Gatherings of Angels: Migrating Birds and Their Ecology

By Kenneth P. Able

Book Overview

The migration of birds has forever amazed and confounded onlookers. How do birds find their way to their destinations? How do they withstand the dangers and rigors of long-distance flight? The survival of migrant birds is increasingly threatened by environmental degradation and manmade hazards; their protection is more critical than ever. Gatherings of Angels offers first-hand accounts by leading experts who convey the beauty and excitement of migration while communicating important messages about avian conservation. The book features twenty-four pages of stunning color photographs with additional black-and-white photographs throughout. Two chapters of background information on migration precede chapters that focus on different species or groups of birds and the localities essential to their survival-from the spring flights of songbirds across the Gulf of Mexico to the massing of sandhill cranes on the Platte River. The authors discuss the timing of migrant travel; the routes followed; and the concentration of birds in stop-over sites, locations that must be preserved if they are to have secure resting spots with fresh water and ample food to fuel their journey.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801433622
• ISBN13: 9780801433627
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Comstock Pub Assoc
• Length: 193 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.5" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic voyages

This book works well on many levels for different readers. For the bird watcher, you will learn why Sept 16 is the best time to be at Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania. For sheer magnificence the Sandhill Crane migrations through Nebraska can't be surpassed, and that story also offers lessens on the role of man; both positive (leaving corn in the field), and negative (loss of the Platte River). For those wanting to understand the scientific process, the disagreement about the migration route over the Atlantic of the Blackpoll Warbler offers an example of the use of circumstantial evidence. Sometimes the evidence seems too circumstantial, like infering Rufous Hummingbird migration paths from 2 banding returns. Looking at scientific cooperation the tracking of Western Sandpipers along the Pacific coastline is remarkable,as is the international cooperation on White-rumped Sandpiper migration from the Arctic to the tip of South America. All of these esteemed authors present well written accounts of the biology of migration. Readers who enjoyed this book might also enjoy Paul Kerlinger "How birds migrate" and Brian Harrington's "Flight of the Red Knot".