Flight lines: across the globe on a journey with the astonishing ultramarathon birds

by Andrew Darby

Andrew Darby follows the odysseys of two Grey Plovers, little-known migratory shorebirds, as they take previously uncharted ultramarathon flights from the southern coast of Australia to Arctic breeding grounds. On these extraordinary flights they chance predators, typhoon weather and exhaustion before they can breed, and maybe return to familiar southern feeding grounds. But the greatest threat to these, and other long-distance migrants on the flyway, is China's dragon economy, engulfing their vital Yellow Sea staging spots.

The author meets the dedicated people working to save these intrepid birds, from Russia to Alaska, and the rim of the Arctic Sea to the coasts of the Southern Ocean. Out of their hard-won science he finds hope for the birds - a bright light for our times.

But his journey to understand this work and these birds almost ends when he is suddenly diagnosed with an incurable cancer. Then he finds science coming to his rescue too.

Genres: Birds, Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Australia, Animals

324 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Robert Mulvihill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is powerful. It grabs your attention, holds your interest, grows your concern to a maximum, and only then does it hit you with the hard truth of the matter. Perhaps second only to observable and measurable change in our climate, changes in the stability of the long-distance migration systems of shorebirds birds may be the most important indicator of our failure as a species to own up to our collective role in altering the life-sustaining capabilities of the entire planet. Inadvertently or not, humans clearly are the root of all serious ecological disturbance on Earth (we are the Anthropocene); and, only our deliberate actions can ensure the future of the many-branched life support system that enables grey plovers (known to North American birders as Black-bellied Plovers) and their kin to successfully migrate thousands of miles between their breeding and wintering grounds each year.

[Marie Belcredi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wings beat of a godwit beat at 6 times per second and they never just glide. E7, a satellite tagged godwit flew in one trip almost 12,000 km in one flight without taking a single break.

Although I am a wildlife carer, until now I did not have a special interest in migratory shore birds. This book is about migratory shore birds but in particular, the Grey Plover, not a particularly showy bird, small and grey but with characteristic black wing pits. The life of the Grey Plover seems to be brief although some have been found to return back year after year for twenty years or more. The feats, however, of the migratory shore birds are remarkable and almost unbelievable.

But this book is not just about facts. We follow two special birds, CYA and CYB in their migration from the Gulf of St Vincent in South Australia, each one in a different way. CYA leaves first, pushed west before correcting her flight north to end up off the coast of China on mudflats to recover enough body weight to finish her flight to the Arctic to breed and then fly back. CYB has an easier more direct flight but both end up in the same place - Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean.

Through the book we meet the people who passionately follow the birds, catch them to band them and fight to try to save their feeding grounds from development, pollution and disturbance.

We then follow CYA and CYB back again on their way to Australia. CYA's flight meets a typhoon and she battles the wind and rain. I can hardly imagine what it must have been for this small bird to battle flying through this storm. Typhoons, once one of nature's big challenges are now more frequent because of climate change.

Although the book meanders at times I felt the fascination and love of these birds by the author and I was swept along with it in the single migratory cycles of CYA and CYB. It is heartbreaking to think that these bird's numbers have been so reduced by the combined effect of humans and the Anthropocene and that they might even become extinct. Those that fight for the birds must feel it greatly but keep up the fight and have made many improvements to the birds' chances of survival. I am in awe of them because they keep fighting and do not give up even in the face of insuperable forces.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book uses a satellite-tracked journey by two grey plovers as a way to explore the journeys - increasingly fraught - of migratory birds between Australia and the Arctic - journeys on 'flightways' up through Asia. Darby mingles anecdotes of his travels following these birds, personal challenges and details of the growing destruction - and organising against it - to the crucial stopping places on the route. Like much in this genre, the book manages to encompass the full devastation of the 'Anthropocene' in the story of just two birds. However, I found it hard to engage with this one - possibly because it takes a while to gather steam, possibly because the focus on the journey came a little at the expense of the bird, and its astonishing navigation skills. Darby's personal developments during the flight are too significant not to include, but also fits uneasily in a book that starts quite impersonal. Whatever the reason, I am glad to have read it and also to have finished.

