Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration

by Rebecca Heisman

The captivating, little-known true story of a group of scientists and the methods and technology they developed to uncover the secrets of avian migration. For the past century, scientists and naturalists have been steadily unravelling the secrets of bird migration. How and why birds navigate the skies, traveling from continent to continent—flying thousands of miles across the earth each fall and spring—has continually fascinated the human imagination, but only recently have we been able to fully understand these amazing journeys. Although we know much more than ever before, even the most enthusiastic birdwatcher may not know how we got here, the ways that the full breadth of scientific disciplines have come together to reveal these annual avian travels. Flight Paths is the never-before-told story of how a group of migration-obsessed scientists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries engaged nearly every branch of science to understand bird migration—from where and when they take off to their flight paths and behaviors, their destinations and the challenges they encounter getting there. Uniting curious minds from across generations, continents, and disciplines, bird enthusiast and science writer Rebecca Heisman traces the development of each technique used for tracking migratory birds, from the first attempts to mark individual birds to the cutting-edge technology that lets ornithologists trace where a bird has been, based on unique DNA markers. Along the way, she touches on the biggest technological breakthroughs of modern science and reveals the almost-forgotten stories of the scientists who harnessed these inventions in service of furthering our understanding of nature (and their personal obsession with birds). The compelling and fascinating story of how scientists solved the great mystery of bird migration, Flight Paths is an unprecedented look into exciting, behind-the-scenes moments of groundbreaking discovery. Heisman demonstrates that the real power of science happens when people work together, focusing their minds and knowledge on a common goal. While the world looks to tackle massive challenges involving conservation and climate, the story of migration research offers a beacon of hope that we can find solutions to difficult and complex problems.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Birds, Animals, Audiobook, Environment

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 2023

About the author

Hi! I live in Walla Walla, Washington and I write about birds. My first book, Flight Paths, delves into the history, science, and quirky personalities behind *how* we know what we know about bird migration.

Reviews

[Auriel Fournier]

Rebecca Heisman does a remarkable job of capturing the joy and wonder of bird migration and science studying it, while also breaking down the complex methods we use to study it into pieces we can understand. I love how she wove history in with her own experiences and field trips and helped me see the wonder of bird migration and bird science in a new way.

[Jen]

Hmm. There were some interesting tidbits in here but I was too annoyed at reading about the author finding some scientist on twitter or whatever. Felt very much like a high school paper, trying to stretch the word count. Actually did not finish it because of this.

[Katrina Clarke]

This looks at ornithological research methods rather than looking at bird behaviour/physiology which is what I was to be honest hoping for. But still full of the interesting developments in technology and the resulting research. Amazing example of the variety of backgrounds that scientists and experts have all come from.

Radars, transmitters, night call surveys, loggers, ringing, genetics, isotopes, light surveying, citizen surveys.

I've made some really random notes on each chapter:

- Banding (ringing) being the first opportunity to track bird migration and dispel incorrect theories. Shows birds are adapting migration dates due to climate change, but sadly their destination isn't necessarily compatible at that earlier date.

- Hadn't ever considered nocturnal night call IDing. Bird call recording and software to identify species. Watching birds fly across the face of the moon. Nationwide study with thousands of volunteers watching migration, data that took 14years to turn into a paper.

- 40s naval radar operators picking up flocks. Cue nerding on radar technology and how it has developed. Led to weather forecasting as well as data on the impact of things like light pollution on bird movement.

- Radiotagging with eyelash glue. Telemetry for real time data. Dual purpose satellites for spying and natural history. The leg band distorts the signal frequency, capturing wing beats and breaths- woah. Chasing Finches in flight. Motus Wildlife Tracking system of a network of towers in the Andes. Signature beep sequences. Chats with Bill Cochran. The motus database.

- Tracking bird flight from space. Starting big on mute swans, then down to sandpipers. Reducing the size of transmitters by a hundredfold.

