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Author: Scott Weidensaul
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393608913
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 383
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Book Description
New York Times Bestseller Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize A Library Journal Best Science and Technology Book of the Year An exhilarating exploration of the science and wonder of global bird migration. 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.
Author: Scott Weidensaul
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393608913
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 383
Get Book Here
Book Description
New York Times Bestseller Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize A Library Journal Best Science and Technology Book of the Year An exhilarating exploration of the science and wonder of global bird migration. 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.
Author: Scott Weidensaul
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 1509841040
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 368
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Book Description
‘A vaulting triumph of a book’ Isabella Tree, author of Wilding 'A master storyteller, Weidensaul communicates so much joy in the sheer act of witnessing and such exhilaration in the advances of the science behind what he sees that we are slow to grasp the extent of the ecological crisis that he outlines.' Observer Bird migration remains perhaps the most singularly compelling natural phenomenon in the world. Nothing else combines its global sweep with its inherent ability to engender wonder and excitement. The past two decades have seen an explosion in our understanding of the almost unfathomable feats of endurance and complexity involved in bird migration – yet the science that informs these majestic journeys is still in its infancy. Pulitzer Prize-shortlisted writer-ornithologist Scott Weidensaul is at the forefront of this research, and A World on the Wing sees him track some of the most remarkable flights undertaken by birds. His own voyage of discovery sees him sail through the storm-wracked waters of the Bering Sea; encounter gunners and trappers in the Mediterranean; and visit a forgotten corner of north-east India, where former headhunters have turned one of the grimmest stories of migratory crisis into an unprecedented conservation success. As our world comes increasingly under threat from the effects of climate change, these ecological miracles may provide an invaluable guide to a more sustainable future for all species, including us. This is the rousing and reverent story of the billions of birds that, despite the numerous obstacles we have placed in their path, continue to head with hope to the far horizon.
Author: Scott Weidensaul
Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 176098616X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 368
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Book Description
‘A vaulting triumph of a book' Isabella Tree, author of Wilding Bird migration remains perhaps the most singularly compelling natural phenomenon in the world. Nothing else combines its global sweep with its inherent ability to engender wonder and excitement. The past two decades have seen an explosion in our understanding of the almost unfathomable feats of endurance and complexity involved in bird migration – yet the science that informs these majestic journeys is still relatively in its infancy. Pulitzer Prize-shortlisted writer and ornithologist Scott Weidensaul is at the forefront of this cutting-edge research, and A World on the Wing sees him track some of the most remarkable flights undertaken by birds around the world. His own voyage of discovery sees him sail through the storm-wracked waters of the Bering Sea; encounter gunners and trappers in the Mediterranean; and visit a forgotten corner of northeast India, where former headhunters have turned one of the grimmest stories of migratory crisis into an unprecedented conservation success. As our world comes increasingly under threat from the effects of climate change, these ecological miracles may provide an invaluable guide to a more sustainable future for ourselves. This is the rousing and reverent story of the billions of birds that, despite the numerous obstacles we have placed in their path, continue to head with hope to the far horizon.
Author: Scott Weidensaul
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780865475915
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 436
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Book Description
Scott Weidensaul follows hawks over the Mexican coastal plains, Bar-tailed Godwits that hitchhike on gale winds 7,000 miles nonstop across the Pacific from Alaska to New Zealand, and the Myriad Songbirds whose numbers have dwindled so dramatically in recent years.
