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Science General

The Curse Of The Labrador Duck

My Obsessive Quest to the Edge of Extinction

by (author) Glen Chilton

Publisher
HarperCollins Canada
Initial publish date
Apr 2012
Category
General
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781443403948
    Publish Date
    Apr 2012
    List Price
    $11.99
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781554683628
    Publish Date
    Sep 2009
    List Price
    $29.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781554683635
    Publish Date
    Apr 2012
    List Price
    $22.99

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Description

Little is known about the Labrador Duck, which once populated eastern North America but has been extinct for more than a hundred years. Stuffed specimens are rare—only fifty-four are thought to exist. Even rarer is the kind of scientist who would travel around the globe more than three times in search of every last stuffed bird. And what about the curse? Everyone who has owned a particular specimen has come to a bad end.

Over the course of his epic journey, Chilton encountered a colourful flock of scientists, journalists and amateur ornithologists, not to mention a Scottish egg thief. His pursuit of the extinct species took him from the duck’s breeding habitat in Labrador to Europe and America as he searched museums and personal collections. He also endured numerous hangovers and narrowly avoided arrest in New York City, all leading up to his final pursuit of the last duck and his own part in the species’ many-feathered legacy.

The Curse of the Labrador Duck is a quest unlike any other, an impulsive journey around the planet in pursuit of a bird no one in our lifetime has seen alive or ever will again.

About the author

DR. GLEN CHILTON, professor emeritus at St. Mary's University College, Calgary, and adjunct professor at James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, is an internationally recognized ornithologist and behavioural ecologist, and the world's leading authority on the extinct Labrador Duck. His detective work for The Curse Of The Labrador Duck took him around the world the equivalent of 3.3 times. Chilton now resides in Australia.

Glen Chilton's profile page

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