SSBA Book Club January: Flight of the Godwit, by Bruce M. Beehler
Meeting via Zoom
Tuesday, January 27th at 6:00 PM
To Join via Zoom, follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83154140098?pwd=XJTFllN97Jz6gbZv06y6IBom4tXe9e.1
The holidays mean a lot of traveling for some folks as families come together, sometimes across vast distances. But our yearly journeys surely pale in comparison to those of Godwits and other shorebirds, whose migrations take them nonstop across entire oceans.
Our next book that we will enjoy through our winter holiday season will be Flight of the Godwit: Tracking Epic Shorebird Migrations, by Bruce M. Beehler.
From the publisher:
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.
To have access to our discussion questions prior to the meeting, please email Rachel Holland at lightningdash09@yahoo.com
