BookShared
  • MEMBER AREA    
  • A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds

    (By Scott Weidensaul)

    Book Cover Watermark PDF Icon Read Ebook
    ×
    Size 22 MB (22,081 KB)
    Format PDF
    Downloaded 598 times
    Last checked 9 Hour ago!
    Author Scott Weidensaul
    “Book Descriptions: 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.”

    Google Drive Logo DRIVE
    Book 1

    A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey

    ★★★★★

    Jonathan Meiburg

    Book 1

    The Birds That Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness

    ★★★★★

    Kenn Kaufman

    Book 1

    What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds

    ★★★★★

    Jennifer Ackerman

    Book 1

    The Genius of Birds

    ★★★★★

    Jennifer Ackerman

    Book 1

    Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World

    ★★★★★

    Christian Cooper

    Book 1

    Vesper Flights

    ★★★★★

    Helen Macdonald

    Book 1

    Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration

    ★★★★★

    Rebecca Heisman

    Book 1

    The Thing with Feathers: The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human

    ★★★★★

    Noah Strycker

    Book 1

    Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History, from Cave Art to Conservation

    ★★★★★

    Tim Birkhead

    Book 1

    Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard

    ★★★★★

    Joan E. Strassmann

    Book 1

    The Glitter in the Green: In Search of Hummingbirds

    ★★★★★

    Jon Dunn

    Book 1

    The Birds of Heaven: Travels with Cranes

    ★★★★★

    Peter Matthiessen

    Book 1

    The Backyard Bird Chronicles

    ★★★★★

    Amy Tan

    Book 1

    Birding to Change the World: A Memoir

    ★★★★★

    Trish O'Kane