Customer Reviews

Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere With Migratory Birds

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I have been a birdwatcher for 39 years, and rarely have I encountered a book that I enjoyed as much as this. Unlike another reviewer, I learned a great deal about migration from reading this book--though, truth to tell, the book is as much about population dynamics among Western Hemisphere birds as it is about migration. One of the particular insights I gained from the book is a better realization of the somewhat parochial viewpoint many of us birdwatchers in North America take, considering migrants who spend only a brief part of the year breeding here to be "our birds," when they spend most of their lives either in Latin America or migrating between the two continents. The author has an unusually captivating writing style and most of the book was hard for me to put down; he reminds me of some of the best nature writers I have encountered--Hal Borland, John Burroughs, Loren Eiseley, Pete Dunn, and Thoreau. One of the book's particular strengths is its focus on certain critical locales as well as individual species; the general observations have much more meaning because of these case examples. While the book is most likely to be appreciated best by veteran birdwatchers, I do feel that almost anyone with a natural history bent can find some enjoyment in it. Among the few shortcomings of the book are the lack of illustrations for those unfamiliar with the individual species--something that can be remedied by referring to a field guide as one reads it--as well as the paucity of really good maps. (There are a few scattered maps, but the text makes repeated reference to sites in the Western Hemisphere--especially outside the U.S. and Canada--about whose location I had no idea. Because many of them are obscure places, a general purpose atlas is unlikely to be much help.) As a final strength of the book, I should point out its beautiful dust jacket, with embossed bird silhouettes atop a topographical map of the hemisphere, as well as the handsome typesetting job. In other words, it is a book to be appreciated for more than just its content.

This review by Charlotte Seidenberg was published Sunday, May 9, 1999 in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune

''So tell me, what is a blackburnian warbler worth, orange and ebony like a jungle tiger?'' Scott Weidensaul asks in ''Living on the Wind: Across the Globe with Migratory Birds." "In the end such measures are pointless," he answers. "We should probably just stand aside and watch with quiet humility as another generation of travelers flies north, compelled by a priceless bravery buried deep in their genes." Though some gloomy scientists predict the end of migrations in our lifetime, Weidensaul says "there's no future in pessimism. Here, at the last possible moment, we have awakened to what we stand to lose -- poised on the brink, but still, perhaps, with time to draw away from the edge." This immensely readable exploration of bird migration by a prolific nature writer and licensed bird bander shows us just what we stand to lose. It's science that reads like adventure with well-drawn characters in vividly described settings. It's about birds and nature, but also about people and the ways they interact with the natural world. It's a cliffhanger with the ending as yet unwritten. The author traveled from one end of the Western Hemisphere to the other pursuing the mysteries of migration: from the western Alaskan breeding grounds of millions of shorebirds with names such as tattler and dunlin and godwit to the Argentine pampas, wintering grounds of the Swainson's hawk, "a bird made of light and shadow, at home in the pale blue bowl of the prairie sky." In Vera Cruz, Mexico, he watched thousands of migratory hawks, kites, and vultures "move across the landscape by sliding from thermal to thermal, forming enormous kettles that swirl and seethe with wheeling birds." He visited the Platte River in Nebraska, where half a million sandhill cranes with six-foot wingspans rest on their way to the tundra, and experienced an avian "fallout" on the Gulf Coast, where "small explosions of birds would materialize out of the sky, whirring from on high, beyond the limit of vision and into the trees like bolts, until the woods were stuffed to overflowing with them." People in pursuit Weidensaul's human subjects are equally vivid, ranging from passionate goose hunters to birders "with thousand dollar binoculars and field guides worn in holster-like pouches riding low on their hips." He introduces a backyard birder who fed a ton and a half of food to 150 grosbeaks in his yard one winter and "citizen scientists" who collaborate on research projects, doing field work in their backyards and reporting via the Internet. Elucidating the scientific process for the layman, he makes fieldwork seem like adventure, describing ornithologists who signed onto Norwegian freighters to prove trans-Gulf migration, who rigged hawks with radio transmitters to track them to their wintering grounds, who used radar to study migration and gathered the "first hard, quantifiable evidence that a decline had indeed taken place." Other scientists studied warblers wintering in Jamaica and the same species summering in New Hampshire, and "uncovered an army of dangers that we, in our heedless manipulation of the natural world, are making worse." Scientists now recognize a host of problems for migratory birds -- from habitat loss to predation by domestic cats -- and are searching for solutions. Will those solutions come too late? Before dawn in late spring, Weidensaul travels to an eastern forest, where male wood thrushes sing "their clear notes scrolling up and down like improvisations, looping back on themselves, then ringing out in lucent peals. When the thrush stops, it feels as though the forest is holding its breath." What if the thrush stopped forever? After reading "Living on the Wind," you'll likely agree the thought is unacceptable.

Living on the Wind: Across the Globe With Migratory Birds

Review: A beautifully written, well-informed and moving discussion of migratory birds and the problems affecting migration in the '90s. Especially entertaining are the author's portraits of people who are passionate about birds. © Copyright 1999 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

This is absolutely one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. Not only backyard birding enthusiasts, but anyone who has ever had even a passing interest in birds will love this book. Scott writes about birds in an understanding yet scientific manner that lends itself to wonderful readability while providing vast amounts of information. Beginning in Alaska, moving down the hemisphere to the pampas of Argentina, and back again, he takes the reader on a amazing journey that literally follows the paths taken by millions of birds each year. He combines personal field experiences with well assembled accounts of scientific research and ornithological history to paint a vivid picture of the swirling patterns of avian movement across the globe. If you have ever looked twice at a bird passing overhead, I highly reccomend picking up this valuable addition to any naturalist's library.

Writing with obvious affection for the subject, Scott Weidensaul does an exceptional job of reviewing the complex topic of avian migration. The book is an up-to-date treatment of how, why, and to where birds move (at least in the Western Hemisphere). It is not written as a standard ornithological text (nor was it meant to be one) in that it does not include citations at every fact, but this makes the book flow more smoothly, and references are included at the end. The book is chock full of details, some written as very readable anecdotes about the author's travels and experiences as a birder and bird-bander. His lyrical descriptions of birds and their migratory accomplishments do justice to an incredible biological phenomenon.

I know more about broomsticks than I do about birds and I cannot begin to guess what compelled me to start this book. I could not put the book down. Weidensaul masters magnetic prose into a compelling drama about, to me, an unseen world. I was completely drawn in to this wide-ranging and erudite account of bird migration. I have subsequently purchased binoculars and bought a bird guide and can't wait for spring.

Living on the Wind is, simply put, the best non-fiction I've read in the past year. Yes, I'm a birder, but Weidensaul's vivid, bell-clear prose makes the world of migratory birds and those who care about them come alive for anyone who picks up the book. Comprehensive and detailed, the book leaves you changed in your understanding of the largely invisible nation of birds outside your door.

As I write this there is a northern oriole singing in the woods behind my house. Yesterday, when I was reading out back, a ruby-throated hummingbird appeared seemingly out of nowhere to feed at a deep pink and purple fushia plant hanging on my patio.

Where did these birds that grace our land in spring and summer come from, what journeys did they need to take to get here, and why did they travel 1000s of miles to spend time here -- these are just a few of the questions that Scott Weidensaul answers in Living on the Wind. The reader learns not only the theories of migration, why birds migrate when they do and why they go where they go, SW also describes in heartfelt detail the struggles the bird researchers endure as they track birds in our hemisphere and try to save these beautiful and ethereal creatures from rampant defoliation in our hemisphere. SW is a bird-bander and expert on raptors and he comes well-prepared to write this very personal story of the unbelievably long journeys of a variety of birds as they fly from the Arctic to the tip of S. America and beyond. He traveled to Jamaica, Mexico, Argentina, Alaska and many other birding hot spots to best tell the story of migrating birds and those who follow their flight patterns. Anyone who is fascinated by birds and nature, and who cares about our environment's affect on birds and other living beings will greatly enjoy this book.

The information on bird migration is absolutely engrossing. However, the language Weidensaul uses is even more enjoyable. I kept the computer dictionary next to me while reading the book to check the beautiful language used to describe bird behavior and their habitats. This book is inspiring and thought provoking even for non-birders like me (I am likely classified as a computer geek).

This is a book that will interest both people with only a passing interest in birds, and those with a very serious interest in bird ecology. It is an easy read, but still is cramed full of useful information about bird migration. Weidensaul follows many different species of birds as they move about during the migratory year. He clearly shows how all the places employed during migration, breeding and nonbreeding seasons are interrelated, and just how fragile the entire migratory system is for the birds. Living on the Wind is must read for any serious birder, and one well worth reading even if you are not!

Birders will love this book! First, it contains solid information on the vast movement of life about the face of our planet. Second, it provides useful information on where to be and when to be there to experience "fallout" and "kettles of hawks" and other exotic aspects of the hobby. Third, it documents the pure pleasures of our hobby from the standpoint of someone who does it extremely well. This book is not an academic exercise nearly so much as it is a celebration of beauty and wonder - which is, after all, why most of us enjoy birding. With Roger Tory Peterson gone, birding needs another hero. I am not suggesting that anyone will ever fill those shoes, but Mr. Weidensaul deserves your attention. This book will expand your awareness and make you a better birder.