[Calzean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grey Plovers fly amazing long distances from south of Australia in summer and then to north of Russia to their breeding grounds. The author tells of these birds and other shorebirds in a tale of love and admiration for their endurance, intelligence and determination. He visits some way out places in China, Japan and Russia, meets various scientists and enthusiasts and battles through an almost fatal bout of cancer. The book did not flow well at times, whizzing around places, people and science but it left with a new high regard for long distance migrating birds.

[Vancolondon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly astonishing bird flights occur with us sleeping in our beds and going about our daily business. The book provides a glimpse at this rare bird’s extraordinary life. We meander through a sea of interesting characters and dip our bills into several earth spanning threats and opportunities, all the while trying to keep our binoculars on a tiny bird. In a word - illuminating, in three words - Fly Birdie Fly.

[Pia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The general thrust of this book is 'wow aren't grey plovers amazing, this relatively nondescript bird can fly so far folks!' Which is amazing, but I'm not sure if it's 200 pages worth of amazing.

I found this book rather meandering. I do read a lot of natural history and natural science books, which might be a part of the reason. I don't need to hear twenty descriptions of how the people who are attracted to shore birds are like, eclectic, strange and highly educated interesting people. It feels kind of self-congratulatory, and it's extremely repetitive. Time that could have been given to more to science (of which there could have been much more of it, given the breadth of the end-text references) is generally spent explaining to us, once again, how eccentric and amazing the people who like shorewaders really are. (They didn't seem that amazing, the Bangladesh story highlighted how neglected for spouses they can certainly be, a story which might be hilarious to guys, but is honestly a sign of how men will happily use a hobby to abandon their wives and leave no way to be contacted).

Darby's prose is beautiful at times, but at others it's meandering and takes a long time to get to the point. Some of the early chapters I literally did not understand the point of, except that it seemed to be one more 'wow these people are amazing, wow grey plovers are REALLY NONDESCRIPT HUH' and it's like well, you established that in the first chapter, so why...is this still happening?

The content gets meatier in the middle, looking at how hunting and environmentalism impacts, and continues to impact birds that fly supermarathons. I feel like the book would have been much stronger with this not being saved up like a 'tantalising storyline' and it being front and centre from the beginning of the book. By the time we got to the crux of the book, I was bored, and frankly, beginning to count the times I'd be told how unique the people who love these birds are.

Really wanted to love this, since it's right up my alley in terms of content and subject, but just didn't. Would recommend it to anyone who loves shorewaders obsessively, because boy and howdy, you are just going to be praised for 200 pages about how much better you are than average people, lol.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating as it charts the amazing journeys taken between the Northern and Southern hemispheres by migratory birds, some of which are no smaller than a sparrow. It does become difficult to keep track of the various tidal flats that are so important to the birds, let alone the various obsessive researchers. The maps are essential in following the flight paths of the birds.
After building our admiration for the birds, the author then hits us with the threats to their existence, mainly uncontrolled 'land reclamation'projects, especially in China. He becomes bogged down in the politics of protective listings. However, he does end on a more optimistic note with respect to moves being made to respect some of these important stopping places. If only we could get the politicians to adequately address climate change!

