Callum becomes friends with Iona, a practically feral classmate who has discovered an osprey, thought to be gone from Scotland, on Callum's family farm, and they eventually share the secret with others, including Jeneba who encounters the same bird at her home in Gambia.
Examines the nests and nest building habits of eleven birds common to the continental United States, as well as unusual nests that have been built when normal nesting materials were in short supply.