- Chatting to Rory Wilson, using sunlight hours to mark distances travelled. 'Light level geocaters'. Discovering that the blackpool warbler is one of the most long distance travellers. Recapturing loggers to access the data.

- Isotope analysis. Ratio of hydrogen to deuterium in a feather reflecting that of the location where it was grown. Birds placed at their breeding ranges by the data. Need to alanyse water in the area to know its isotope ratio, so when birds moult and regrow feathers somewhere far away, we might not be able to pinpoint where exactly. Looking at museum specimens to get a look back in time: blackpoll breeding range shifting 370miles in 44 years.

- A 'genoscape'... Now vaguely understand. Frozen feather collection is kinda a scary mental image. Genetic analysis discovering six genetically distinct groups of warbler with different migratory routed and wintering grounds. Predicting the impact of climate change on specific genetic populations.

-Citizen science e.g. Christmas Bird Count. Breeding Bird Survey for trends. Using apps like ebird generating huge amounts of data on especially incidental sightings.

-2020 cancer and pandemic. So much missing data and hugs biodiversity loss, but choosing hope. Huge collaboration and work of birders and researchers. Bird and humans need the same thing. Birds "knit the world together".

[Tilly]

5 Stars

I have read a few birding books recently that fell a little flat, so I had mixed feelings going into this book. However I didn't neednto worry as this was definitely the best book on overall bird migration that I have read.

Rebecca Heisman obviously has a lot of love, interest and background in ornithology and mapping birds in a variety of ways. What makes this book even better is her fantastic writing and obvious love for what she is discussing but also her personal experiences and field trips that are interwoven with the histroy and the science of mapping birds and their migration.

The book is split up really well and looks into how bird migration has changed over time. I found this particularly interesting as I had no idea how early ornithologists would have collected data on bird migration so it was a really interesting read for me. Seeing how this has changed with increasing technology is great to read and I learnt a lot about the science behind collecting data. I could have done with a few maps but that is not a big enough issue that it takes away from this 5 star review.

What added to this was that Heisman added how different species of birds have to be treated differently in the ways to collect their data. Looking into individual case studies for these added this extra insight plus a side of birding which I loved.

Overall, this is book is very well written and highly interesting. I read a lot of new stories and insights into this subject which I wasn't expecting! I highly recommend this book to all bird lovers.

Please note that I was gifted this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

[Summer]

This was fascinating! So many things yet to figure out about bird migration, what changes mean and what is the best way to track birds. I’m not sure they have figured it out yet. Such a seemingly small thing, how birds migrate and yet with so much technology there are very little answers. It was delightful, minus the random jab at humans.

[Jennifer]

Appropriate read as we're starting to see this year's spring migrators. Birds are amazing. Imagine flying for three days straight over open ocean. I can barely stay up past 10.

[Megan]

I hate this book. Too technical. Gimme bird stories.

[Sarah]

This book takes a wholesome tour of the history of ornithology, specifically focused on different techniques used to track bird migration. Different chapters delve into banding (tracking birds by placing small metal cuffs on their feet), monitoring bird calls, analyzing radar, tracking via tiny GPS “backpacks,” identifying isotopes inside of feathers, comparing DNA profiles, and more. It was very comprehensive and I enjoyed how much the author clearly loves birding. It was fun to watch scientific techniques for a specific niche evolve over time.

[sierra]

I’ll never turn down reading a book on birds - especially after getting back into birding this spring. as some other reviewers mentioned, this novel is more about the science and advances around migration tracking technology and less about the birds/bird species themselves. overall this was very educational and I found a ton of awesome resources!! awesome book.

[Jane]

One of the questions I often ask in book club discussions of nonfiction books is "Did you feel there were too many scientific facts, or not enough, or just the right amount?" Flight Paths unfortunately was a little too science-y to truly qualify as popular nonfiction. There were sections I really could not follow (or perhaps I just didn't want to make the effort to follow). ("Imagine you're a deuterium atom." Say what now?)

