Mark Cocker

Bird migration is no longer a mystery — but it will always seem a miracle

Scott Weidensaul describes some extraordinary feats of endurance, including the tiny hummingbird’s 800km flight across the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico

An Arctic tern in the Shetlands, ranging from Pole to Pole in a life of almost perpetual daylight. Credit: Getty Images 
issue 13 March 2021
  • Comments

  • A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds

    Scott Weidensaul

    Picador, pp. 400, £20

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Subscribe today to get 3 months' delivery of the magazine, as well as online and app access, for only £3.

  • Weekly delivery of the magazine
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Steerpike

Humza Yousaf’s top five worst Covid WhatsApps

Well, well, well. It has now emerged that the SNP government will ban WhatsApp on official devices in the wake of the Covid Inquiry. The announcement from the SNP’s deputy first minister Kate Forbes came today after the publication of an external review into the use of mobile messaging apps on government devices. ‘The use

More on ornithology

Also by Mark Cocker

Latest

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in