How Birds Migrate

by Paul Kerlinger, Pat Archer (Illustrator)

Unveils the mysteries of bird migration. Ornithologist Paul Kerlinger writes in an engaging style for all bird lovers. "An excellent, popular, yet authoritative explanation." -- Library Journal

Genres: Birds, Nonfiction, Nature, Science

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice introduction to the various aspects of bird migration, including discussions of different flight methods, timing, flight speed and height, navigation, stopover ecology, and flocking. It occasionally goes a little overboard with the case studies, but they are clearly partitioned from the general text so the reader can skim/skip as desired. I like that songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, and raptors all get similar levels of attention in the text. For someone familiar with birds and migration much of the information is not new, but it's nice to have a fairly comprehensive overview all in one text. Plus it's always beneficial to have a reminder of how daunting and challenging migration is for birds (especially with human activity and habitat loss) and the remarkable adaptations birds have developed.

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an outstanding summary of bird migration from what I can tell. Despite being fairly short it is packed full of facts, diagrams, maps, graphs and numerous brief 'case studies'. The science of bird migration combines many disciplines aside obviously from ornithology, including a whole lot of geography, climatology, meteorology, biology, magnetism, and more. Perhaps that explains why I have become semi-obsessed in the past year or so with something I was almost oblivious to, other than 'look! the birds heading south!' Or maybe I just never noticed or appreciated these amazing creatures in our midst and have suddenly noticed. Despite the sheer wonder and incredible variety of birds and their stunning migration patterns which are amazing to contemplate, no account can be complete without an account of the horrific litany of human-created challenges to their continued success in these endeavors. Of course, there are substantial natural obstacles including weather and predators but in this, the so-called 'Anthropocene' age the challenges to avian life have multiplied drastically. Climate change, habitat destruction, hunting, towers, buildings, wind-turbines (barely mentioned in this 2009 book but certainly a huge bird-killer), solar-panels (same thing), light pollution, glass windows, automobiles, cats--the list seems endless and incredibly depressing. As interest in the fate of birds increases perhaps the worst outcomes will be avoided, but it seems unlikely as human populations and footprints inexorably expand.

[Aiden Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read half of it. I learned a lot about how birds migrate.

[Sher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 4 of 2012 Reading Challenge -- I gave this book a 5 star review, because it was written for the lay person-- someone interested in how , when, and why birds migrate, and it answered so many questions I have had for years about bird migration. This book covers why birds migrate--and the role migration plays in natural selection, how scientist study migration --past methods and the methods of today using satellite--how bird banding works...the basic of how birds fly (being a bird watcher I found these comparisons fascinating). It covers the structure of the air birds must fly through--the conditions in different seasons..why some birds migrate at night - some during the day - covers the barriers to migration natural and man made-- oasis rest stops -- why some birds flock for migration--I learned so many interesting tidbits such as some species of birds partially migrate -- 1/3 of the chickadees here, for example go south while others winter over and explains how this is an evolutionary strategy. Lots of illustrations. If you are interesting in understanding the basics of bird migration -- this is a good book.This book works so well for the non-science type reader. Although if you are science inclined, I expect you will get even more out of it. :)

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a little disappointing, but I pushed through. The author was very good at pointing out the challenges to migration but the book was a wierd set up where it wasn't quite layman and not quite scientific enough. He also did some wierd things with measurement-jumping between feet and meters. The "spotlight" areas were organized poorly and often in a confusing manner. But the information was good. I was particularly intrigued with the conservation issues and the last few chapters of the book. Left me with more questions and also had a good list of where to go for more info. All in all ok.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good basic introduction to bird migration. I read it as a warm-up to Flight Strategies of Migrating Hawks, a much more technical treatise on raptor migration.

[Helene Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m still fascinated