[Ian Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

FLIGHT LINES by Andrew Darby
How extraordinary, I’ve just finished a book about lost pianos and here I am again, Siberia that is, only this time it’s chasing birds, none of whom are lost because of their extraordinary navigational powers.
I’ve been out with birders a few times and one thing I loved was that they take you to places you wouldn’t normally visit. Ramp that up a few notches and that’s where this book will take you. Extreme exotica in places like Wrangel Island for instance. To say it’s hard to get to is an understatement. I suspect less people have seen this remote island off Siberia than have climbed Mount Everest. And that’s just one area in the breeding grounds around the Arctic Circle where the birds seem to amazingly arrive just a day or two after the snow melts.
Then there’s the tale of the couple in yet another remote freezing location, camped in a tent, watching a polar bear pass by with a reindeer in its mouth. These are experiences beyond the norm.
The book, written by Australian journalist and devout bird watcher Andrew Darby starts in Australia, mainly South Australia and around Broome in the tidal flats. It then explains how banding and, more recently, satellite tracking has evolved so that we now have a more intimate idea of the extraordinary journeys these migratory animals. Imagine, just for a moment if you will, something whose weight is measured in grams, travelling over 1,000 kms a day for over a week. Extraordinary seems an inadequate word.
Bar-tailed godwits and grey plovers feature, among others. Maps of their routes make for fascinating viewing. Imagining how they do it is beyond me. The people that chase them are equally interesting. Drawn into the vortex of bird behaviour, one thing leads to another; contacts are made across the planet and the story of many birds unfolds.
Andrew is about to make his journey to Mecca (Wrangel Island) when, around page 120, his life is shattered when diagnosed with incurable cancer. He’s at stage 4 with it; there is no stage five. This becomes a story within a story as it twists one way then another.
Written in journalistic prose, i.e. without resorting to overstatement, this is a book that will be around for decades to come as a reference for ornithologists and also those interested in cancer treatments.
A must for bird lovers and people interested in nature.

[Clare Cornish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous book about the incredible feats of these often overlooked birds. The author’s love of plovers is infectious, and I found myself engrossed in the migratory journeys of CYA and CYB. I hope that CYB is still out there somewhere, roaming the far corners of the Earth.

[Evie Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and engaging, which is probably one of the most important characteristics of any naturalist book! Beautiful use of language and I liked the tie to the author's personal life as well. A great story of the tough birds that can and do fly between hemispheres and the challenges facing them. It doesn't leave one very hopeful about the future of the flyways, and even though there are some causes for hope included in the book, the overall message is of the ongoing threats to habitat at the cost of development.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A yearly journey of over 5,500 km, and all with no in-flight entertainment! Each year, billions of birds travel from wintering grounds and breeding grounds and back, but not many birds make a longer journey than the Grey Plover. In Andrew Darby’s 2020 book Flight Lines: Across the Globe on a Journey with the Astonishing Ultramarathon Birds, he follows the journey of two Grey Plovers, referred to by their band codes, CYA & CYB. Darby establishes early on in the novel that Grey plovers are not a particularly well-known species, but their yearly trip is harrowing and certainly worth documenting.
These birds travel all the way from the Southern Coast of Australia to their Arctic breeding grounds. Darby deftly uses this journey as a tool to discuss the varied dangers birds face at different locations throughout the globe. Habitat loss, predations, storms, and anthropogenic effects all threaten grey plovers, as well as thousands of other bird species. Each location provides a different story and a different struggle. From Australia to Russia to China and many more places, every chapter provides a different vignette into what these two birds can expect to see at some of the most key stops on their journey.
The novel at times takes a gloomy tone as it describes the myriad of threats that birds, and honestly the natural environment as a whole, are facing. But it strikes a more positive mood when it discusses the work scientists and birders do to document and help protect birds. The book highlights numerous heartening examples of camaraderie and the human interest portions provide fun respites from data and stories that can sometimes be demoralizing. However, it is important that narratives like these are described in compelling and accessible manners because most of the threats to birds right now are anthropogenic. I think that this book does a fantastic job at doing exactly that. It is informative and enjoyable. The inspiring elements of the book are spread out in a way that made the read much less fatiguing than it would have been if it was just a litany of every worldwide danger to migratory birds.
The one element I will deduct some score from is that I find the vignette method of this book slightly distracting at times. I found the story about the two grey plovers to be the most compelling focus of the novel. Sometimes when the book goes on a long digression or spends too long on an anthropocentric idea, I felt that the narrative would have been better served to refocus on the grey plovers and their plight. A minor consideration at the end of the day, but that’s about all I can say that I didn’t like about this novel.
Overall, a great book! I highly recommend; 4 out of 5 stars.

