Amazon.com
The epic subtitle only hints at the amazing scope of this story. The subject is the migration of a species of sandpiper, known as the red knot for its smoked salmon breeding coloration. These birds mass in the tens of thousands on New Jersey's Delaware Bay beaches in late May, a pit stop between Brazil and Hudson Bay, one leg of their immense journey. Their short New Jersey sojourn indicates both the wonder of their stamina and the fragility of the whole elaborately evolved enterprise, for they use this stop to consume a prodigious number--as many as 135,000--of tiny horseshoe crab eggs. Yet this bit of New Jersey shore is a vital link that makes the completion of the trip possible. An astonishing and important story.
From Library Journal
Many shorebirds are noted for their extraordinary migrations. The red knot, though it may not be familiar to many birders since it regularly stops at only a few coastal sites in the United States during its long flights, is a typical example. Derived from a segment of the PBS series Nova and based on original research done by Harrington (Manomet Observatory), this book uses the knot as a paradigm for examining broader topics of migration, behavior, ecology, and especially conservation. Simply but not condescendingly written and generously illustrated with fine color photos, this is a good choice for popular (including young adult) science collections.?Paul B. Cors, formerly Univ. of Wyoming Lib., Laramie
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The New York Times Book Review, Les Line
Mr. Harrington, an ornithologist, ... with Charles Flowers, a freelance writer, ... has combined field investigation with his own fine color photographs into a nature book of uncommon excellence.
Ingram
Based on the popular NOVA series, an account of the eighteen-thousand-mile annual migration of the Red Knot considers why these tiny birds travel such distances year after year and examines their unique characteristics.
