Claire possesses the amber eye color of a great horned owl, a color common to animals but not to people. Though she hides her eyes behind tinted lenses, her seriously pale skin and white hair are all too visible, a torment for someone in the sixth grade. But as a birder, Claire can relax when out in the woods searching for her feathered friends-the red-bellied woodpecker, wild turkey, barred owl, and many others. And to her the birds reliably come. In fact, whatever bird she wants to see will arrive as if by appointment. The question is, why?
Claire suspects some mystical explanation, especially after meeting a crusty old man who roams the woodlands with his pet chicken. Known by locals as the "Chicken Man," Jerry introduces Claire to a legendary red-tailed hawk with whom she forms a fierce bond, twice saving the raptor from a trophy-hunting scoundrel. But the menace of this man reaches into her daily life through his son, a school bully. Billy taunts Claire for her odd pigmentation and undermines her new (and only) friendship with Victor, who rides her school bus. In time, Claire enlists Victor's help to discover the cause of her strange abilities, a quest that takes the pair from Pennsylvania (book one) to Arkansas (book two) and finally to Ireland (book three), where the mystical truth is revealed.