riuscito a raccontare la migrazione del chiurlo come fosse un romanzo inserendo, al tempo stesso, informazioni di carattere ornitologico creando un mix armonioso.
Divorato.

[Brenda Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was around eleven years old and I am quite certain it contributed to the path my life has taken and the person I am today. It's been about 25 years and I would love to read it again.

[Sonia Di Pietra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"ma quando l’ultimo esemplare di una specie di esseri viventi cessa di respirare, un altro cielo e un’altra terra devono passare prima che uno così possa esistere di nuovo." con questo esergo si apre un libro in cui l'atto migratorio viene descritto come il conflitto che il chiurlo (uno dei pochi esemplari rimasti) deve superare per arrivare alla stagione riproduttiva (sempre nel caso in cui incontri un altro esemplare della specie) . In questa odissea compiuta dal nostro protagonista ci potrebbe venire la malsana idea di rispecchiarci , perché alla fine tutti hanno qualcosa contro cui lottare e farlo da soli rende il tutto più pesante , ma non cadete a picco nel banale , non possiamo capire ciò che stiamo distruggendo o almeno è questo quello che mi dico.

"Ma nel suo cervello minuscolo e rudimentale si era fatto strada un principio di ragionamento. Perché era sempre solo?"
"Il suo codice di comportamento istintivo, impiantato nella parte più profonda del cervello dai geni di innumerevoli generazioni, gli diceva solo cosa fare senza spiegargli perché."
"Un istinto cieco, millenario, compiva subconsciamente un’impresa che non era alla portata delle coscienze più sviluppate del mondo animale."
"Quel riconoscersi non implicava un ragionamento. Fu istantaneo e intuitivo."

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the sweetest books I've ever read.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone interesting in animals and conservation. But, beware, this is a big tear-jerker.

Every review I've read talked about the book's anthropomorphism. I actually think the book has very little anthropomorphism and it is very realistic and down to earth. The writer doesn't even talk things like the birds being in love and barely even mentions loneliness in the writings. The fact that the male leaves his dead mate mostly because the female isn't responding and goes right back to his usual frame of mind and instinct seems very realistic. There's no talk of mourning and wishing. This is in contrast to most of the fictionalized animal stories that I've read over the years where animals are said to be "in love" and "in mourning" in similar stories. Nor do the birds talk other than their calls unlike many modern animal stories.

The story is about a lone male Eskimo curlew, one of the last of his kind, perhaps THE last and his search for a mate. He is alone for most of his life, several years, migrating back and forth from the northern tundra to the southern Argentina and back and still no mate. Finally, a female finds him and they begin a long courtship and migration back to the north.

They court for several months and as nesting season gets closer and they get closer to their home, their passion grows ever stronger. They're within only a few hundred miles of their home when they stop on a farm to get something to eat. It is then that the female allows the male to mate for their first and last time. While in the act of love, a farmer shoots at them, hitting the female. She doesn't die right away and they fly off far away from the farm before she weakens and is forced to land. Before doing so, she makes her final call, a loving sound, before landing on the ground. The male stays with her, trying to encourage her to leave and finish the migration. However, she eventually is not responsive and he leaves her, returning to his home. Again, he is alone, defending his territory and preparing it for a female, whom his instincts say, will come.

So close, but not enough. Finally, he has a mate and one that's ready for a family and now she's gone. It took him 5 years to get to this point, he may not live another 5 years to see another opportunity.

I recommend this book for adults and children 10 and over.

