Beginning with an ascent of a 200-foot-tall Douglas-fir with a bird biologist, author Marina Richie leads us from her home in Central Oregon into the ancient forests of Cascadia. Marina collaborated with researchers at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, including Dr. Matthew Betts and graduate student Nina Ferrari, whose bird research takes her into the forest canopy. Birds are guides to intricate and imperiled communities thriving at every level, from understory to midstory to overstory. They steer us to cool havens within multilayered, centuries-old groves that are critical refugia in a time of climate crisis. Their songs and flights show us what we must protect for the future of threatened birds, forests, and humankind. A narrative of perception change, memoir, and kinship, Feathered Forest is a soaring ode to birds and wild trees.
Book: “Feathered Forest: Aloft with Birds in Ancient Trees” will be released September 8, 2026. Books can be pre-ordered at https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/827850/feathered-forest-by-marina-richie/
The book will be featured in a free event at the OSU PRAx center on October 9. https://prax.oregonstate.edu/events/author-event-marina-richie-feathered-forest