Return to the Sky

The Surprising Story of How One Woman and Seven Eaglets Helped Restore the Bald Eagle

De: Tina Morris

Narrado por: Tia Rider

Alone in a vast wildlife refuge with little direction and no experience, a Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology student found herself responsible for a project of historical importance—to bring the Bald Eagle back from near extinction.

In Return to the Sky, Tina Morris, one of the first women to engage in a raptor reintroduction program, shares her remarkable story that is as much about the human spirit as it is about birds of prey.

In the spring of 1975, on the eve of the US Bicentennial, Tina was selected to reintroduce Bald Eagles into New York State in the hope that the species could eventually repopulate eastern North America. Young and female in a male-dominated field, Tina was handed an assignment to rehabilitate a population that had been devastated by the effects of DDT. The challenges were prodigious—there was no model to emulate for a bird of the eagle’s size, for one—but Tina soon found that her own path to self-discovery and confidence-building was deeply connected with the survival of the species she was chosen to protect.

Ultimately, Tina spent two years playing “mother” to seven eaglets at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, east of Seneca Falls in New York. Driven by her passion, she discovered unknown reserves of patience, determination, and grit.

At a time when the mass extinction of bird species is a critical global topic, Return to the Sky reminds us how, with a mix of common sense, resilience, and resolve, humans can be effective stewards of the natural world.

©2024 Tina Morris (P)2024 Chelsea Green Publishing

Captivating

I discovered this book while at a Saw Mill River Audubon event in Chappaqua NY. It was announced that Tina would be a guest speaker at the organizations Annual Dinner Sunday April 6, 2025 at Travelers Rest in Millwood NY. As I was listening to Tina’s Journey read by Tia Rider I was captivated by the story of how she and her colleagues worked to Return the majestic bald eagle back into the wild . I got emotionally welling up with tears as she spoke about returning decades later to where she did her summer research in the two summers in 1976 and 1977. I look forward to meeting Tina in person in April .