Though I bought my own copy, this book is available to read in Open Library. My public library didn't have this book and I would definitely recommend that they order it.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a very quick read from the perspective of one of the last remaining eskimo curlews. Covering a single year, the book's brevity keeps things simple and memorable. I really enjoyed migrating with the curlew along every step of its remarkable migration south and north again, as the powerful extinct flyer chasing the midnight sun. The chapters are peppered with snippets from ornithological journals and historical accounts describing the once awe-inspiring abundance of the eskimo curlew and its lamentable overharvest. Like the story of the passenger pigeon, this super-abundant resource depended on large population sizes, so intense hunting pressure caused the entire species to crash. Hard. One wouldn't expect a story about an extinct species to be cheery, and its not, but it does make me grateful that we are now (somewhat) more aware of wildlife as a finite natural resource that requires careful management. I think Bodsworth overdid himself a tad on his efforts against anthropomorphizing his curlew- he really stresses that the bird does not have emotions and its actions are all instinct. While that point seemed a bit repetitive, it does emphasize how fixed instincts can limit a single individual's ability to adapt to a dramatically changed situation. When humans are involved, evolution can have a hard time keeping up... and then it's too late.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe after the years I spent involved in a field naturalist club in Southern Ontario, the summers I worked in a provincial park or the term I worked for the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (now Ontario Nature) that I never heard of Fred Bodsworth or this book.
I think I'd have to say it is one of the best pieces of natural heritage writing I've ever read, truly accessible and enlightening (if sad). It's easy enough for an older child to read but interesting enough to hold an adult.
If you want to learn about (a) why species conservation matters, (b) bird migration, or (c) shorebirds this book is for you. If you want to know the current state of the Eskimo Curlew, now known as the Northern Curlew, here's the current COSEWIC report: http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual...

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this short little book last night. What a little gem. So many thoughts came to mind reading it and I learnt a lot concerning flight and the arduous life of migrating birds.

The book has story chapters interspersed with updates from bird protection and scientific societies recording how this once abundant bird had been slaughtered to possible extinction in the later half of the 19th century. The art work was good but I would have liked a map showing the journey of the Eskimo Curlew and the areas of trade winds and ocean currents. Otherwise, a real little gem which is getting a 5 from me based on others of its genre. Good writing, informative and engaging.

[Mary Jane Hele · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time best books. So sad. It takes away my hope for our survival.

[Tiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictitious story that followed an Eskimo Curlew from the Arctic all the way to very southern South America in search of food and a mate. With no reliable sightings since 1987, it is thought that this bird is probably extinct, so this short book was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The following is a cut and paste from Wikipedia:

"The Eskimo curlew (Numenius borealis), also known as northern curlew, is a species of curlew in the family Scolopacidae. It was one of the most numerous shorebirds in the tundra of western Arctic Canada and Alaska. Approximately two million birds were then killed per year in the late 1800s. As there has not been a reliable sighting since 1987 or a confirmed sighting since 1963, the Eskimo curlew is considered Critically Endangered or possibly extinct. The bird was about 30 cm (12 in) long and fed mostly on insects and berries."

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il naturalista e giornalista canadese Fred Bodsworth racconta ne “L’ultimo dei chiurli” le gesta di questo incredibile uccello, ormai praticamente estinto o sul procinto di esserlo.

Il chiurlo eschimese, che differisce dal chiurlo minore e dal piccolo chiurlo per grandezza e colore, è un pennuto con la caratterista di essere particolarmente pavido, elemento che non l’ha aiutato di certo nel mantenimento della specie. Questa sua caratterista lo ha reso un perfetto bersaglio per cacciatori e bracconieri che lo cacciavano sia per il gusto di uccidere che per farlo finire in un piatto da portata.

In questo libricino da poco più di cento pagine osserviamo l’arrivo del chiurlo eschimese nell’Artico in attesa della venuta della sua compagna per consumare la stagione degli amori, ma lei non giungerà mai e il chiurlo sarà costretto a ripartire verso il Venezuela. Da quel momento si susseguiranno varie vicende che coinvolgeranno il nostro protagonista e altri uccelli migratori, ma non aggiungiamo altro per non guastavi la lettura.

