Kai, a high-spirited young peregrine falcon on the cusp of adulthood is bored and lonely living in a remote outpost in the Katungu grassland with only his strict father, Tendai, for company. Forbidden from venturing beyond the Katungu Boundary, his suspicions that there must be more to life are confirmed when a saddle-billed stork named Gogo, her weaver bird co-pilot Tini, and recently newly hatched ducklings crash land into his nest.

From them, Kai learns that downriver is a bustling bird city called Zambezia with exciting opportunities for a talented flier such as himself, where Gogo and Tini are going.