But in between the love of scientific facts, the author's love of birds does come through. Migration is truly amazing, and awe over the migration spectacle also comes through. I always enjoy reading about banding birds (and how weirdly attitudinal some birds are, and that there are even birds that seem to enjoy being caught in mist-nets), and I liked that she included information about citizen science projects like Project Feederwatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count.

The book is well written and seems well researched. I liked that when it came to the attaching of tracking devices to tiny birds, she asked not just researchers but also an animal ethicist whether this is the right thing to do. ("How do we decide when the benefits of the knowledge we gain from these studies outweigh the potential harm to the individual birds?" p. 140)

If you really love birds, you might find Flight Paths worth the effort. (And as always, I encourage you to give yourself permission to skim pasts any parts that make your eyes glaze over.)

[Cade]

I read this book because I am amazed at the details of some bird migrations. It turned out, this book discussed the birds themselves only incidentally. It is really about the techniques used to study migrations and the people who developed them. The details of the migrations themselves only come into the book obliquely when explaining why they pose a logistical or technical challenge to specific tracking techniques.

This book takes for granted that the reader is a bird lover who finds birds intrinsically interesting and who sees bird conservation as self-evidently desirable. Therefore, the author's attempts to "sell" interest in the book to the reader are only meaningful/engaging if you share that premise/background.

[Daniel]

disappointingly boring, and I got really tired of the author describing her reliance on twitter, which feels very dated today

[Kim Morgan]

Rebecca Heisman provides an amazing tour of how scientists have worked for years to better understand bird migration. She dives deep into the scientific studies, assortment of researchers, and various techniques that have been at work for years seeking to understand how so many birds do what they do - undertake amazing migrations routes with no maps or suitcases!

This book was packed with a wealth of scientific details from ornithological studies, as well as a view into the unique researchers whose creativity has shed light on the mystery of bird migration. I will need to read this entire book again to fully understand all that is packed within it and to better grasp how birds do what they do. I highly recommend this to anyone passionate about birds and who also love the details, subtlety, and minutia of scientific inquiry!

I only question the title of this book. After reading it, I feel the mystery of bird migration is not yet wholly solved. Many of the featured scientists are continuing their studies and much is yet to be learned on the marvels of bird migration.

[Ryan]

I'm a fairly amateur birder since 2020. But I've listened to lots of books on birding, including Scott Widensaul's "A World on the Wing." I find books on bird migration particularly interesting. I'm always glad when Nate Swick or Ivan Phillipsen tackle something related to migration on their podcasts. So I know a little bit (emphasis on "little bit"!) about bird migration, and I find it fascinating. So I was excited about this book.
The author does an excellent job of interviewing all the right people and reviewing all the right studies, as far as I can tell. It's well written and engaging. Sure, there are a couple of chapters that get very "science-y" for a non-scientist reader, but I tried to follow them as best I could. I wasn't deterred by them at all. It was a very interesting read full of lots of surprises. I was regularly telling my wife after listening to a chapter: "Did you know that...?" There was a lot to learn. And it was fun to learn it.
However, the biggest disappointment for me with the book was that I never felt like I got what the subtitle offers. With a subtitle like, "How a passionate and quirky group of pioneering scientists SOLVED the mystery of bird migration," I expected the book to end with some sort of concluding chapter that pulled all the myriad studies together into one cohesive explanatory theory about the why and how and so forth of bird migration. But that never really came. There was a lot of really good discussion and exploration of some fascinating studies and experiments and so forth related to bird migration, but I don't think the book delivered on "solving" the mystery of bird migration. If the author did try to deliver on that, it was so subtle that I missed it entirely.
Bird migration is amazing, impressive, majestic, inspiring, heroic, and a host of other things, but even after this book, it still remains enigmatic. I'm fine with that; I just thought the book was going do to something different than what it did. The book explores, examines, inspects, investigates, probes, studies, and even increases our wonder at and appreciation for the marvelous phenomenon of bird migration, but it doesn't really "solve" the mystery of it.