“L’ultimo dei chiurli” è un piccolo, tenerissimo romanzo che ha la caratteristica di spezzare il cuore, inducendo il lettore a provare compassione per questo pacifico animale che lotta in maniera istintiva contro la natura e l’uomo. Non possiamo fare a meno di pensare a quanta cattiveria ed egoismo possa esprimere l’essere umano per distruggere una specie vivente così remissiva. In queste pagine apprendiamo meglio non solo alcune interessantissime nozioni di ornitologia, ma specialmente la forza di volontà e la voglia di vivere spontanea che vige nel regno animale.

[Viviana · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Incantata da come l’autore sia riuscito a creare questa sintesi tra la scienza e la narrativa, con una prosa molto bella e scorrevole ma allo stesso tempo estremamente rigorosa nella materia di pertinenza. Bodsworth sottolinea molte volte che nel chiurlo non c’è ragionamento né emotività , tuttavia è impossibile non emozionarsi per la sua avventura e non arrabbiarsi con la razza umana che ha causato la fine di tante specie. Descrizione dei paesaggi meravigliosa.

[Peter Herrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiction, then facts compelled me to read this book as fast as a Curlew flys during migration. I was born 100 years too late to witness the awesomeness described in this book but it’s never too late to learn the lessons that would have kept the Eskimo Curlew alive.

[Fernando Medrano Martínez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bonito y triste relato de cómo fue la posible extinción de este zarapito...

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a reality check and isn't a feel good ending but it serves as a call to action to do what we can to preserve what we have.

[Stefano Menichini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fra i racconti più tristi che si possano leggere, “L’ultimo dei chiurli” è la storia inventata, ma verosimile, dell’ultimo chiurlo eschimese avvistato nei cieli americani.
Bodsworth, naturalista dilettante che si spera venga ulteriormente tradotto in Italia, racconta la quotidianità di un uccello che non ha mai visto un esemplare consimile, e che attende (inutilmente?) una femmina della propria specie per riprodursi.
Mentre si vola insieme a quest’uccello dalla tundra canadese alle pampas, se ne apprezzano le qualità anatomiche (è piccolo, veloce e molto resistente) e l’eroismo (compie inevitabilmente da solo la trasvolata, mosso esclusivamente dall’istinto). Nel mezzo dei capitoli, l’autore inserisce alcuni strazianti resoconti di società naturalistiche che tra fine Ottocento e inizio Novecento registrano come l’azione dell’uomo abbia determinato l’estinzione di questa specie, una volta così numerosa da oscurare il cielo, letteralmente a colpi di fucile.
Un racconto breve dal finale straziante, tradotto in un non meno straziante cartone animato da Hanna-Barbera.

[Elvira Vicidomini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo piccolo e breve libro ci accompagna con delicatezza nelle avventure degli ultimi superstiti — due soli individui — della specie, ormai dichiarata estinta, del chiurlo eschimese.

È un saggio dettagliato, scrupoloso e al contempo accessibile a chiunque. Ci guida, con mano gentile, attraverso i giorni turbolenti dell’ultimo dei chiurli, con il quale ci ritroviamo inaspettatamente in profonda empatia.

Scopriamo, pagina dopo pagina, di condividere con questa creatura molto più di quanto avremmo potuto immaginare: perché la natura, in fondo, è una sola, e ci avvolge tutti con la stessa silenziosa, fragile bellezza.

[Tim Thrailkill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last of the Curlews had elevated itself to the top of the "soft science" list of books to be read so I devoted a couple of hours reading it along with the introduction, the epilogue and Murray Gell-Mann's afterword.

Much of the arguments over the environment today focus on the bigger focus issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, mining, deforestation and similar themes. Personally the grand scale with which the planetary weather seems to cycle makes it hard to see the ultimate consequences of mankind's influence although I have little doubt that it is profound indeed.

Environmental mantras of earlier years are much less prominent. Of these, species protection has been far less prominent. Destruction of habit and population collapse if a species are far more demonstrably an effect if mankind's burgeoning population and exploitation of natural assets. The Last of the Curlews is a very well written and accessible story on this aspect of our endangered environment.