[Jill Sergeant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darby builds a narrative of environmental hopes and harms around the migration of two grey plovers. The plovers were banded in southern Australia and flew over 7,000 kilometres to mate and nest on a remote island in the Arctic circle.

I was fascinated to learn about how migratory shorebirds are studied, and what has been learned about them - from the early accounts of European traders, to recounts of Indigenous observations and stories, to the development of modern day banding and satellite tracking. Darby writes not only about the plovers, but also about other birds such as bar- and black-tailed godwits, greenshanks, great knot, and tiny sparrow-sized spoonbills. In tracking these birds, he chronicles the quite recent confirmation of the mudflats where various species stop over to refuel on their long haul flights to and from the Arctic. Many of these places are under threat - or have already been destroyed - by industrial pollution and residential development.

Darby himself travelled to many of the places he writes about to see the birds, participate in the scientific observations and banding, meet the people who are studying them, and gain a better understanding of how the birds fit into, and are impacted by, local economies and cultures.

I was awed by the journeys these birds take, and have been taking for millions of years, but very disturbed by how vulnerable they are in this age of environmental degradation and barely restrained expansion into valuable habitat that some humans view as wasteland. Darby describes measures being taken to protect different species, such as providing incentives to villagers to protect birds rather than hunt them, and getting powers such as China to sign onto international treaties, but it's hard to feel optimistic about their future.

At times the writing is beautiful, poetic, but in other parts it can be dry. I struggled a bit with some long passages describing the directions the birds took, full of long unfamiliar place names (fortunately, there are maps!). I think that struggle is my failing, rather than the authors'. It's not a light easy read like other popular science books around at the moment, but definitely worth persevering.

[Alex Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! Andrew Darby is a journalist (writing for the Age and SMH out of Hobart) and brings wonderful clarity and story-telling ability (as well as research skills and a sense of adventure) to this tremendous story of the East Asian Australasian Flyway. He uses the personal travels of two Grey Plovers to illustrate the much bigger story of the amazing migratory shorebirds (including Godwits, Curlew, Sandpipers, Stints and many others) that fly in their hundreds of thousands annually from their breeding grounds in Siberia and the Arctic, all the way to the southern tip of Australia to feed and get fat in the summer. His story is both personal and universal, echoing how the birds are both local and the ultimate global travellers. He dives into the environmental aspects and shows how nature makes mockery of international borders and nationalities - and how critical global cooperation on the environment is as a result. Sometimes depressing (as any environmental book tends to be today) but he also clearly shows how progress can be made by collaborating on an international level to protect vital resources. And by making it personal and tracking the individual flights of these humble grey birds, he sparks a sense of wonder at the almost unimaginable feats these birds routinely master.

Fantastic reading, and not just for the birders amongst us

[Anni Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a marvelous book ! The author has written a very carefully researched book on migratory shorebirds that migrate from Australia's southern ocean to the Arctic and then back again. The book concentrates on following the route flown by two Grey Plovers, though Darby also looks at many other shorebirds that cover huge distances. On the way, the birds have to overcome predators, storms and pure exhaustion before they start breeding. Not knowing much about shorebirds and bird migration, I found this book fascinating, and very often heart-rending, as modern civilization is not exactly supporting these birds on their fantastic voyages.
Most of all, I was horrified to read the extent to which China has been pushing its barbaric "dragon" economy, setting up factories along the coast and along the Yellow River, many of them chemical factories, a ruthless strategy that is driving the birds from their feeding grounds which they need so desparately as a place to regain their strength to reach the breeding grounds in Alaska and northern Siberia.
Thank you, Anderw Darby, for such an honest, beautiful book.

