Just about the only thing more marvelous than spending time in the great outdoors is reading Sy Montgomery’s writing about the natural world. In dozens of books for adults and children, Montgomery effectively channels her curiosity, knowledge, and deep affection and respect for animals of all kinds. In her latest book, THE HAWK’S WAY, she turns her attention to some of the most mysterious creatures of all: hawks and other raptors.

In this slim volume, Montgomery spends time learning from people who have devoted their lives to working with raptors. These falconers are masters of their craft, but even with their deep understanding and skill, they are still likely to walk away from any given interaction bloodied and battered.

"THE HAWK’S WAY is a perfect gift for the nature lovers in your life, and it’s the ideal size to tuck in your backpack the next time you head out for a hike into the majesty and mystery of nature."

That is certainly one of the overarching themes of Montgomery’s writing about raptors. Unlike the sort of human/animal tolerance or even affection we see in our own pets or in movies like My Octopus Teacher (Montgomery has also written extensively about octopuses), hawks will never exhibit anything like fondness for humans, not even the ones they permit to be their hunting partners. For Montgomery, this realization --- that one can love another living creature while letting go of the hope or expectation of any kind of reciprocation --- requires a pretty radical shift in mindset, but one that is not entirely unwelcome:

“The ancient Greeks said there were four kinds of love… The highest form of love was called agape. This is a love untainted by expectations, a love without external reward…. In the Bible, agape came to stand for the love God has for His creation… Unlike all the other kinds of love, agape asks nothing in return. This is what a hawk can teach you: how to love like a god.”

In addition to comprehending what it means to love without reward, Montgomery --- as she spends more and more time with falconers and watches them hunt alongside their birds --- must contend with the bloodthirsty nature of falconry. Montgomery, who is a vegetarian, has to reset her own ethical parameters, which becomes a struggle, especially when she is offered the opportunity to formally apprentice with a falconer. I’ll let you read the book to learn if she decides to go through with it, but suffice it to say that her willingness to set aside her own ethical principles in order to hunt with a hawk further highlights the hawk’s wildness, its fundamental difference from humans.

Like Montgomery’s THE HUMMINGBIRDS’ GIFT, THE HAWK’S WAY is an adaptation of a chapter from her much longer 2010 book, BIRDOLOGY. Here she updates her text and adds a new introduction; the slim volume is also generously illustrated with color photographs of the birds and people whose stories fill its pages. THE HAWK’S WAY is a perfect gift for the nature lovers in your life, and it’s the ideal size to tuck in your backpack the next time you head out for a hike into the majesty and mystery of nature.