Flight of the Godwit: Tracking Epic Shorebird Migrations - Hardcover

by Bruce M. Beehler (Author), Alan T. Messer (Illustrator)

Soar across 46 North American territories to uncover the secrets of 7 magnificent shorebirds, the world's greatest nonstop travelers

An immersive travelogue that belongs on every birder's bookshelf, with 30 gorgeous black-and-white illustrations and a birdwatching species checklist

Flying more than 8,000 miles from Alaska to eastern Australia without stopping to eat or rest, the Bar-tailed Godwit holds the record for the longest nonstop migration of any land bird in the world. Flight of the Godwit invites readers on ornithologist Bruce M. Beehler's awe-inspiring journey in search of North America's largest and farthest-flying shorebirds. Driving 35,000 miles between 2019 to 2023, Beehler sought birds he dubs the "Magnificent Seven"

• Hudsonian Godwit
• Bar-tailed Godwit
• Marbled Godwit
• Whimbrel
• Long-billed Curlew
• Bristle-thighed Curlew
• Upland Sandpiper

Beehler interweaves colorful fieldwork stories and rich details on local culture with the natural history and biology of shorebirds--including evolution, the physics of migration, orientation, homing, foraging, diet, nesting, parental care, wintering, staging, elusive "super-migrators," and the importance of conservation efforts.

With authoritative prose and 30 beautiful black-and-white illustrations from artist Alan T. Messer, the book journeys through 37 states and 9 Canadian provinces from Texas to Alaska to Canada's High Arctic. Flight of the Godwit is a captivating adventure and a tribute to remarkable birds and birding itself.

Author Biography

BRUCE M. BEEHLER is an ornithologist, naturalist, conservationist, lecturer, and author of nature books including North on the Wing: Travels with the Songbird Migration of Spring, Birds of North America: A Photographic Atlas, and New Guinea: Nature and Culture of Earth's Grandest Island. He is a research associate in the division of birds at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.