Author: Scott Weidensaul
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429931922
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 557
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Book Description
In 1953, birding guru Roger Tory Peterson and noted British naturalist James Fisher set out on what became a legendary journey-a one hundred day trek over 30,000 miles around North America. They traveled from Newfoundland to Florida, deep into the heart of Mexico, through the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, and into Alaska's Pribilof Islands. Two years later, Wild America, their classic account of the trip, was published. On the eve of that book's fiftieth anniversary, naturalist Scott Weidensaul retraces Peterson and Fisher's steps to tell the story of wild America today. How has the continent's natural landscape changed over the past fifty years? How have the wildlife, the rivers, and the rugged, untouched terrain fared? The journey takes Weidensaul to the coastal communities of Newfoundland, where he examines the devastating impact of the Atlantic cod fishery's collapse on the ecosystem; to Florida, where he charts the virtual extinction of the great wading bird colonies that Peterson and Fisher once documented; to the Mexican tropics of Xilitla, which have become a growing center of ecotourism since Fisher and Peterson's exposition. And perhaps most surprising of all, Weidensaul finds that much of what Peterson and Fisher discovered remains untouched by the industrial developments of the last fifty years. Poised to become a classic in its own right, Return to Wild America is a sweeping survey of the natural soul of North America today.
Author: Jonathan Elphick
Publisher: Struik Publishers
ISBN: 9781770074996
Category : Birds
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
A well-illustrated and comprehensive guide to bird migration, including the latest discoveries, and environmental and conservation concerns. Focusing on typical and interesting migrants, the book includes maps, photographs, calendars, fact files and more.
Author: Michael Stock
Publisher: University of Alberta
ISBN: 1772126446
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273
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Book Description
“My work as a scientist who studies bird parasites causes me to wonder about the hidden part of the drama unfolding before my eyes: the flying zoo that makes each bird what it is. As I gaze out at my favourite birds, I wonder what role their parasites have played in shaping their fascinating behaviours and alluring appearance.” — From Chapter 1 In The Flying Zoo, Michael Stock gives readers an enthusiastic tribute to birds and the parasites that live in and on them. From the Crozet Archipelago and the Galapagos Islands to our own backyards, parasites—fleas, lice, ticks, and flukes—live in a sinister yet symbiotic relationship with their host birds. With a scientist’s exuberance, Stock reveals a co-evolutionary dance among an astounding cast of creatures living in a complex and paradoxical co-habitation. Following in the footsteps of Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos, this contemporary classic deserves a place on the shelves of students and teachers of biology, natural history buffs, and birders.
Author: Ion Bogdan Vasi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199842582
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265
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Book Description
In recent decades the global wind energy industry has undergone explosive growth, and there is still vast potential for wind to supply more of the world's energy. Though not only is wind power far from reaching its potential, its rise has been uneven and irregular. What factors influence the development of the wind energy industry, and why has it developed successfully in some places but not in others? In Winds of Change, Ion Bogdan Vasi argues that the development of wind energy is dependent not only on improvements in technology and economic forces, but also in large part on the efforts of the environmental movement. Vasi defines and analyses three pathways through which the environmental movement has contributed to industry growth: it has influenced the adoption and implementation of renewable energy policies, created consumer demand for clean energy, and changed the institutional logics of the energy sector. Vasi uses quantitative analysis to present the big picture of global wind power development, and qualitative research to understand why certain countries are world leaders in wind energy while others are relatively underdeveloped. Through interviews with renewable energy professionals and campaigners, he shows that environmental groups and activists participated actively in energy policymaking, pressured various organizations to purchase wind power, and formed new companies that specialized in wind-farm development. He also demonstrates that environmentalists contributed to wind turbine manufacturing by becoming entrepreneurs, innovators, and advocates. Winds of Change sheds much new light on how wind energy is adopted and why, and demonstrates how activists and social movements can contribute to the creation of new industries.
Author: Les Beletsky
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1426206402
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 324
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Book Description
Illustrated with 30-40 photographs and artwork and a map, this book helps you discover where the birds are whether in Mexico and southern Europe or in the distant, mythic Galapagos, Korea, and Antarctica.
Author: Kenn Kaufman
Publisher: Mariner Books
ISBN: 1328566420
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 301
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Book Description
Every spring, billions of birds sweep north. This vast parade often goes unnoticed, except in a few places where these small travelers concentrate in large numbers. One such place is along Lake Erie in northwestern Ohio. Millions of winged migrants pass through the region. Now climate change threatens to disrupt patterns of migration and the delicate balance between birds, seasons, and habitats
