There is a subliminal draw to things that we believe are scarce and/or difficult to obtain, observe, or experience, and birders are often intoxicated by this chase. This book’s cover photo of a breeding-plumaged Spoon-billed Sandpiper, arguably one of the world’s most recognizable and charismatic critically endangered birds, is nicely chosen to grab the reader’s attention. Within, the text details the great conservation efforts that are keeping some the world’s most endangered bird species from extinction, as well as a few of the ones that didn’t make it.