The Search for the Rarest Bird in the World by Vernon RL Head

The Search for the Rarest Bird in the World (Jacana First Edition in Illustrated Dust Jacket)

A Birdwatcher's Expedition to Ethiopia in Search of the Nechisar Nightjar, Known Only from a Single Wing

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: The Search for the Rarest Bird in the World
• Author: Vernon RL Head
• Publisher: Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd, Auckland Park, South Africa
• Publication Date: 2014
• ISBN-13: 9781431410927
• Edition Details: First published 2014 by Jacana Media. Hardcover issue with printed dust jacket.
• Binding: Publisher's mustard-yellow cloth-covered boards with silver-foil lettering to the front, in a printed pictorial dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Medium-sized hardcover, roughly octavo, 244 pages.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
• Exterior / Boards: The mustard-yellow cloth boards carry silver-foil title and author lettering on the front. The spine is neatly bound and the boards appear clean and square.
• Interior: The text is clean, with no foxing or marks. The text block is tight and straight.
• The Dust Jacket: Present. The illustrated pictorial jacket in blue-green, showing a nightjar and an insect, is bright and clean with no tears. There is slight wear or creasing at the head of the spine. It is to be protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

The Search for the Rarest Bird in the World, published by Jacana in 2014, tells the story of a 2009 expedition to Ethiopia's Nechisar Plains. Vernon Head and three fellow birdwatchers set out to find the Nechisar Nightjar, a bird known only from a single wing collected from a dead individual on a road in 1990.

Head mixes detective-style searching with personal adventure, and the narrative moves between the field expedition and the puzzle of a species that no one has been able to confirm in life. Later in the book he reflects more broadly on what makes a bird rare.

The nightjar's status remains debated among ornithologists, which gives the account a lasting interest for readers of birding literature, African natural history and travel writing. A clean copy in its illustrated jacket suits the shelf of any birder or collector of Africana natural history.

Author Profile: Vernon Head

Vernon Head was born in Cape Town in 1967 and is an architect and environmentalist. He is also described as a conservationist and a dedicated birder, and has called himself a nightjar obsessive. The Search for the Rarest Bird in the World is his account of the Nechisar Nightjar expedition.

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