The Grassland Queen

A naturalist’s lyrical journey into the world of an endangered community of birds and the vanishing grasslands that sustain them

An elegant shorebird with a rounded body and an improbably elongated bill, the long-billed curlew is a highly intelligent bird that mates for life. There aren’t many curlews left, but those that remain undertake stunning migrations from summer grasslands to coastal and wetland wintering grounds, returning to find one another again. With their diverse habitat needs, these singular birds highlight the importance of critical but increasingly endangered grassland ecosystems and have become an emblem of the formidable challenges that all birds face today.

Priyanka Kumar has tracked the curlew over many years in New Mexico, the Great Plains, and the Great Basin, growing increasingly concerned about the fate of the grassland bird community. In this uniquely personal book, Kumar brings the curlew’s poignant story to life in an innovative narrative that weaves the bird’s on-the-ground perspective with her own. The result is a rich immersion into the ecology of North American grasslands that provides an eye-opening look at how keystone animals such as prairie dogs and bison keep this iconic ecosystem open for ground-nesting birds such as long-billed curlews, mountain plovers, and upland sandpipers.

Blending pioneering fieldwork with vivid storytelling and the latest science, The Grassland Queen uncovers the hidden drama at the heart of an imperiled ecosystem, revealing the fierce love of long-billed curlews for their family and the sustained love of a lifelong naturalist for her “Zen bird.”