An Eternity of Eagles: The Human History of the Most Fascinating Bird in the World

213 Pages·2012·14.791 MB·English

by  Stephen J. Bodio

6.187 × 9.5 spinE: 0.687 Flaps: 3.75

An
Bodio
“Through Bodio’s insights we get a strange glimpse of these other
EtErnity
minds that share the earth with us: ‘I believe that animals—birds and
mammals anyway—do think, but they think in ways that might seem

alien and frightening to us if we could inhabit their minds.’ We cannot A

EaglEs
inhabit their minds, but we can appreciate the gulf of distance of
n
between our two species, brilliantly illustrated here.”

E
—From the Introduction by Annie Proulx, author of
The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain t
E
“There is so much brute wisdom, sophisticated science, blood magic, and
flat out terrific prose in Stephen Bodio’s writing that he makes me think of r
From one of the foremost authors and naturalists
Stephen Bodio lives in new Mexico and has Merlin, educating Arthur by turning him into other animals for a while.
in the country comes a compulsively readable
n
written five books. he was on the masthead of An Eternity of Eagles is worthy of its great subject, which is not
natural and social history of the most fascinating
such publications as English Literary Renaissance only eagles but the earthbound mortals who marvel at them.”
bird in the world—the eagle—with an introduction
i
and Gray’s Sporting Journal, and his work has
—Jonathan Rosen, author of t by annie proulx. author stephen J. Bodio traces
appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Smithsonian,
The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature our love-hate relationship with these “living
Sports Illustrated, the LA Times Magazine, and
y dinosaurs,” from neolithic rock art and native

literary quarterlies. an excerpt of his book Eagle
american religion through the practices of Kazakh
“Throughout the world we stand in awe of eagles and Bodio’s exciting
Dreams, about riding with the Kazakh horsemen
o falconers who use them to hunt wolves, all the
chapters provide the information on why we feel so. Along with a general
of Mongolia, was published in The Atlantic and f
way to contemporary art and popular culture. he
included in Frances Mayes’s anthology The Best sampling of the different species of eagles, the writer provides a thread of
E examines the natural history, evolution, and habits
American Travel Writing 2002. thought throughout that ties them intimately to our cultural history. With
of eagles, as well as such contemporary threats as
a sensitive combination of art (Vadim Gorbatov’s full paintings depicting a
habitat loss and pesticides.
hunting eagles as never before are truly breathtaking) and the writer’s easy-
g
An Eternity of Eagles is an abundantly illustrated
going and evocative style (a jungle-hunting Harpy eagle will ‘pluck sloths like
celebration of all things eagle, by a naturalist who
hairy fruit’) we are given a complete tour of the trajectory of these species in
l
has kept eagles himself and ridden with the eagle
our lives. Read and enjoy this book and gain new knowledge that will vastly
cover design by diana nuhn E tribes of central asia.
broaden your respect and understanding of these ascendant creatures.” 
cover photographs © Vadim gorbatov
T h h
author photograph by Elizabeth Frishman-Bodio —Tony Angell, artist, naturalist, and author s he uman isTory of The
m f B W
osT ascinaTing ird in The orld
lyons press is an imprint of s t E p h E n J . B o d i o
globe pequot press
guilford, connecticut lyons
introduction by anniE proulx
lyonspress.com prEss
6.187 × 9.5 spinE: 0.687 Flaps: 3.75

An
Bodio
“Through Bodio’s insights we get a strange glimpse of these other
EtErnity
minds that share the earth with us: ‘I believe that animals—birds and
mammals anyway—do think, but they think in ways that might seem

alien and frightening to us if we could inhabit their minds.’ We cannot A

EaglEs
inhabit their minds, but we can appreciate the gulf of distance of
n
between our two species, brilliantly illustrated here.”