[Mathewsjh]

My rating is probably too harsh. It was indeed a fascinating recounting of efforts to learn about + record bird migration with many interesting stories for the reader. I thought it could have used a bit more editing and been structured a little better. Anyone interested in birds our bird migration should enjoy this book.

[Niall Bell]

Excellent read for anyone interested in the niche, but incredibly important, area of bird migration science. I enjoyed the perspective of this book as you often hear about the science but not necessarily those who made the science happen.

[Flynn O'Dacre]

I LOVED this book (:

[Krysia Kustra]

Well researched, with lots of information that's dense, but fascinating! I learned history not only about birding, but technology, which I wasn't expecting.

[Sean Brustuen]

Pretty good - never quite finished it, but I will probably pick it up and knock off another chapter here and there when I’m in the mood. Fun facts about bird migration for sure.

[Kate]

3.5 stars

[Travis]

Really good book about the summary of migration. Understanding bird migration has come a long ways.

[Kalina Eskew]

This book does a really great job of reviewing the migration literature while focusing on the people behind it! As an ornithologist myself, I loved learning the stories behind how people got into researching birds.

[Katie Keeshen]

super fascinating stuff and accessible and engaging! Liked this significantly better than a book I read last year on the same topic so!

[Chickens McShitterson]

It took almost a month to read this. What a slog.

I love birds- I love watching them, I love hearing them- we are so lucky to share our planet with them. Heisman loves birds too, so we have that in common- but I think that's where it ends.

One of my pet peeves in a non-fiction book is when an author injects themselves into the narrative, and Heisman does that to an obnoxious, annoying, and distracting degree (she is also obsessed with COVID and mentions masking an obnoxious number of times- look, dude, I was responsible too, but I surely didn't make it a part of my identity, and it has absolutely NOTHING TO DO WITH BIRD MIGRATION).

Most of this book revolves around technological advancements in tracking birds and a bajillion names of scientists involved in ornithological advancements, and less about the birds themselves. The writing is so stilted, so dry, that the subject becomes mind-numbingly boring, and it really shouldn't be (irony of ironies, at one point Heisman pokes fun at "dry scientific writing").

So, I dunno. This was disappointing. I learned some things, but not nearly enough to avoid skimming the last twenty pages of drudgery.

[Teresa]

I am the daughter of an engineer and a nurse, so I inherited a love of science naturally. I have loved photographing birds in recent years and still remember the thrill of seeing a flock of snow geese take off for the first time during their migration season -- wondrous! When I saw this book's title, it immediately interested me.

The study of bird migrations and the impact of these studies in preserving species of birds is a fairly recent development in scientific studies. As recently as 2007, a shorebird named E7 became newsworthy for his migration. A bar-tailed godwit, a bird described as being the size of a football, was banded and tracked as flying from in a single long, unbroken flight from Alaska to New Zealand...7,000 miles! The longest nonstop migratory flight ever recorded.

The way ornithology has developed studies with banding, mesh nets, electronic chips, radar, satellites and isotopic studies of bird feathers to uncover a bird's history is fascinating. From an ecological standpoint, these studies are critical as an alarming decline of 3 billion birds has occurred in North America since 1970.

The people that studied birds and flight patterns were interesting as well. A man (Piersma) living in a small Dutch village, Gaast, studied martins who migrated to Africa. He supplied feathers for isotope analysis and wrote a paper entitled, "Solving the Migration Riddle." But, his neighbor didn't subscribe to scholarly journals, so Piersma wrote a book about his house martins for his fellow villagers in Gaast, where the locals speak not Dutch but a minority language--Frisian. His book, "Guests of Summer: A House Martin Love Story" sold around 6,000 copies.