[Cathryn Wellner · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone fascinated by birds or concerned about the future of the planet, this is a heartbreaker of a book. In the first half of the book, I was regularly exclaiming, "Listen to this!" The mighty flights of tiny birds are incomprehensible. That they can fly thousands of kilometres, sense coming storms or follow magnetic lines challenges our human hubris. So the first half of the book kept me awake, gobsmacked by the prowess of shorebirds.

The second half broke my heart. By now anyone who pays attention to the latest environmental news knows that humans play an outsized role in hastening the destruction of the most luscious planet we know of to date. But to read about the global loss of shorebird habitat is all the harder when the story is told by someone who has devoted his professional life, and his passion, to understanding these avian travelers.

This is an important addition to the many calls for us to treat our fellow creatures, and our planet, with the love they deserve.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shore birds are a great way to begin bird watching especially if your teacher has a telescope. They don’t flutter away like LBJs. This is a story of CYA and CYB who were fitted with transmitters in Thompson’s Beach north of Adelaide and traced to the Arctic islands where they breed and back to Northern Australia ... but not for both. It is the history of shorebird studies, the magnificent flights the birds take and the degradation of the mudflats where they stop in East Asia to feed to make the long journey. No country is blameless in coastline habitat degradation but there is a glimmer of hope as the study of flight lines has led to the beginnings of international cooperation. Beautifully written. A special book.

[Lydia D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read on the journeys and perils of migratory shorebirds. I appreciated the author's willingness to call out various countries' inaction to protect the natural habitats, rather than adopt a neutral 'let's all love each other' approach to eco-diplomacy. Indeed, if we are to preserve these species for future generations, all nations must play their part. Darby offers a balanced and hopeful view of the future, noting the increasingly expanding range of scientific endeavour within this field.

[James Whitmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flight Lines is one of the most beautiful and moving nature books I’ve read in a while. Following the epic migrations of shorebirds, it has all the ups and downs of a great novel, but grounded in rigorous science. Read more my blog.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring and informative read. Loved the many different elements to his story. The climate change impacts, the habitat change, the mystery of the navigation, and his only struggle and how his passion helped see him through.

[Don Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful piece of writing and research by one of Australia's top journalists. What made it even more haunting was Andrew Darby's discovery while researching his work that he had stage four lung cancer. It's a story of science coming to his rescue as well as the little-known migratory shorebirds.

[Kate Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely, optimistic book about shorebirds, climate change, environmental damage caused by humans, and the wonderful people obsessed with birds.

[cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really a 3.75 but rounding up because, well, birds.

[Barrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book lacks a coherent narrative. It is a string of detailed anecdotes that perhaps reveals more over time but I was not willing to stay around for it.

[John Kidman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this read. A companion read to The Eastern Curlew by Harry Saddler.

[Paulibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finely describes the problem of an endangered species of migratory animal which does not recognise political boundaries. Andrew Darby deftly manages to appeal to birders and non-birders with the stories of how humans have managed to track shorebirds using up-to-date technology such as transmitters and satellites for the purposes of science, and preservation. The species used as an example of their incredible international journeys is the Grey Plover. It is a bird I have been lucky to see here in Aotearoa-New Zealand, but it is rare here. An engaging look at how humans, including Kiwis, are endeavouring to achieve local, national and international initiatives to achieve a stabilising population of the plover and many other species of migratory shorebirds. And this despite the apparently rampant March of industrial 'progress' throughout the migratory paths of the birds that use the routes called flyways, the flight lines mentioned in the title.

[Robert Gulley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this.

It certainly made migratory waders more interesting than unidentifiable brown/grey things you see from 200 metres away. You know they travel thousands of kilometres each year but this actually took you along on the trip.

It does jump around from topic to topic, but not what I thought was confusingly so. I found it engaging and interesting.