E
—From the Introduction by Annie Proulx, author of
The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain t
E
“There is so much brute wisdom, sophisticated science, blood magic, and
flat out terrific prose in Stephen Bodio’s writing that he makes me think of r
From one of the foremost authors and naturalists
Stephen Bodio lives in new Mexico and has Merlin, educating Arthur by turning him into other animals for a while.
in the country comes a compulsively readable
n
written five books. he was on the masthead of An Eternity of Eagles is worthy of its great subject, which is not
natural and social history of the most fascinating
such publications as English Literary Renaissance only eagles but the earthbound mortals who marvel at them.”
bird in the world—the eagle—with an introduction
i
and Gray’s Sporting Journal, and his work has
—Jonathan Rosen, author of t by annie proulx. author stephen J. Bodio traces
appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Smithsonian,
The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature our love-hate relationship with these “living
Sports Illustrated, the LA Times Magazine, and
y dinosaurs,” from neolithic rock art and native

literary quarterlies. an excerpt of his book Eagle
american religion through the practices of Kazakh
“Throughout the world we stand in awe of eagles and Bodio’s exciting
Dreams, about riding with the Kazakh horsemen
o falconers who use them to hunt wolves, all the
chapters provide the information on why we feel so. Along with a general
of Mongolia, was published in The Atlantic and f
way to contemporary art and popular culture. he
included in Frances Mayes’s anthology The Best sampling of the different species of eagles, the writer provides a thread of
E examines the natural history, evolution, and habits
American Travel Writing 2002. thought throughout that ties them intimately to our cultural history. With
of eagles, as well as such contemporary threats as
a sensitive combination of art (Vadim Gorbatov’s full paintings depicting a
habitat loss and pesticides.
hunting eagles as never before are truly breathtaking) and the writer’s easy-
g
An Eternity of Eagles is an abundantly illustrated
going and evocative style (a jungle-hunting Harpy eagle will ‘pluck sloths like
celebration of all things eagle, by a naturalist who
hairy fruit’) we are given a complete tour of the trajectory of these species in
l
has kept eagles himself and ridden with the eagle
our lives. Read and enjoy this book and gain new knowledge that will vastly
cover design by diana nuhn E tribes of central asia.
broaden your respect and understanding of these ascendant creatures.” 
cover photographs © Vadim gorbatov
T h h
author photograph by Elizabeth Frishman-Bodio —Tony Angell, artist, naturalist, and author s he uman isTory of The
m f B W
osT ascinaTing ird in The orld
lyons press is an imprint of s t E p h E n J . B o d i o
globe pequot press
guilford, connecticut lyons
introduction by anniE proulx
lyonspress.com prEss
An
EtErnity
EaglEs
of

EternityofEagles_3pp_CS55.indd 1 7/13/12 10:53 AM
EternityofEagles_3pp_CS55.indd 2 7/13/12 10:53 AM
An
EtErnity
EaglEs
of

