Be More Bird

Name: Be More Bird
Price: 34.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9780008761523

Life Lessons from a Hawk

Candida Meyrick

$34.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

William Collins
29 January 2026

Autobiography: general; True stories: discovery, historical & scientific; Animals & society; Birds (ornithology); Field sports: fishing, hunting, shooting

‘A small masterpiece, written with heart, self-belief and wisdom. Wonderful!’ PAUL THEROUX

A true story of Bird and writer Candida Meyrick, set on Anglesey – and a fable for us all to find a way to fly.

The twelve-week-old Harris Hawk, Sophia Houdini Whitewing – aka Bird – is trained over the following months by the author and her children to be most herself: a skilled hunter and dazzling aerial gymnast, whose flights enrapture the family and set the author on a deepening love affair with life on the wing.

Working with her Harris Hawk over the following years reveals a new world: confronting mortality daily, moving through a liminal landscape, part sky-, part earth-bound. And every day’s hunting brings a new life-lesson. Bird opens up a way of being that is everything the author most longs to be: courageous, compassionate, independent, full of joy – free as a bird.

Be More Bird charts this deepening relationship between bird and woman, set in one of Britain’s wildest landscapes. It reveals the subtle dynamic possible between human and bird, illuminating the ancient, worldwide art of falconry and its urgent relevance for the modern mind: the importance of untethering our souls and belief-systems and re-establishing a connection with the wilder world.

Structured around a series of ‘life lessons', Be More Bird transports readers into the wildness hidden within themselves and to think profoundly about our connections with nature and our lives.

Be More Bird is a true story, still unfolding, of a wild predator who by choice flies in partnership with a woman as her earth-bound helper. Bird crosses boundaries: between species, cultures, sky and earth. In this way, Be More Bird is a fable for our times.

Dare to be more. Be more Bird.

By: Candida Meyrick
Imprint: William Collins
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 227mm, Width: 159mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 390g
ISBN: 9780008761523
ISBN 10: 0008761523
Pages: 198
Publication Date: 29 January 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Be More Bird is Candida Meyrick’s first work of non-fiction. She has published six previous novels under the pen name Candida Clark and written journalism, short fiction and poetry. She has restored a five-acre historic walled garden and founded the award-winning botanical drinks business, Positive Potions, and the popular wellness destination, The Retreat, New Forest.