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Title details for A World on the Wing by Scott Weidensaul - Available

A World on the Wing

The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds

by Scott Weidensaul
Mike Lenz
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
In the past two decades, our understanding of the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch has exploded. What we've learned of these key migrations is nothing short of extraordinary. Bird migration entails almost unfathomable endurance, like a sparrow-sized sandpiper that will fly nonstop from Canada to Venezuela-the equivalent of running 126 consecutive marathons without food, water, or rest-avoiding dehydration by "drinking" moisture from its own muscles and organs, while orienting itself using the earth's magnetic field. Crossing the Pacific Ocean in nine days of nonstop flight, as some birds do, leaves little time for sleep, but migrants can put half their brains to sleep for a few seconds at a time, alternating sides-and their reaction time actually improves. These and other revelations convey both the wonder of bird migration and its global sweep, from the mudflats of the Yellow Sea in China to the remote mountains of northeastern India to the dusty hills of southern Cyprus. This breathtaking work of nature writing also introduces listeners to those scientists, researchers, and bird lovers trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    March 30, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781696603317
      • File size: 386261 KB
      • Duration: 13:24:42

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Migrating birds navigate from one end of the earth to the other, somehow knowing exactly where and when to stop for critical food sources. Narrator Mike Lenz captures the author's wonder and inquisitiveness as he follows godwits, hummingbirds, snowy owls, great knots, and many others on their journeys. The recovery of Swainson's hawks after the reduction of pesticide use in Argentina is a high point; the popularity of songbirds eaten as a delicacy in Costa Rica is a low point. And, of course, climate change is the biggest threat to these finely calibrated journeys. Although there are a few regrettable mispronunciations, Lenz is an enthusiastic and engaging guide who is as impressed by the avian feats and the advances in teeny transmitters as we are. A.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 18, 2021
      “In the past two decades we’ve realized how badly we have underestimated the simple physical abilities of birds,” suggests naturalist Weidensaul (Living on the Wind) in this remarkable look at global bird migration. “The world is changing around us,” he writes, and migrating birds are “our best and most compelling window” into those changes. To understand the “complexity of migratory ecology,” Weidensaul takes readers to Alaska’s Denali National Park, where he catches and tags thrushes; coastal Jiangsu Province in China, a critical way station for migratory shorebirds; and Cyprus, an island in the eastern Mediterranean “at the nexus of great migratory flyways connecting central Europe to Africa and the Middle East” that’s notorious for illegal bird trapping. Along the way, Weidensaul describes tracking technology, such as outdated radiotelemetry, and geolocators that weigh “barely half a gram.” He notes with urgency the consequences of climate change and urban development on migration patterns (brightly lit skyscrapers disorient migrating birds) while maintaining a sense of wonder about the birds’ efforts and abilities: “a migratory bird’s ability to traverse thousands of miles is perhaps the greatest physiological feat of all.” Bird enthusiasts and fans of nature writing shouldn’t miss this. Photos.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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