With local DC area pride, I read about Chandler Robbins who worked at the Patuxent Research Refuge for decades, who worked with Rachel Carson, and who was heralded by the Washington Post in his 2017 obit as the "Bruce Springsteen of birding." Mr. Robbins documented avian life around the world, including on the Pacific island of Midway, where in 1956 he tagged a young Laysan albatross who came to be known as Wisdom. She is the oldest known wild bird, a matriarch who laid an egg as recently as December 2017.

I guess I'm officially a "birder." 5 big stars for this book on birds.

[historic_chronicles]

"For centuries we looked to the skies and wondered...where did the birds go each winter, and how?"

I have always lived near a harbour, with my grandfather having worked the docks, the coast is a comforting place for me and I frequently see migratory birds, often geese travelling in their impressive v-formation as they seek a warmer climate in the harsh winter months. I've often marvelled at this great event that takes place year after year, how it works, and so when the opportunity came up to review Rebecca Heisman's book, Flight Paths, I leapt at the chance.

Heisman directs us through the science behind bird migration - the methods, the individuals, the history and her own personal experiences.

It's a vast and complicated history, which has been corrected and debated upon over the years, however Heisman does a wonderful job at pinpointing the most valuable sources of information and flipping them into a fresh and more digestible narrative that is easily understood.

I found the methods particularly fascinating, such as banding, mesh nets, radar and even isotopic analysis of feathers which further explore the history of birds.

As with most current nature-related texts, what cannot be ignored is the effects of climate change and Heisman maps out a respectable balance between ornithology and ecology, highlighting the decline of birds in counts and the consequences of the changes of seasonal patterns.

While I was already a bird lover before reading this book, following its conclusion I had a renewed sense of appreciation for the hard work that goes into the science of understanding our feathered friends and also the sheer passion that many have for birdwatching.

Many thanks to @_swiftpress for sending me this beautiful proof copy of Flight Paths!

[Katrina]

One of the book's strongest points is the way it blends fascinating facts about birds with the technical aspects of how these migrations are tracked and studied. I particularly loved the detailed bird facts, which brought to life the incredible feats these creatures achieve during their long journeys.

The progress in tracking methods, from early color banding to modern GPS and isotope analysis, adds a compelling layer to the narrative. Heisman does a fantastic job of making complex scientific advancements accessible without losing the wonder of bird migration. Her approachable writing style ensures that even technical discussions, such as genome sequencing, remain engaging.

[Catherine Woodman]

I saw the author speak as a key note speaker at the San Diego Bird Festival right before this book was published, and she is a great speaker, one who should be considered for a variety of different events, because the story of bird migration and resiliency is one that could fit a lot of different professions. I think while it is billed as great for avid birders, in some ways it is more amazing for people who know almost nothing about birds.
The modern technology for tracking migratory birds can sound like something out of science fiction—for example, analyzing the hydrogen isotopes of a single feather from a bird can indicate the breeding range of that particular species. Weather data can show their migration patterns on radar, and minuscule devices can be implanted under feathers, using the movement of the sun to determine their location. Earlier techniques, on the other hand, bordered on the mystical: moon-watching parties, for example, where ornithologists would spend hours with a telescope, waiting for a bird to fly across the full moon. The author creates a skillful and accessible narrative about how we research and understand bird migration, from the first birds ever to be banded to current methodologies. As the author shows, community science, where people who track birds as a hobby contribute essential data, is more important than ever in the current era of dramatic climate change. I hope this gets more people than ever downloading eBird and adding to the body of living knowledge about birds!

[Terry]

Not for me. Maybe I should have known better, when a book first published only months previously is on the bargain shelf in the shop it is there for a reason. The introduction was good and full of birding promise. However from then on it became boring. If you are a U.S based birder maybe it’s ok but for me based in the UK I didn’t find it relevant or remotely interesting.
This book went from purchase to charity shop in the space of 24 hours. A waste of money. Also the term banded meaning ringed annoyed the heck out of me.

[Holden]

How come no one ever puts trackers on me to see where I migrate? Am I not better than a bird?!