Prominent Portland, Oregon, birders Jed and Lexi Miller hatch an illegal scheme to import endangered birds for their wealthy friends. For her 50th birthday, Lexi wants a Cherry-Throated Tanager, a bird she saw on a trip to a remote Brazilian rainforest with her anthropologist father. One of only 25 in existence costs $1 million.

Jed won't settle for less for his 50th. His sights are set on James Audubon's Birds of America, a collection of bird paintings—including images of nine extinct birds—from the early 1800s, which sells for $12 million at auction. When a bookseller dies, and a rare book room curator turns up murdered, the FBI and Portland Police race to prevent more deaths and bring those responsible to justice. Bird Veterinarian and Angel of Mercy Jim Briggs, who finds himself squeezed in the middle as the case unfolds, is the one person who can stop the exotic bird poaching and save the species.