The author has journalistic credentials and his free writing style reveals this. Others have commented on the anthropological viewpoint in the work but this is no distraction to me. In the end, the fascination I have with how nature has selected such beautiful diversity to manifest is wondrous and the book compellingly engages the reader and reveals the true beauty of life.

You don't need to particularly enjoy science to enjoy Last of the Curlews. It's a short read and free of jargon. It's a book worth the time to read it and well worth remembering how important it is to protect the habitats if the next little creature which development threatens. Live in harmony with nature, so no more Curlews will need to be written.

[LindaN · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this small book is a gem. The author relates the imagined life of one of the last Eskimo curlews, including physical description, habits, and migration experience. (There is some anthropomorphism.) While the author expresses the hope that the species may be hanging on by a thread, he admits that the curlew needs the large flocks to survive, and those are gone forever. Included is information on other North American species driven to extinction--Carolina parakeet, passenger pigeon. Although this is a sad book, it is filled with wonder and admiration for those creatures who inhabit the earth but who so often are not observed or recognized by us, and who can disappear so quickly. This is a powerful and thought-provoking book.

[Bob Wernerehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, short, easy, read. Although a very sad story, it is so important for us to learn how our ravenous resource-extracting culture pillaged the once enormous population of these lovely birds driving yet another species to extinction. I knew about the passenger pigeon. It was news to me that this bird went extinct about the same time, although a few stragglers held on longer. The writing style is unusual in that it is in the third person, from the point of view of the imaginary last curlew. It may seem overly anthropomorphic to some, but the author manages to turn this style into a very informative narrative that draws the reader into the story. How these birds managed such long migratory routes is truly incredible.

[Carole Giangrande · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this novella. It's a gripping fictional account of a bird's struggle to migrate and to find a mate, and it accomplishes a feat of empathy worthy of the best practitioners of the novella form. Bodsworth doesn't treat the bird as a little person with feathers and he doesn't preach about destruction of the environment. What he does do is allow us to feel for the curlew because we humans share its striving both for a sexual partner and for group affiliation. It's beautiful, sad and extremely well-written. Also reviewed on my blog which may be found on my Profile page, or http://carolesbooktalk.wordpress.com/... under "Lost and Found: Bodsworth's Classic Novella."

[Norma Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about the extinction of yet another species, the Eskimo Curlew bird. I thought his depiction of a lone bird and his arduous flight are very real and personal, coupled with his desire to find a mate. It is indeed a sad tale and another blight upon the race of mankind. Destruction of the earth or its species will probably go on until the end of this earth as we know it. The more we can conserve and protect its resources, will only serve to make us a better people. The book was written by Fred Bodsworth and I bought it because he wrote my favorite book, "The Strange One". I am not disappointed.

[Karima · Rating 5 out of 5]

A conservation classic. A fictionalized account of one year in the life of an eskimo curlew. This is the type of book I would hope would be on the required reading list for teenagers (maybe 9th grade?). It reminds me of books that I read as a high schooler (not required) that helped mold my life.
Here are several that come to mind:
SILENT SPRING by Rachel Carson
THE JUNGLE by Upton Sinclair
JOHNNY GET YOUR GUN by Dalton Trumbo
THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES by Jean Giono
I encourage you, and the young people in your life, to read this gem.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend let me borrow this so I don't actually own it. I will pick it up someday cause it is one I would love to read again. The book tells the story of a Curlew, a bird of endangered species struggling to find a mate in a world where he may be the last of his kind. There are happy and sad moments in his story. I loved how the author really personalized the bird. In many ways you can relate with the bird if you've ever struggled with times of loneliness.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

Travelling, wings heavy with snow, in and out of heat and storms for days, the Eskimo Curlew's migration is impressive. This is a novel against the horrors of extinction, a plea for the last of the curlews. It is written with such pathos. The winged narrative will stay with the reader long after the flight has ended. For aspiring ornithologists this is a must read, and for all those interested in preserving endangered species.