Our understanding of the navigational feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, 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 thousands of miles is nothing short of extraordinary.
Bird migration entails unfathomable endurance – a sparrow-sized sandpiper flies non-stop from Canada to Venezuela without food, water or rest. Avoids dehydration by drinking moisture from it’s own muscles & organs, orients itself using the earth’s magnetic field. Crossing the Pacific Ocean in 9 days of non-stop flight leaves little time for sleep, but they can put half their brains to sleep for a few seconds at a time, alternating sides & their reaction time actually improves.
Beautiful revelations on the wonder of bird migration, from mud flats of Yellow Sea in China to remote mountains of India to dusty hills of Cyprus. A breathtaking work of nature writing from Scott Weidensaul inspires to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change. A World on the Wing unveils with dazzling pictures & prose the miracle of nature taking place just over our heads.
