A World on the Wing

Enjoy this New York Times Bestseller: A World on the Wing is an exhilarating exploration of the science and wonder of global bird migration. During the past 20 years, our understanding of how birds navigate and their physiological feats during migration has exploded. What we’ve learned about bird migrations – how some species migrate across the globe on impressive flights that may continue for hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of miles between hemispheres on an annual basis – is nothing short of extraordinary.

Some birds cross immense oceans, others fly above the highest mountains, or continue unbroken flight for days, weeks, and even months in extreme cases. Bird migration includes almost unfathomable endurance, like sparrow-sized sandpipers that fly non-stop from Canada to Venezuela – the equivalent of running 126 consecutive marathons without food, water, or rest while avoiding dehydration by absorbing moisture from their own muscles and organs, and orienting themselves by using the earth’s magnetic field through a form of quantum entanglement that would make Einstein queasy.

Crossing the Pacific Ocean in 9 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 during the process. These and other revelations convey both the wonder of bird migration and its global reach, from the mudflats of the Yellow Sea in China to the remote mountains of northeast India to the dusty hills of southern Cyprus. This breathtaking work of nature writing from Pulitzer Prize finalist Scott Weidensaul also introduces readers to scientists, researchers, and birders trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges.

Drawing on his own extensive fieldwork and a wealth of new research, in A World on the Wing Dr. Scott Weidensaul unveils with dazzling prose the miracle of bird migrations taking place above us. For more information this book that every birder will enjoy, contact Buteo Books at Buteo Books: A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds