Long Hops
Making Sense of Bird Migration
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Description273In Long Hops, physicist Mark Denny explains, in a clear, conversational style, the science of bird migration?from the intricacies of bird aeronautics to the newly unraveled mysteries of their magnetic compasses. While providing wherever possible examples of indigenous Hawaiian species, the book surveys the migration phenomenon as a whole, showing that birds are breathtaking works of engineering with spectacular capabilities for long-distance flights. Consider what it takes for a bird to navigate from Alaska to Hawai`i, as thousands of these hardy migrants do each year. They fly 2...
Description273In Long Hops, physicist Mark Denny explains, in a clear, conversational style, the science of bird migration?from the intricacies of bird aeronautics to the newly unraveled mysteries of their magnetic compasses. While providing wherever possible examples of indigenous Hawaiian species, the book surveys the migration phenomenon as a whole, showing that birds are breathtaking works of engineering with spectacular capabilities for long-distance flights. Consider what it takes for a bird to navigate from Alaska to Hawai`i, as thousands of these hardy migrants do each year. They fly 2,500 miles nonstop and land on a small island in the middle of a vast ocean. How do they endure such marathon journeys, and how on earth do they know which direction to travel over featureless ocean? In fact, many migratory journeys, in all parts of the world and performed by birds as small as warblers and as large as swans, cover much longer distances.After answering the ?who, why, where, when? questions, Denny describes the different types of migration journeys found within the bird world, along with examples. He then concentrates on the much harder questions of how: how researchers study bird migration; how they gather data from old-fashioned bird banding, high-tech satellite tracking, and other techniques; and?above all?how the birds do it. Throughout the book, Denny explains concepts, such as the physics of bird flight and the role of physical geography on navigation, in a relatively math-free way. He concludes by exploring the past adaptations migrating birds have made to changing environments and examines the challenges they face in the future, as the world beneath them faces rapid climate change exacerbated by human activity.
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