BOOK REVIEW: Of Birds and Snails

Drew Gallagher reviews local author Hilary Flower’s fascinating in-depth research of an endangered bird of prey in “The Kite and the Snail”.

THE KITE AND THE SNAIL

By Hilary Flower

Published by University Press of Florida (March 17, 2026)
Paperback $23.76

Reviewed by Drew Gallagher

Readers of The Free Lance-Star book pages might remember one name that appeared above more book reviews than any other reviewer in the history of the newspaper. That name was Dan Dervin, and he was an English professor at Mary Washington College for decades and wrote a number of books of his own. Sadly, Dr. Dervin passed away in 2024.

His daughter Hilary Flower followed her father into higher education and is a professor of environmental studies at Eckerd College in Florida. She has also followed her father into book writing with The Kite and the Snail, which proves to be a fascinating read on the near extinction of a little-known bird of prey, the Everglade snail kite.

Flower, a graduate of James Monroe High School, was first struck by the distinctive markings of the bird and was then captured by its nearly complete disappearance from the Florida wetland for which it is named. In short, there was a time, not long ago, where scientists such as Flower were worried that the snail kite would go the way of the dodo.

In The Kite and the Snail, Flower pursues the story of the snail kite with a persistence that borders on obsession which results in a deeply researched book that couches the snail kite as a bird of mystery even though its presence today has nearly tripled in the last 20 years to a population of over 2,000, which is still dangerously low.

Flower finds, through research and interviews, that the decline of the snail kite was tied closely to the demise of the Florida apple snail which made up the majority of the kites’ diet. With its chief food source gone, the bird had to adopt its diet which was not going well until an invasive snail, similar to the apple snail, reached central Florida waterways and the kite had its food source back except for one glaring problem—the invasive snail was bigger and its size made the snail more difficult to transport and access for the kite. What happened next would have made Charles Darwin nod knowingly.

The snail kite appeared to evolve in a matter of months by developing a longer beak to access the snail meat and a broader wingspan that allowed the kites to carry the snails back to their nests without dropping them. Evolutionists were struck at the swiftness of these adaptations. (In one of those moments of literary serendipity that book reviewers live for, I was watching a PBS special on birds while taking a break from Flower’s book and one of the birds highlighted in the special was the snail kite for evolving—seemingly overnight.)

I have reviewed a lot of books in my lifetime, but this is the first time that I’ve ever had to withhold the vital information regarding the evolution of the Everglade snail kite so as not to spoil one of the central findings of this book. Suffice it to say, it’s a remarkable bit of science that, well, even got the attention of PBS and should get the attention of anyone interested in Florida’s ongoing encroachment on the environment or generally in birds.

Flower’s writing is engaging and enthusiastic (her father might have taken issue with her overuse of exclamation points), and that enthusiasm is infectious. What Flower’s father would not have taken issue with is this exceptional book written by his daughter. The amount of research and the number of graphics, many drawn by the author, is the equal of the quality of the writing. As construction and environmental changes continue to threaten the snail kite, the fate of this bird of prey still hangs in the balance. But with advocates and educators like Flower writing on its plight, the chances of this unique bird’s survival are much improved.

Drew Gallagher is a freelance writer residing in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is the second-most-prolific book reviewer and first video book reviewer in the 136-year history of the Free Lance-Star Newspaper. He aspires to be the second-most-prolific book reviewer in the history of FXBG Advance.

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