A world on the wing : the global odyssey of migratory birds / Scott Weidensaul.
Material type: TextPublisher: New York, NY : W. W. Norton & Company, [2021]Copyright date: ©2021Edition: First editionDescription: 385 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations, maps ; 25 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780393608908
- 0393608905
- 598.156/8 23
- QL698.9 .W455 2021
Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | URL | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Bedford Public Library Non-Fiction | Non-Fiction | 598.1568 WEI | More online. | Available | 32500001814996 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
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--how billions of birds circumnavigate the globe, flying tens of thousands of miles between hemispheres on an annual basis--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 through a form of quantum entanglement that made Einstein queasy. 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 from Pulitzer Prize finalist Scott Weidensaul also introduces readers to those scientists, researchers, and bird lovers trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges.
Drawing on his own extensive fieldwork, in A World on the Wing Weidensaul unveils with dazzling prose the miracle of nature taking place over our heads.
Includes bibliographical references (pages [353]-373) and index.
Prologue -- Spoonies -- Quantum leap -- We used to think -- Big data, big trouble -- Hangover -- Tearing up the calendar -- Aguiluchos redux -- Off the shelf -- To hide from God -- Eninum -- Epilogue.
"An exhilarating exploration of the science and wonder of global bird migration. In the past two decades, our understanding of bird migration-the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans or fly above the highest mountains, to go weeks without sleep, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch-has exploded. Scientists have made astounding discoveries: certain species, such as thrushes, can avoid dehydration over long flights by "drinking" from their own muscles and organs, extending their flight range by almost thirty percent, or more than two thousand miles, and while we've known for decades that birds are somehow able to orient themselves using earth's magnetic field, a new leading theory is that they do so through a form of quantum entanglement. In A World on the Wing, author and researcher Scott Weidensaul shares these and other revelations to convey both the wonder of bird migration and its global sweep, taking the reader from the shores and mudflats of the Yellow Sea in China, to the remote mountains of northeastern India, and to the salt lakes in southern Cyprus in the Mediterranean. Weidensaul also introduces those trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other rising challenges"-- Provided by publisher.