the Human History of the
Most Fascinating Bird in the World
stEpHEn J. Bodio
lyons press
guilford, Connecticut
an imprint of globe pequot press
EternityofEagles_3pp_CS55.indd 3 7/13/12 10:53 AM
Copyright © 2012 by stephen J. Bodio
all rigHts rEsErVEd. no part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher.
requests for permission should be addressed to globe pequot press, attn:
rights and permissions department, po Box 480, guilford, Ct 06437.
lyons press is an imprint of globe pequot press.
project editor: Heather santiago
layout: Maggie peterson
text design: Maggie peterson
library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication data is available on file.
isBn 978-0-7627-8022-8
printed in the United states of america
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
EternityofEagles_3pp_CS55.indd 4 7/13/12 10:53 AM
Table of ConTenTs
Introduction by Annie Proulx 1
Prologue 7
Chapter 1: Natural History 19
Chapter 2: Eagles of the Mind 63
Chapter 3: Eagles as Allies: Falconry 107
Chapter 4: Eagles as Enemies 151
Chapter 5: The Future of Eagles 175
Afterword by Sy Montgomery 193
Index 197
EternityofEagles_3pp_CS55.indd 5 7/13/12 12:46 PM
to the late aralbai of Bayaan olgii and the very much alive
lauren Mcgough of oklahoma, Mongolia, scotland, and
who knows where next: Berkutchis.
EternityofEagles_3pp_CS55.indd 6 7/13/12 10:53 AM
InTroduCTIon
By Annie Proulx
some decades ago i, with several other people, was involved with a
natural history writing program in Vermont, all of us trying to guide
makers of mud ball prose in their journey toward clarity and grace.
several of the instructors had rooms in the same building and shared
a common kitchen. at the end of the second day, i looked forward to
a cold drink on the porch while watching evening bats in the twilight.
i reached into the refrigerator’s grim little ice cube compartment
and pulled out a tray. instead of ice cubes the cavities contained an
assortment of moths, large and small. one was a luna moth, a creature
i had not seen since i was a child. Had they made their way into the
compartment during the weeks the refrigerator stood empty and
gaping? But then the kitchen door opened and a tousle-headed man
with glowing eyes came in.
“My moths!” he said to the ice cube tray, as one would say “my
long-lost twin brother!” it was my first meeting with steve Bodio,
whom i knew only from his essays in Gray’s Sporting Journal. i got
used to seeing him crouched by the screen door at night waiting for new
moth victims and to listening to monologues about startle patterns,
mimicry, and melanism. Before the session was over, i knew this ardent
biologist-naturalist a little better—a man who collected insects, raised
pigeons, and hunted with falcons and hawks; collected rare books
on the natural world; was vastly well read in history, paleontology,
archaeology, and climatology; knew about ancient horses, the history
and habits of the dog, and Egyptian mummification processes; could
quote from Buffon, Charles Wilkes, William Bartram, Wilfred thesiger,
and the authors of little-known treatises on gyrfalcons and eagles;
EternityofEagles_3pp_CS55.indd 1 7/13/12 10:53 AM
an eager talker on all subjects. years after i met him he contracted
malaria in Zimbabwe and of course developed “ . . . a fascination
with parasite evolution.” He was the kind of restlessly curious fellow
who might have ended up living with some remote tribe. in fact he
continued his examination of the world from a home base in one of
the emptier regions of new Mexico in a house full of books, bones,
dogs, and raptors and with a shady backyard mellifluous with his
extensive pigeon collection. Eventually i lost touch with Bodio, for
years depending on news from our mutual friends, louise and Bob
Jones, who always had a first-rate “Bodio story.”
Bodio learned something of grief when his wife Betsy died. “no
worst, there is none. pitched past pitch of grief . . . ”1 His beautiful
memorial book, Querencia (a reference to the “safe” place in the bull
ring where the beleaguered bull takes his stand), was only briefly
available before his amateur then-publisher decided bookstores were
part of a corrupt system and locked the copies away. only through the
help of Montana writer friends and lawyers was he able to regain the
copies and copyright. For several years after Betsy’s death he stumbled
around with various women until he met the extraordinary Elizabeth
adam (libby)—archaeologist, outward Bound guide, chef and caterer,
mountain climber, world traveler, musician.
Bodio’s passionate enthusiasm for animals and birds and his low
interest in careerism have led him occasionally into shoal waters, and
he has eked out a fingernail kind of living. He is a natural history writer
with an unquenchable desire to learn about the creatures that share the
planet with humans. Following his interests has come at the cost of a
decent income, partly because he is interested in such nonmainstream
subjects as animal behavior and hunting, cockfights, falconry, and
other blood sports in a time when people are increasingly estranged
from the natural world and the harsh lives of nonhuman creatures in
it; if it isn’t domesticated, it doesn’t count. as Bodio somewhat bitterly
1 gerard Manley Hopkins. “no Worst …,” Poems, 1918.
2 an EtErnity oF EaglEs
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